Ohio Chamber Lays Out Priorities for State of the State

On Monday night in Medina, Governor John Kasich will give his fourth State of the State address, where he will lay out his plans to “continue our fight for a stronger Ohio.”

But as you can see, he’s not giving too much away. While he will definitely highlight how he and his administration have worked over the past three-plus years to stabilize Ohio’s economy and improve Ohio’s business climate, the State of the State will largely be a forward-looking speech.

In recent speeches, the governor has previewed some of the themes he’s expected to touch on, including fighting drug abuse, addressing poverty, and bringing down personal income tax rates, a long-standing goal of his. The Ohio Chamber shares the governor’s desire to reduce personal income taxes because they are currently too high and create a barriers to job creation for our member businesses, but we hope to hear Kasich talk about other important public policy changes that would support business growth and job creation, as well. Mainly:

  • Fostering a more uniform municipal income tax system that will reduce compliance costs and administrative burdens for employers and make Ohio more competitive for new investment and jobs.
  • Fine-tuning Ohio’s five-year-old energy efficiency standards to reflect the realities of the state’s changing energy landscape and reduce the cost of state-mandated energy taxes.
  • Expanding efforts to reel in government red tape by ensuring state regulations don’t get in the way of economic growth.
  • Addressing the workforce needs of employers by strengthening the link between educational institutions, Ohio businesses and state workforce development programs

We hope the Governor Kasich shares our priorities in his address, but we want to hear from you. What do you want to hear the governor talk about?

We’re inviting you to shape the discussion on Twitter by tweeting what you would like to hear the governor propose to improve Ohio in 2014. If your tweet is constructive, highlights opportunity for jobs and economic growth, and includes the hashtags #probiz or #OHSoTS, we may RT you and promote your tweet on Twitter.

Don’t forget to find us on Twitter and follow @OhioChamber news and policy updates!