The Columbus Dispatch reports that at midnight July 1, “Ohio closed its financial books on a painful fiscal year.” And the new fiscal year confronts state policymakers with a projected $2.1 billion shortfall in the $35 billion general revenue fund budget. The story notes that “while seen as a last resort, the depth of the problem could prompt talk of tax or fee increases in the tax-averse GOP-controlled General Assembly.” The OMA is monitoring this situation carefully. 7/1/2020