RH Jones: End Ohio punitive income taxes on retired teachers

From RH Jones, March 25, 2013 

To all:  
It is common knowledge that Governor Kasich, and his "team", see an income tax cut essential to a stronger Ohio economy. Therefore, do you not see that cutting out state income taxes for retired teachers is a way to partially restore some of that large punitive "take-away" which has been recently forced upon the pensions of retired teachers? Most certainly, this has hurt those of us who have been retired the longest.  
In the past, the STRS has stated that 90% of retired teachers live and spend their income here in Ohio. To cut out the "rob Peter to pay Paul" state income tax on retired Ohio teacher residents does make sense. Those 10% that have chosen to live and spend outside our state will have an incentive to move back home. And, the coming bulge of retiring "Baby-Boomer" teachers will have a greater incentive to stay here, as well; then, in other words, the present retired and the future retired teachers will help support local and state budgets, businesses, and jobs.  
Local tax levies on property, local and state sales taxes, are the taxes which have been increased the most in the last several years. Ohio’s retired teachers living on the property, and supporting Ohio businesses, and local communities with their spending, should be an incentive for the governor and the state lawmakers to support a bill to eliminate Ohio’s income tax on retired teachers.
Will other retired teachers please step up to the plate and to ask that the "rob Peter to pay Paul" state income tax on retired teachers be eliminated? It makes no sense for the State Teachers Retirement System to issue a pension to retired teachers just to have a part of it paid back to the State of Ohio in the form of an income tax. The time is now to cut out this income tax on retired teachers. already, many other states have, for their own good, done so.  

RH Jones, retired Ohio teacher