Greater Ohio Policy Center

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Three Think Tanks From Across the Spectrum Renew Call for Closing Tax "Loopholes"

PRESS RELEASE                                                                           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information, contact: Alison Goebel, Associate Director E-mail: agoebel@greaterohio.org Phone: 614.224.0187     September 3, 2012-COLUMBUS, Ohio - Three Ohio-based think tanks representing various public policy perspectives today are renewing a call they made last year to thoroughly re-examine Ohio's myriad of tax expenditures, commonly known as "loopholes."   The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, The Center for Community Solutions  and The Greater Ohio Policy Center  issued the following statement,   "Governor Kasich's recent comments on the need to examine these expenditures bring back into public view the importance of Ohio's adopting a comprehensive process for evaluating and, where appropriate, changing or terminating them.  We agree with the Governor that the time to be proactive on this issue is now, and urge leaders in the General Assembly to adopt legislation before the next budget cycle.    "Our organizations often take different positions on how best to raise and allocate public resources, but we share the common goals of eliminating ineffective, counterproductive or outdated tax expenditures, and assuring that those remaining in Ohio tax law receive periodic scrutiny. Our joint proposal from last year entailed terminating a group of these tax expenditures as part of the biennial budget legislation. We maintain this should be revisited by the General Assembly during its post-election session."   The groups concluded that,   "We stand ready to assist the Kasich Administration and the General Assembly as they tackle this issue. However we may differ on the size and scope of government, all Ohioans would benefit from a system for monitoring taxes and expenditures that is as rigorous as the biennial budget process for programmatic expenditures. Support for this idea exists across the political spectrum. The time for  action is at hand."   To view the statement in its entirety please click here.