Gov. Kasich Deposits $235.1 Million in Ohio's Rainy Day Fund

Release:

COLUMBUS – Today Gov. John R. Kasich announced that Ohio finished FY2012—the first full fiscal year of his governorship—in strong fiscal health, with a balanced budget and a $235.1 million deposit in the Budget Stabilization Fund (BSF), Ohio’s rainy day fund. With Kasich’s new deposit today, the state’s rainy day fund balance climbs to $482 million, up from 89 cents when he took office.

“In 18 months Ohio went from an $8 billion shortfall and literally pennies in its savings account to a balanced budget and almost half a billion dollars saved up for a rainy day. Ohio cut taxes and restored its fiscal health and job creators are taking notice. Unemployment has fallen from 9.0 to 7.3 percent, more than 94,000 jobs have been created and we’re fourth in the nation in job creation. We’re headed in the right direction but we’ve got to keep going. Too many Ohioans are still out of work. If we want to keep making progress we’ve got to resist calls to slip back into the old Statehouse ways of spending more than we should and kicking problems down the road. It won’t happen on my watch, and with the continued strong partnership of the General Assembly—and the continued hard work of the people of Ohio—we’ll keep our state coming back,” said Kasich.

Ohio’s $26.4 billion fiscal year 2012 General Revenue Fund operating budget closed on June 30. Final accounting totals and commentary will be available July 10 in OBM’s Monthly Financial Report at www.obm.ohio.gov.