Ohio Senate Republicans approved their version of the state budget bill on Wednesday. 

Democrats proposed amendments that would increase funding for public K-12 education, eliminate tax breaks for the wealthy and kill a cash infusion for the Cleveland Browns to build a new stadium in Brook Park. Republicans, who control all but nine of the 33 seats in the chamber, easily defeated the proposals before later passing the bill. 

Now the House and Senate need to hash out the differences between their competing plans before sending Gov. Mike DeWine a final proposal, from which he can sign or veto individual items. 

The vote marks the second major overhaul of the budget plan that DeWine introduced in February. As the governor, the House and the Senate built and amended the bill, it grew from 4,063 pages to 5,048 pages all the way up to its current 5,648 pages. Inside are specific funding levels for the different arms of state government plus a long list of policy items. 

House and Senate negotiations are ahead 

With Wednesday’s vote, the House and the Senate must talk over their differences and agree on a final version. Each chamber will pick members for what’s called a conference committee, which will hammer out a final version for lawmakers to pass before a June 30 legal deadline. Then, it heads to DeWine’s desk.

Sen. Jerry Cirino, the chair of the Senate Finance committee, which did most of the work on the budget, didn’t want to show his cards on Tuesday when a reporter asked him to identify which items the Senate simply would refuse to budge on.

“I certainly don’t want to disclose what our ‘must haves’ are,” Cirino said. “But if you look at our key priorities, I think it’s pretty obvious which ones we are going to fight very hard for.” 

Here are three areas that could be the biggest points of contention between the House and the Senate: 

1. School funding: The House and Senate plans spend a similar amount of money on K-12 schools at large, although there are technical differences between the two plans that could see school districts in some areas of the state getting more money and some getting less. But the House budget proposed sets a cap on how much money school districts would be allowed to save in their reserve funds. School districts would be required to return any amount above that “carryover cap” level to local property owners. 

The House wants a carryover cap at an amount equal to 30% of the school district’s operating budget. The Senate set the cap at 50%, with an exception for money schools set aside to pay for construction and maintenance. 

2. Funding the Cleveland Browns: DeWine, the House and the Senate all believe that the state should invest in the Browns plan for a new domed stadium in the Cleveland suburb of Brook Park. The team’s owners say it’s a mixed-use economic development project worth the $600 million in public money they want. But the governor and the two chambers of the legislature all disagree on how to pay for it. DeWine proposed hiking the state’s gambling tax, while the House proposed borrowing the money against future tax revenues associated with the project, which is the Browns’ preferred approach. The Senate proposed raiding the state’s $4.8 billion Unclaimed Funds pot. 

They could end up agreeing on the Senate plan, which House Speaker Matt Huffman has praised as clever, and Senate Republicans believe DeWine might be more likely to favor. But it’s hard to foresee what might happen, especially given how the House vote showed divisions within the Republican caucus on the issue. 

3. Income tax cuts: In their budget plan, the Senate continued Ohio Republicans’ ongoing march toward both decreasing the state’s personal income tax rates and reducing the margin betweenwhat the state’s biggest earners pay and what low-wage workers pay. 

Over two years, the budget reduces the top marginal rate – paid by those who make $100,000 or more – to a flat 2.75% for all earners, from the current 3.5%. Those benefits go to the one in five Ohioans who earn more than $100,000 per year. 

That cut, plus a related reduction for more modest earners, means a revenue loss for the state of $529 million in fiscal year 2026 and $1.15 billion in 2027 after they’re fully phased in. It will save eligible taxpayers at least $750 each.

If the House ends up pulling for changes that add to the bill’s price tag, the money will have to come from somewhere. They may take a look at reducing the Senate tax cut to make the numbers add up. There also may be a push to restore some of the tax exemptions the Senate nixed to pay for the income tax cut.

Medicaid spotlight

The latest version of the budget calls for trimming Medicaid, at least compared to the higher spending levels proposed by the House and particularly by DeWine.

The plan largely directs the DeWine administration to find cost savings. But it also includes some specific cost-cutting changes that would cause babies, young children, the working poor and others to lose coverage.

Former Gov. John Kasich’s point person on health policy, who was credited with managing Ohio’s expansion of the Medicaid program in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act, called the Senate’s budget a reasonable attempt to rein in costs. In contrast, the CEO of a children’s advocacy organization called provisions that could boot babies from Medicaid coverage “shameless.”

Looming in the background, meanwhile, are federal changes that could jeopardize a budgeting trick Ohio and other states use to prop up their Medicaid programs. Find out more from me and Jake here.

GOP coalescing around Kevin Coughlin

It’s looking increasingly likely that voters in Akron and the surrounding area will see a rematch of the 2024 congressional election next year.

Republican Kevin Coughlin, who narrowly lost last year in his challenge of Democratic U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, is well on his way to consolidating support from his potential future colleagues. He’s now landed endorsements from all 10 Ohio Republican congressmen and Ohio’s two U.S. Senators, Jon Husted and Bernie Moreno.

Given the role that support from incumbent Republicans plays in fundraising, the development sets up Coughlin to zip through the May 2026 primary, unlike in 2024, when he had to defeat a more open field of candidates first. 

Sykes spokesperson Justin Barasky issued a statement mocking Coughlin by previewing some likely campaign themes against him, including one that calls him a “self-serving lobbyist.” You can read my full story on him here.

Jake Zuckerman contributed to this story.