It almost seemed like House Republicans looking at Gov. John Kasich’s $67 billion two-year budget went back to the drawing board to roll out a new spending plan after seeing tax revenues coming up short month after month – adding up to a $615 million shortfall so far this fiscal year. And as part of the hundreds of changes they made, they erased of nearly all of Kasich’s tax reform proposals.
Among the big changes was a boost in funding for the opioid crisis – which may be killing as many as 11 people a day. Statehouse correspondent Jo Ingles has details on the $170 million put toward this epidemic in the House budget.
To get more details on why House Republicans did what they did, and how Democrats are reacting, House Finance Committee Chair Ryan Smith (R-Bidwell) and Rep. Jack Cera (D-Bellaire), the lead Democrat on the House Finance Committee, share their thoughts.
That $170 million in the House budget for the opioid battle is a big deal to those fighting it first hand, including Tracy Plouck, the director of the state’s Mental Health and Addiction Services agency. She picks up where last week's show left off, talkimg about what it will take for this epidemic to break.