COLUMBUS (AP) – The Ohio House has approved a nearly $64 billion, two-year operating budget that would impose new controls on Medicaid expansion money and invest $170 million in tackling the state’s No. 1 ranking in opioid deaths.
The bill cleared the Republican-controlled chamber, 58-36, on Tuesday after more than two and half hours of debate.
House Democratic Leader Fred Strahorn raised his party’s objections to investment priorities that he said would leave the middle class behind.
House Finance Chairman Ryan Smith called it a responsible spending blueprint that does the best with the state’s limited resources.
The House removed a package of tax changes proposed by Republican Gov. John Kasich and made dozens of other changes to the bill. The measure now heads to the Ohio Senate.