Ohio Rainy Day Fund

A coalition of more than 100 unions and progressive advocacy groups is 

calling on state leaders to avoid making cuts to front-line workers serving communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using three quarters of a billion dollars in cuts and some reserve cash and federal Medicaid funding, the state has staved off a budget deficit for the fiscal year that ends on June 30.

Democrats are calling on the state to release some of the 2.7 billion dollars in its Rainy Day Fund.  

The state has deposited more than 650 million dollars into its rainy day fund. 

There are as many as 170 thousand Ohioans who abuse or are addicted to opioids, according to a recent study from Ohio State University’s Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy.

Some state officials have talked about tapping Ohio's 2 billion dollar rainy day fund to help with the budget and combat the opioid crisis.

A Democratic State Senator and gubernatorial candidate is joining the Republican Attorney General in calling for the use of money from Ohio's rainy day fund to help battle the opioid epidemic .

Republican Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says if elected governor he would push for mandatory K-12 anti-drug education as part of the state's efforts to fight the opioid epidemic.