Speaker Signals Support for Tapping Rainy Day Fund

This week, House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) said state lawmakers will likely need to utilize the state’s rainy day fund to close an expected budget gap due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to Gongwer News Service, the speaker told WOSU Radio: “We’re sitting on a $2.7 billion fund, and we’re looking at some significant shortfalls in our budget. That budget stabilization fund is going to literally help stabilize our budget.”

In the same interview, Householder said the state budget could be as much as $2 billion short of projections by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, according to Hannah News Service. Asked about Gov. DeWine’s order to agencies to cut 20% of their budgets, Householder said, “It will not be anywhere close to what we need to cut.” 4/7/2020