Governor Mike DeWine is warning that there are serious economic implications unfolding due to the epidemic. DeWine says state government revenues are declining dramatically, and the state is implementing an immediate hiring freeze — except for positions related to fighting the coronavirus. The state is also freezing travel and new contracts.
Cuts are coming to existing programs, too. Governor DeWine has been telling his cabinet members to look for emergency belt-tightening measures right away.
"We’ve already instructed each one of them to look for cuts that they can make immediately in their budgets and in their spending," DeWine said. "We’re looking at cuts of up to 20 percent."
The state has also halted all state employee promotions and pay raises. DeWine says Ohio has to slow down the rate of its spending dramatically due to the declines — and he says, we all have a number of hard months ahead of us.
