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Ohio Democrats Push for Tax Reform

photo of Emilia Sykes
Andy Chow
/
Statehouse News Bureau
Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes is calling for tax reform.

Backers of new federal tax changes promised they would make taxes fairer for everyone. But Statehouse Democrats say that’s not what happened. The minority party in state government has a tax reform plan of their own.

House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes said many Ohioans are not happy with the new federal tax reform.

“Folks were, quite frankly, unhappy and shocked to see how little they were able to receive in their tax refunds this year," Sykes said. "And so the Democrats are offering as a suggestion for the failure of the federal government a way for people to get more of their tax dollars back.”

Democrats want additional tax credits for lower income Ohioans and to eliminate taxes on feminine hygiene products.

They also want to close state tax loopholes that help the wealthy. 

Some of those ideas have bipartisan support, but there’s no indication Republicans will agree with them on changing a deduction that allows small businesses to take the first quarter million dollars of their incomes tax free.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.