The recent report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy showed that the proposed Ohio capital gains tax cut (H.B. 626 sponsored by Rep. Chuck Calvert) would give over $400 million in tax cuts (over three years) to the 1 percent of Ohioans who have an average annual income of $812,000. In the following years these taxpayers would see an annual benefit of $187 million a year!

So that leads me to the question, rather than giving these funds to the most fortunate among us, are there better ways to spend them – ways that would actually improve the well being of the citizens of the state and or the state’s economy. Here are a few that I came up with:

· Restore health insurance for 25,000 low-wage workers who lost their Medicaid benefits because of state cut backs. This would help keep these workers healthy and employed and paying taxes.

· Fully fund PASSPORT and eliminate waiting lists for community based care for our hundreds of Ohio's elderly and saving the state millions of dollars in nursing home costs.

· Fully fund all day kindergarten for Ohio children – this could reduce remedial education costs and have long term economic benefits for the state.

So do you have any ideas about how Ohio might use these funds as opposed to giving hundreds of millions of dollars in tax cuts to Ohio’s wealthiest citizens? I would love to hear them, send them to me at jcorlett@communitysolutions.com