The following is a column submitted by State Representative Jeff McClain
Over the past few years, every Ohioan has felt the strain and stress of our nation’s economic downturn. Here in the 82nd District, I have seen far too many families struggling to make ends meet after a job loss. As your representative, I am committed to combating unemployment and rehabilitating our injured job market. Creating jobs is the most effective strategy in turning our economy around and breathing life back into our economy at the local level.
At the Statehouse, we recently passed House Bill 153, the biennial budget. I am happy to report that we have stuck to the goal of fostering economic development in Ohio, with job creation topping the list of budgetary priorities. After many late nights and meticulous work, we have been able to craft a budget that fills in our state’s current $8 billion financial gap without tax hikes on the families and small businesses in our state.
In the budget, we have utilized job market expansion as a way to accomplish these goals. The House budget works to grow Ohio’s job market by turning our state into an attractive place for people to establish and develop businesses, not scaring them away with onerous and unnecessary taxes.
Some of the changes we made in the budget proposal help to fight the climbing rate of population decline. The House budget offers all Ohio high school graduates that have left the state grants of in-state tuition to attend state universities, as long as they return within 10 years of having graduated. This attracts young entrepreneurs who have left Ohio for “greener pastures” back to the state along with their business enterprises and ideas. Keeping innovative, educated people in the state is an important step in building a strong, stable foundation for our economy’s future.
Along with recent high school graduates, there are others fleeing our borders. The budget aims to curb this by eliminating the estate tax, also called the “death tax,” which is one of the most noted reasons for senior citizens, entrepreneurs and others leaving the state. The estate tax gives the state the power to tax a person’s assets upon his or her death before the families of the deceased rightfully inherit it. These groups of people want to protect their children’s inheritance in its entirety, prompting many to leave. Without the estate tax, their hard-earned assets will be protected and the state will no longer drive these people out by adding one last tax they must pay.
If we are able to keep Ohioans in Ohio, we will see the most innovative, bright minds contributing to a sustainable economy right here in the 82nd House District. Businesses can be established in our state and people will stay here, creating innumerable jobs in our local communities for the years to come.
