Advocating for tax reform and childcare solutions in Ohio legislature

By State Rep. Bill Roemer, CPA (R-Richfield)

Currently, I am the only CPA serving in the Ohio House of Representatives. As Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, I’m proud to bring my years of experience in business to the Statehouse. In the committee, we have reviewed 40 pieces of legislation, passing 13 bills affecting tax policy at the state and local levels. We have held over 35 meetings covering more than 70 hours of testimony. It is an important and interesting committee that considers everything from the future of property taxes to tax credits for employer provided childcare.

Greg Saul, OSCPA’s Vice President of Government Relations, has come in on behalf of the OSCPA to testify on numerous bills in the committee, providing valuable insight. I encourage fellow members of the Ohio Society of CPAs to appear before the committee and share their expertise. It is important to hear from experts in a variety of fields to craft good legislation that will help everyday Ohioans.

Building on my experience leading the Ways and Means Committee, I am proud to share my perspective in the Joint Committee on Property Tax Review and Reform, where I serve as co-chairman. This bipartisan committee consists of five members from the House and Senate. My colleagues and I have worked diligently to protect already heavily taxed Ohioans, and we need to work together to find effective and accurate long-term solutions to simplify Ohio’s complex and burdensome property tax system.

We have heard from over 60 witnesses representing state and local governments, business owners, national and statewide research organizations, subject matter experts and community advocacy groups who want to see effective solutions in their communities. The committee will issue a series of recommendations in the next few months.

Lowering property taxes for families, veterans and older Ohioans is not something I take lightly. I appreciate the opportunity I’ve been given to help provide much-needed relief to Ohioans.

It's no secret that, much like homeowners, employers are also facing a crisis attracting and retaining their workforce. To continue to grow Ohio’s economy, we need new publicprivate partnerships to help our businesses, community partners and childcare providers create increased access to childcare. Across Ohio, families cannot afford childcare and are leaving the workforce altogether. Forty-eight percent of small business owners say lack of available or affordable childcare affected their ability to recruit and retain employees.

Representative Andrea White and I introduced House Bill 484 to help our communities partner together to solve our childcare crisis. HB 484 creates a new state grant fund, training, an employer toolkit and a Design Learning Lab to help employers partner with childcare providers, non-profits, government and community organizations to expand childcare options to meet workforce needs. A start-up innovation fund of $10 million would be allocated, with grants capped at up to $750,000. Partnerships can use the funds to assist in retrofitting or equipping on-site or near-site facilities for childcare, building new facilities and more so they can pay higher wages to attract workers into the field.

As a direct result of childcare issues, the United States loses $122 billion in earnings, productivity and revenue annually. Ohio’s economy alone is suffering an annual loss of $3.9 billion.

If the imbalance of wages to childcare costs remains, our workforce will continue to see shortages. We don’t want to negate the work Ohio has done to become a businessfriendly state with numerous job opportunities for families to thrive. We must continue to work with parents and businesses to establish affordable childcare facilities.

I am truly honored to serve in the Ohio House. I encourage you to visit the Ohio Channel (https://www.ohiochannel. org/) to stay updated with legislation and issues being discussed at the Statehouse. I also urge you to take advantage of OSCPA’s news resources for all the hot issues of concern to our profession.