By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

SABINA, Ohio — Gov. John R. Kasich, Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) Director Jim Zehringer and other officials visited the eighth-generation farm of state Rep. Bob Peterson (R-District 85) – former president of the Ohio Farm Bureau – for a roundtable discussion with farmers and small business leaders on the recent elimination of the Ohio estate tax.

“It’s a good day for Ohio,” Kasich said of the repeal. “It was something I promised in the campaign and it has been delivered; it doesn’t just make farmers happy, it makes any small businessperson happy.

“You work a lifetime, you’re asset-rich and cash-poor and you find yourself right up against the wall when it comes to making decisions about what you do with your property. This is going to provide a great deal of relief to people who find themselves in that situation.”

Zehringer said, “It was a very good event. Close to 100 farmers and small businessmen and -women and the Fayette County Junior Fair board were there. I think (the elimination of the estate tax) is very good news for family farms and small business.

“A lot of times when these farms are passed on to the next generation through an untimely death or an inheritance, the family has to sell the farm just to pay the estate tax. This keeps the farms in the families for future generations and it is a good thing all the way around. It’s also going to keep families in Ohio.”
Ohio Republican state Rep. Bill Hayes represents the 91st District, which encompasses Perry and Hocking counties, as well as portions of Licking and Pickaway counties. He explained the estate tax doesn’t only involve the farming community but also small businesspeople.

Hayes said he is a small-town attorney. He did not come from a family of lawyers, but went to law school at night and started a small practice in Licking County. Now he practices with his two sons and a couple of other attorneys.
“When I started I was a one-man show, and now we have nine employees,” he said. “When something happens to me, it is still sole proprietorship. I have not accumulated a lot of cash wealth, but I surely have a nice business. That is the sort of thing I am talking about. Some of the arguments were that a lot of people leave the state over it, but a lot of people stayed because they needed to, it was their source of income.

“I couldn’t move my Ohio law practice – I have had lots of clients in that same position – where they build a business, it generates a nice income but they don’t have a lot of cash. I think this is very good news for family farms and small business.”