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Mike DeWine, Ohio’s Republican governor, announced that the state will cut its spending by $775 million over the next two months, with a $110 million reduction for the state’s public colleges and universities.
The state’s revenues have taken a “dramatic turn” with a $1 billion swing downward during the last two months, DeWine said on Twitter. And projected revenues will continue to fall below the planned budget in coming months.
Ohio will not draw from its rainy-day fund to cover the deficit, DeWine said. “Simply stated, we are going to need the rainy day fund for next year, and possibly the next,” he said.
DeWine wrote,
Decisions like this are extremely difficult, but are part of my responsibility, as your governor, to make. While we do not know what the coming months will hold, we do know that COVID-19 is here with us and will be here for quite some time. Nevertheless, it does not exempt us from balancing our budget, which we are legally obligated to do. Making difficult budget cut decisions now will help us down the road and will help us while we continue our discussions for the next fiscal year.
