First, when they call Columbus to get something, or stop something, or just gripe, they want someone who knows their names to answer the phone. Second, they want to win the occasional contract, or appropriation, and pass the occasional bill, to prove to their bosses, stockholders or members that they deserve their fat paychecks and lush expense accounts, because, hey, they’re big shots at the Statehouse.
True, big-picture-wise, real money’s at stake. What Ohioans pay for gas and electricity and insurance is determined at the Statehouse or around Capitol Square. So is the carve-up over tax policy – who gets stuck. And for how much. And that’s where “issue politics” come in – as smokescreen.
For donors and lobbyists – a.k.a., insiders – that’s the virtue of “issues.” When people get riled about, say, same-sex marriage or SNAP clients buying steaks or abortion access or dirt-bike tracks, insiders can quietly shift Ohio’s tax burden from the haves to the have-nots, or boost utility bills.
Twenty years ago, in the fiscal year that ended in June 1997, Ohio’s state income tax, which is based on a person’s ability to pay, made up about 46 percent of the major taxes the state collected. Meanwhile, the state sales tax, which is based on the price of goods and services, including many necessities, made up about 40 percent of the state government’s major tax receipts.
By last June 30, at the end of fiscal year 2017, the state income tax provided only 38 percent of the major state taxes the state collects – while the sales tax, a tax on consumption, made up about 51 percent of major-tax receipts. That is, Ohioans buying clothes and shoes for their children – necessities – are shouldering a bigger share of statewide taxes. But Ohioans paying the state income tax, a tax whose rates are geared to a person’s ability to pay, are shouldering a smaller share. If that tax shift was aimed at spurring a statewide boom, someone got conned. But not the big shots.
Now, in fairness, Ohio politicians did have some priorities over those 20 years: The General Assembly tried to ban gay marriage, tries to limit abortion access, and may try (again) to kick low-income Ohioans off Medicaid (that is, stiff Ohio hospitals and doctors). And the legislature strives, always, to make sure Ohio gun owners can take concealed firearms anywhere, any time. How's that for economic development?
So, as Campaign 2018 approaches, you'll start hearing lots about "issues" from people of both parties who want to run Ohio as your trustees. If you cross paths with one of those candidates, or attend one of his or her events, or encounter a door-to-door canvasser, hold up a wallet, purse or checkbook. What's inside it, or isn't, is the statewide issue in Ohio today – the only issue.
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