ICYMI: Ramaswamy’s Scam Proposals Would Cause “Significant Hikes” to Taxes and “Major Cuts to Government Services”
May 4, 2026
Columbus, Ohio – On Saturday, an analysis by The Plain Dealer found that Vivek Ramaswamy’s dangerous plans to eliminate the state income tax, cancel the capital gains tax, and abolish property taxes would “involve significant hikes to other taxes” and “major cuts to government services.”
Ramaswamy’s scam proposals would raise costs on working families already struggling to make ends meet and have a “far more dramatic effect on government finances” Republican Governor Mike DeWine called it “absolutely devastating.”
READ: Vivek Ramaswamy vows bold tax cuts if elected Ohio governor; How would he pay for them?
- So far, the Columbus-area Republican is silent about how he would pay for such moves – which, if implemented, would likely involve significant hikes to other taxes and/or major cuts to government services.
- …Ramaswamy’s campaign platform, if passed, would have a far more dramatic effect on government finances than what Acton has put forward so far, an analysis by cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer found.
- One of the cornerstones of Ramaswamy’s campaign platform is a vow to phase out Ohio’s state income tax completely over an unspecified number of years.
- But the state’s income tax has brought in roughly $10 billion per year over the past five years. That’s about a third of Ohio’s total annual state tax revenue.
- Filling a state budget hole of around $10 billion per year would require substantially raising other state taxes (such as the sales tax or commercial activity tax), making substantial cuts to state government spending (such as Medicaid, education, and other core public services) or some combination of the two.
- Critics of ending Ohio’s income tax have pointed to what happened in Kansas more than a decade ago, when major tax cuts – passed by Republicans amid promises that the economic growth they would create would cover their cost – led to a state budget crisis.
- Ramaswamy… favors effectively eliminating the 20-mill floor, a policy mechanism that often contributes to higher tax bills when property values rise.
- Property taxes, which are levied by school districts and other local governments around Ohio at varying rates, are the main funding source for the state’s K-12 public schools. Some local levies also raise money for roads, parks, libraries and local governments, among other things.
- But the more such taxes are cut, the more schools and municipalities would have to slash budgets and/or raise other local taxes.
- Gov. Mike DeWine has warned that sales tax rates could hit 20% if property taxes are done away with altogether – a move that Ramaswamy initially called for.
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