Ohio

Ohio’s Fiscal Middle Ground Ohio is the Midwest’s great median case—large enough to matter, diverse enough to reflect the full range of regional tensions, and fiscally positioned neither at the crisis end (Illinois) nor the model end (Indiana). Understanding Ohio means understanding a state managing genuine post-industrial transition while navigating intense interstate tax competition and the fiscal complications of being a genuine political swing state. Revenue Structure Ohio’s revenue mix has shifted significantly over the past two decades. A major tax reform in 2005 phased out the tangible personal property tax and the corporate franchise tax, replacing them partly with a Commercial Activity Tax (a gross receipts tax applied to business revenues) and partly with reductions not fully replaced—a net tax cut that reduced the state’s fiscal capacity. ...