COLUMBUS Ohio
Gov. Ted Strickland took his first budget to the final day, signing the $52 billion spending plan just hours before the fiscal year ended Saturday, and after making good on his threat to veto a tax-funded voucher program to allow special-needs students to attend private schools.
The budget freezes college tuition for two years and supplies $100 million in scholarships for the math and science students Strickland and legislative leaders say are needed to bolster Ohio's economy.
It also expands a program that allows poor children to be eligible for health insurance and provides a property tax break for people 65 and older.
Both chambers of the Legislature passed the budget on Wednesday.
Bickering has been intense in recent budgets, as political factions vied for their pet programs amid an atmosphere of limited resources. But in the wake of last year's political power shift in which Democrats including Strickland captured four of five statewide races, this year's budget received just a single 'no' vote out of 264 potential votes on the bill's various versions.
"This budget represents a historic consensus. But long after our agreement is forgotten, the people of Ohio will be benefiting from what we agreed upon," the governor said.
Republicans, all smiles with the governor during a joint appearance after the budget's passage, criticized Strickland for the voucher veto and two other vetoes of provisions that would have reined in his authority to spend certain funds without Legislative approval.
"The governor's veto has made this a sad day for special-needs children in Ohio. It strips hope away from parents seeking a better education for their children," House Speaker Jon Husted, a suburban Dayton Republican, said. "I want these families to know that this is not the end of the road and that I will continue to fight to change the Governor's mind and the law."
Senate President Bill Harris, an Ashland Republican, said the governor's office had advised him that Strickland was going to veto the special-needs voucher program.
