Ohio House Tells Kasich “Not so Fast” with New Severance Tax

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The Ohio House of Representatives is telling Gov. John Kasich, in essence, “not so fast” with your severance-tax-increase-on-drillers-to-give-everyone-a-tax-cut plan.

Ohio House Finance Chairman Ron Amstutz, a fellow Republican, issued a statement late Friday indicating there is insufficient time to answer key questions about Kasich’s tax proposal.

“This aspect of the proposal touches on a high priority for our caucus: making’s Ohio’s tax burden as equitable and competitive as possible,” Amstutz said. “However, the more the members of our caucus have learned about this particular proposal, the more concerned I’ve become that there are key questions that cannot be sufficiently answered and resolved within the available legislative time frame — especially in light of all the other legislative work on our plate.”

Kasich hastily called a news conference to express disappointment in the decision. He accused special interests of lobbying lawmakers to get the plan scrapped, and said he would keep pushing.

“Special interests have a different point of view than I have on this,” Kasich said, declining to identify the groups. “This appears to be the first inning of what’s going to be a long ballgame.”*

It will be a long ballgame indeed.

*Akron Beacon Journal (Mar 16, 2012) – Ohio House puts brakes on Kasich’s tax plan