Ohio Representative Susan Manchester spoke at the Lima Exchange Club on Monday afternoon.
PRecious Grundy | The Lima News
LIMA — The state of Ohio is transitioning away from budget season and into time at home. Ohio Rep. Susan Manchester, R-Waynesfield spoke at the Lima Exchange Club on Monday afternoon to discuss the legislative process and new ideas to come.
“I am so grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had over the past five years as a state representative,” Manchester said. “I feel like we’ve made some great strides for the state of Ohio. I personally have worked on a lot of child welfare issues — I think there’s still more work to be done on that. There are still thousands of kids in foster care in need of caregivers. I do believe that the state needs to continue to step it up when it comes to our kids in foster care.”
Manchester has served in the state House of Representatives since her election in 2018. In July, she announced her campaign to run for the state Senate. If elected, Manchester hopes to focus on income tax.
“We just finished up our last budget process,” Manchester said. “We made a pretty significant tax cut for the personal income tax. I would like to continue to see what we can do to get that number down to zero so that no Ohioan is burdened with income tax. They can use their hard-earned money for whatever they want to use it for — we have a lot of really great job opportunities. Our unemployment rate is low. But our challenge continues to be to attract new people.”
Manchester also said Tennessee, Texas and Florida are reportedly seeing an increase in population.
“We’ll never have their weather,” Manchester said. “They all don’t have a personal income tax. That’s a big reason why I think Ohio should join. It will take work to get there but I do believe there’s a path forward and as a state senator, that is something I will prioritize.”
The representative said the Ohio congress is in its district work period.
“I love getting to know the community members, especially in Allen County,” Manchester said. “This is new territory for me. I believe that groups like the Exchange Club are so important to the vibrancy of the community — I love being able to meet with those people, hear what they’re working on and explore how we can be helpful in their efforts.”
Reach Precious Grundy at 567-242-0351.
