Ohio is going to Hell in a Handbasket -- are you listening, Governor DeWine?

As state lawmakers begin dissecting Gov. Mike DeWine’s inaugural budget proposal this month, Ohio desperately needs legislators to face stubborn facts.

For the last half-century, compared to the nation as a whole, Ohio has been in decline on nearly every measure of economic well-being and quality of life.

On average, Ohioans are less educated, poorer, fatter, more drug-addicted and more likely to smoke than their fellow Americans.

As of 2016, Ohio ranked 29th among the states in per capita personal income, nearly $5,000 below the national average.

It’s no coincidence that as Ohio has lagged the nation in job growth and prosperity it has lagged in educational opportunity — from sparse pre-K to costly college tuition.

Since 2006, state funding for the Department of Higher Education, in inflation-adjusted dollars, fell by $505 million. The net cost of a full year at one of Ohio’s public colleges, as a share of family income, is higher than in 44 other states.

That’s just one example of the many ways Ohio, in real-dollar terms, has disinvested in programs that shape the future well-being of its citizens.

https://www.the-daily-record.com/opinion/20190312/editorial-next-state-budget-must-address-ohios-declining-quality-of-life