(The Center Square) – To pay for a new child tax credit and jails, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine wants to raise taxes for gamblers, smokers and recreational marijuana users.
DeWine proposed a $1,000 credit for parents who work a minimum wage, full-time job and have children 6 years old and younger in his two-year budget. He expects raising the state’s cigarette tax from $1.60 per pack to $3.10 a pack to cover those revenue shortfalls.
“The child credit we are creating is totally funded with the increase in the cigarette tax,” DeWine said. “It’s a thing that makes a lot of sense as far as public health and as far as families.”
At the same time, DeWine proposed raising the tax on vape products from 17% to 42% and increasing the tax on recreational marijuana from 10% to 20%.
DeWine said the marijuana tax hike would pay for things like jail improvements, law enforcement and addiction services.
DeWine wants to double the gambling tax from 20% to 40% to fund pro sports stadiums and youth sports. He said this would give the state another $130 million to $180 million a year for pro and minor league sports facilities. A new commission would decide which projects to fund, which would be capped at 40% of the total cost.
The revenue from the current 20% would remain dedicated to education, gambling addiction and other services. Only a new 20% would be used to fund stadiums and youth sports.
“For decades, the state of Ohio has participated in funding Ohio pro sports stadiums. This budget creates a permanent solution for requests of the state to help fund these stadiums,” DeWine said. “It would no longer be necessary to use General Fund tax dollars for these purposes. Ohio citizens every single day are giving millions of dollars to sports gaming companies. It’s time for us to raise the tax on them so that we can do things for Ohioans.”
Kansas also uses proceeds from sports gambling taxes to fund professional sports facilities, dedicating 80% of the revenue to a special stadium fund.
DeWine also wants part of the gambling tax increase to go to a youth sports fund to help families pay for athletic and extracurricular activity fees associated with the schools.
Some districts, like Medina in northeast Ohio, charge students more than $300 per sport to participate in interscholastic athletics. Most schools that charge pay-to-play fees are generally in the $100 per sport neighborhood.
After voters rejected a new emergency tax levy in November, the Marysville Board of Education voted to charge athletes $575 for winter and spring sports this year. It had initially voted to charge $845 per sport.
