Ohio Lawmakers Agree To Place Tax Question on Upcoming Ballot

By Robert C. Johnston

A marathon debate over education funding continues in Ohio, where school groups are already divided over a May 5 ballot measure that proposes hiking the state sales tax by 1 cent in order to raise revenue for schools.

Gov. George V. Voinovich signed the ballot bill Feb. 17, two days before a deadline to qualify measures for the spring primary election. Lawmakers also face a state supreme court deadline of March 24 to revise the school aid system, which the court declared unconstitutional a year ago. ( "School Finance Plan Fails by 2 Votes in Ohio," Feb. 11. 1998.)

It took 11 months of pitched wrangling for lawmakers to finally give the go-ahead to the ballot measure, which would raise $1.1 billion annually. The revenues would be evenly split between schools and property-tax relief. The Senate passed the bill Feb. 17 on a 23-10 vote. House members voted 59-39 for the bill a little less...