OHIO LIBERTY COALITION COMES OUT AGAINST KASICH PLANS FOR TAX INCREASE

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Columbus, Ohio - The Ohio Liberty Coalition today came out against Governor Kasich’s proposed tax increase on the Ohio oil and gas industry. Tom Zawistowski, President of the OLC said, “What Governor Kasich is proposing is unnecessary and unwise. Under the current rules, the severance tax on oil and gas produced $11 million in state taxes in 2009, and by 2014 it is projected by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce to increase to $433 million per year. If the Governor wants to cut personal income taxes he can use that new money to do so. It is unnecessary to raise taxes when this industry is already on track to dramatically increase tax revenue. It is also unwise to throw roadblocks in front of an industry that is critical to the economic future of our state. Some companies are already leaving Ohio. That is not what we want.”

He went on to explain, “We understand the argument that the Governor wants to bring energy taxes in line with other states, but we do not agree that this is what Ohio should do. If we have a tax advantage then we think we should exploit that advantage and use it to attract more businesses. Then we will get more tax revenue from taxes generated by ‘downstream’ industrial and business activity.”

Zawistowski concluded by saying, “From a TEA Party perspective, to raise taxes on one group to give a tax cut to another group is simply redistribution of wealth. It is not the Governor’s job to pick winners and losers; his job is to run the state government as efficiently as possible. If he wants to cut taxes, he should cut state spending so he can cut taxes. We will encourage our member groups to contact their state senators and house representatives and ask them to oppose the Governor’s proposal.”

The Ohio Liberty Coalition is a coalition of liberty group leaders whose purpose is to unite conservative grassroots organizations for greater effectiveness in the state and nation, and to provide resources for member organizations to strengthen their groups. The OLC currently has over 75 liberty-minded groups across Ohio who are members of its coalition.