Governor DeWine: $775 Million in Spending Cuts over next two Months due to Pandemic

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine hosted his daily coronavirus briefing Tuesday at the Statehouse in Columbus and announced some major cuts in spending. DeWine said the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing the state to cut $775 million dollars in spending over the next two months. He added that he does not yet plan to tap into the $2.7 million dollar rainy day fund.

The cuts announced for the next two months:

Medicaid: $210 million

K-12 Foundation Payment Reduction: $300 million

Other Education Budget Line items: $55 million

Higher Education: $110 million

All Other Agencies: $100 million

Total cuts: $775 million

The Governor says these decisions were not easy. We did not make them lightly, but they are necessary. As many of our businesses are making adjustments in this difficult time, so must our government. If we don’t make these cuts now, the cuts we will have to make next year will be more dramatic.

With regard to our state agencies, each of our agencies, with the exception of the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, is taking cuts, including the Governor’s Office.

There are 20,072 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ohio including 1,038 deaths.