Senate Passes Budget Plan, Now Heads To Conference Committee

It’s now up to legislative leaders to come together and knock out a final budget agreement with just a little over a week before the fiscal year ends. Statehouse correspondent Andy Chow reports the Senate debated its version for hours before passing it. The Senate budget cut $200 million from Medicaid and about 4% of government funding across the board. This was to finish filling a $1 billion budget gap due to a revenue shortfall.Democrats have been pushing to get rid of a small business tax cut that they say would generate enough money to fill the gap and pay for other services.But Republican Senator Matt Huffman of Lima says this money doesn’t belong to the state but to business owners.Huffman: “It’s either gonna be spent, it’s gonna be saved or it’s gonna be given away. Now when they spend it, that’s good for the economy all those other folks, their businesses are better. And by the way there’s other taxes that are being collected sales taxes, excise taxes, commercial activity tax.”The Legislature now has until the end of the month to get a bill to Gov. John Kasich before the new fiscal year begins. Copyright 2017 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.