Senators were planning to pass the state budget for a higher education overhaul.
On Thursday, Senate Republicans proposed a state budget that was objected to by the Democrats, saying they cannot overlap with Republicans’ ’s proposals. Ohio Senate prepared for about $173 billion for state funding and billing for the next two years, but all Democrats disapproved of the plan. According to The Columbus Dispatch, the Senate President, Matt Huffman, told the reporters that he would go deeper into conservative policy to fund education and tax reforms.
Ohio’s funding plan is to give students a public education. They allocated about a $1.3 billion increase to provide students with scholarships and help families support their children. This plan will benefit parents who want to decide for their child on where to put their children to study. They also added Senate Bill 1, which is to put the governor’s office in the Department of Education. Senate Bill 83 was also included and counted in, which states that this will prohibit most mandatories and keep professors from striking.
Ohio’s revenue funding plan will also include banning TikTok and other Chinese apps. They will deny the distribution of vapes and other vaping products. The banning will require employees to work four days in their offices. The budget also has tax cut plans. This budget will eliminate the companies paying Commercial Activity Tax for 90%. They allocated a fund for this for about $3.1 billion. According to the same published article, Ohioans will receive a tax reduction and will have a new sales tax holiday on August 2024.
The state budget also includes new rules for teenagers when using social media. Teens younger than 16 will have to ask for permission from their parents when to make a social media account. Senate will provide the budget for companies like Snapchat or Facebook that will require to scan the age of the users.
As of now, there is still no update for this budget. Votes will be done this coming Thursday.