Associated Press
COLUMBUS – The owners of the money-losing Columbus Blue Jackets want a tax increase on beer, wine and cigarettes to underwrite a county takeover of Nationwide Arena, where the team plays.
Such a move would defy the will of local voters who repeatedly rejected public financing of the facility built by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.
The prospect of significant tax hikes also has touched off a battle between financial backers of the Blue Jackets and beer brewer Anheuser-Busch, which operates one of its 12 U.S. breweries in the city.
The company’s president flew to Columbus on Thursday for meetings with Gov. Ted Strickland and leaders of the Ohio Legislature. The team wants the proposal inserted into the budget that starts July 1.
Ohio Senate to release budget plan Friday
COLUMBUS- The Republican-led Ohio Senate plans to release its version of the two-year state budget on Friday.
The chamber has been trying to find ways to cut at least $1 billion from the roughly $54 billion plan approved by the Democratic-controlled House in April. Senators are also expected to make significant changes to a school funding plan proposed by Gov. Ted Strickland.
Declining tax revenues have made a challenging budget situation even worse.
The Senate plans to vote its budget plan out of committee and then bring it to the Senate floor next week. The two chambers then will have less than a month to work out differences between their plans before sending a compromise version to Strickland. The budget must be in place by July 1.
