Governor Orders $390 Million In Ohio Budget Cuts

COLUMBUS, OH — Gov. Mike DeWine is again slashing budgets for all state agencies, this time to the tune of $390 million.

On Friday, the governor signed Executive Order 2021-01D, which implements the sweeping cuts for for fiscal year 2021. DeWine blamed the continued economic pinch of the COVID-19 fallout.

“In the springtime, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, and on Ohio’s revenues, was dire. With this, reductions were made to the state’s biennial budget," the governor said in a statement.

Last year, DeWine ordered $775 million in cuts to the state budget. The governor has repeatedly refused to tap into Ohio's "rainy day" fund, saying the state should wait until that money is desperately needed to utilize it.

However, since this year's cuts are smaller than last year's, the Ohio Department of Education can receive an additional $160 million and the Department of Higher Education can receive an additional $100 million of previously withheld 2021 General Revenue Fund appropriations.

The governor said with most K-12 schools returning to some form of in-person education on March 1, it was important to free up additional funding to support their efforts.

The Ohio Office of Budget and Management's report for December 2020 showed the state's recovery had slowed and then begun to decline in recent months. Moody's suggested the reversal could be due to holiday slowdowns.

"Uncertainty continues for both the fourth quarter of 2020 and calendar year 2021. Increased

distribution of vaccines brings hope for the end of the pandemic. However, the first quarter of 2021 is likely to be grim. With COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths at high levels in Ohio and across the country; businesses facing additional constraints; and jobless claims remaining high, economists expect only modest growth in the fourth quarter of 2020 and first quarter of 2021," the report said.