New Questions About Moelis
Will Ohio leave $176 million for Ohio’s unemployed on the table?
- Eligibility for part-time workers
- Benefits for leaving work due to domestic violence or other compelling family reasons
- 26 weeks of pay while enrolled in approved training
- Minimum dependent payment of $15 per week up to $50
“We were never able to get an answer as to how much this would cost in the long run,” he told reporters after session. “The question became: if we take $176 million now, how much will be obligated to pay out for the next 10, 20, 30 years? And no one could answer that question, so we chose to pass.”It really begs the question: whom did he ask? Innovation Ohio obtained a 2009 memo from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services that showed by phasing-in two of the four policy changes (minimum dependent payments and 26 weeks of training), the state could actually save money in the long run. So if cost is not the real issue, we have to wonder: is this really part of an anti-worker, anti-middle class agenda, consistent with other policies we have seen from this General Assembly and Administration? More money for unemployed Ohioans, and savings for Ohio’s Unemployment system. It’s really a no-brainer.
IO on TV: Dale Butland on The Spectrum – July 17, 2011
Kasich’s budget office confirms IO’s report: There was never an $8 billion hole
Double-Dealing by Ohio’s Casino Consultants?
Today, Innovation Ohio alerted Ohio’s press corps to a potentially troubling linkage between Moelis & Co., the New York-based consulting company, hired by John Kasich to negotiate with casinos, and one of the two casino owners, Penn National. We find that in 2009, Moelis worked for another client who agreed to pay them more if they could secure a deal with Penn. Given that the Governor’s agreement with Moelis had Ohio taxpayers compensating them with a bonus of up to $13 million if they could reach a deal with Penn, we believe the two companies’ prior relationship, and whether it was disclosed to the State of Ohio merits further exploration. Read the press release. Read the 2009 Moelis engagement letter.
IO Responds to Speaker Batchelder in the Wall Street Journal
The Sad Death of Ohio’s Death Tax Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder and his co-authors Jack Boyle and Dick Patten omit a few important facts in “Ohio Shows the Way on Death Tax Repeal” (Cross Country, July 2), like how their primary rationale for repeal was debunked by the Dayton Daily News on June 28. The newspaper found no “solid statistical evidence,” either for the claim that the estate tax has led to an exodus of jobs and businesses, or that it causes family farm and business heirs to sell in order to pay the tax.
The authors downplay the financial effect of repeal by disingenuously asserting that local governments receive only “a portion” of estate tax revenue. In fact, they receive 80%. The percentage matters because Ohio’s recently passed state budget also cuts the Local Government Fund, which helps pay for police, fire and emergency response, by a whopping 50%. Those cuts, coupled with the coming 80% loss of estate tax revenue ($230 million in 2010), virtually ensure local tax hikes.
Though Ohio’s estate tax affects only the wealthiest 7%, both its threshold and its rate are outdated and need reform. That is why Innovation Ohio, the progressive think tank with which I am affiliated, proposed mending it by raising the threshold to $1 million (the top 2%) and the tax rate to the national average of 16%. Instead, Mr. Batchelder and his allies chose to eliminate a tax on the top 2% and require the bottom 98% to pay for it. Now that’s class warfare, Republican-style.
As for the hoary claim that the estate tax is why wealthy Ohioans move to Florida and other Sun Belt states, weather seems a far likelier explanation. Hawaii is a popular retirement destination, despite its estate tax.
Dale Butland Columbus, Ohio
State Budget Recap
IO on TV: Dale Butland on Columbus on the Record – July 1, 2011
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