COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Final estimates place Ohio’s projected budget shortfall at more than $1 billion.
Legislative budget analysts told the opening day of a conference committee working to meet a June 30 budget deadline that tax revenues are expected to lag projections by $1.02 billion over the two-year budget cycle. The state is also expected to see its share of Medicaid caseload costs exceed estimates by $59 million over the period.
The Legislative Service Commission estimates were in line with what lawmakers had begun to expect. The budget bill that cleared the Ohio Senate on Wednesday already proposed ways to close the gap.
Republican legislative leaders and GOP Gov. John Kasich went public with concerns in April that there would be a revenue shortfall of at least $800 million.
