Ohio's bleak budget

What it means to you
$50.5 billion plan packed with changes that will help or hurt virtually all of us
Rowland, Darrel, Mark Niquette, Catherine Candisky and Alan Johnson, Columbus Dispatch, July 19, 2009.

The $50.5 billion, two-year state budget passed last week by the legislature and signed Friday by Gov. Ted Strickland represents a drop of nearly $2 billion from the previous budget. The spending plan through June 2011 contains no tax increases but raises fees by an amount the governor's office has not yet determined.

The measure has a little something, good or bad, for almost every Ohioan.

IF YOU DON'T HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE
Your parents can pay to keep you on their policy up to age 28. And new caps on how much insurance companies can charge individuals with chronic conditions such as diabetes and cancer will lower premiums for private coverage.

IF YOU NEED HELP FROM A FOOD BANK
You'd better get there early. While state aid went up, it doesn't come close to meeting the additional demand caused by Ohio's reeling economy.

IF YOUR CHILD IS GOING TO BE IN KINDERGARTEN
He or she will be able to attend all day free in the 2010-11 school year, unless your school district gets a waiver from the Department of Education because it doesn't have space or faces another hardship.

IF YOU OWN A GUN
The initial fee for a concealed-carry permit will increase from $55 to $67, but the renewal fee will drop from $55 to $50.

IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A MOVIE IN OHIO
Get your Hollywood stars and your production crew ready, because we have new state tax credits for you.

IF YOU USE PUBLIC LIBRARIES
You could see some programs discontinued, hours reduced or branches closed because of a 30 percent cut in funding.

IF YOU HAVE A CHILD ATTENDING AN OHIO PUBLIC COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY
Brace for a tuition increase, although probably not until 2010 at most institutions. The budget whacks higher education by $170 million and replaces a tuition freeze with a 3.5 percent cap.

IF YOU'RE INTO GAMBLING
Map your route to the nearest horse track, because -- barring successful lawsuits -- thousands of electronic slot machines are headed there by early next year. The premise is that the extra money will improve both the facilities and the quality of the races.

IF YOU OR A FAMILY MEMBER NEEDS MENTAL-HEALTH SERVICES
Expect dramatically reduced treatment options, because county mental-health agencies, especially those without their own tax levies, must slash services to people who don't qualify for Medicaid.

IF YOU GO TO COURT
You'll pay higher court costs, including a $10 additional fee for a traffic offense that is neither a moving violation nor a parking violation.

IF YOU NEED HELP FIGHTING A DRUG OR ALCOHOL PROBLEM
There will be waiting lists of up to two months for most new service requests because of reduced funding. Some emergency hot lines will be shut down.

IF YOU WANT TO GO GREEN
You can finance solar-energy panels through your property taxes if you live in a participating municipality (such as Athens), which means you won't have to fork over the costs upfront.

IF YOU OR A FAMILY MEMBER IS DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED
There might be a chance to get a waiver and move from a state development center to a community program. About one in seven residents of the centers will voluntarily be granted waivers, with the goal of reducing the population by 200, to 1,200.

IF YOUR KIDS GO TO A PRIVATE SCHOOL
Don't be surprised by a tuition increase, because the state whacked $59 million in aid for administrative costs, textbooks and instructional materials.

IF YOU ARE A STATE WORKER
You might want to watch the want ads. An estimated 3,000 new jobs cuts are likely, on top of 10 unpaid "cost-savings days" and pay freezes workers must take under new state-negotiated labor contracts.

IF YOU NEED A FLU SHOT
Don't wait. The state will purchase only 45,000 flu vaccines this year for high-risk Ohioans without insurance or the ability to pay. That's down from 190,000 last year.

IF YOU NEED STATE-SUBSIDIZED CHILD CARE
You will need to be worse off financially. Eligibility in Ohio's subsidized child-care program is reduced to 150 percent of the federal poverty level, about $27,465 a year for a family of three. The cap used to be 200 percent. Since the limit applies only to new applicants, the 98,000 children currently enrolled won't be kicked out.

IF YOU WANT TO BE SURE YOUR CHILD IS READY FOR SCHOOL
You might consider home-schooling. The budget abolishes Ohio's Early Learning Initiative now serving about 13,000 low-income children. State officials hope an anticipated expansion of federally funded Head Start will offset much of the loss.

IF YOU ARE AN INMATE IN A STATE PRISON
You'll be eating brunch and dinner on Saturdays and Sundays. The same amount of food will be served as has been in three meals, but the state will save on staff time and preparation costs.

IF YOU GO TO A STATE PARK
You won't see any oil rigs because a proposal to allow drilling was removed, but some campgrounds might be closed and nature areas and preserves might be a little more natural because they lost all general-revenue funding.

IF YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT BURNS THROUGH ITS SNOW DAYS
The kids will have to make up more in the 2010-11 school year, because the state is allowing only three calamity days instead of five while a panel decides whether to add 20 days to the school year.

IF YOU NEED HELP FROM A COUNTY JOB AND FAMILY SERVICES AGENCY
Be prepared for longer waits and fewer services and people to help you. Cuts in state aid are forcing many local welfare offices to lay off caseworkers, reduce hours and eliminate job training and other assistance programs.

IF YOU ARE IN NEED OF LONG-TERM CARE
Your options are likely to decrease. Nursing homes say they must reduce beds because of funding cuts; money also has been chopped for home- and community-based care.

IF YOU WANT YOUR STATE TO PROMOTE TRAVEL AND TOURISM
Move to Michigan, because Ohio's two-year allocation was slashed from more than $7 million to $400,000 -- in contrast to an increase to $30 million in the state up north.

IF YOU THOUGHT THIS BUDGET PROCESS WASN'T PAINFUL ENOUGH
Just wait another two years when Ohio won't have an estimated $7 billion in federal stimulus or other one-time money to help balance the budget.