Democrats who control the Ohio House decided they needed a sweetener to gain public support behind their tax plan to erase a $850 million budget gap.

State Auditor Mary Taylor says Gov. Ted Strickland has handed over Ohio’s financial statements, which had become a source of political conflict.

Gov. Ted Strickland has signaled that he’d be willing to discuss raising taxes in negotiations with lawmakers over how to plug a budget gap.

About 1,700 city workers in Columbus have agreed to take five days off without pay to help Mayor Michael Coleman close a $13 million budget gap.

It’s not easy to make a splash when you’re the state auditor. But Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor did just that last week.

Gov. Ted Strickland’s use of federal stimulus money and other one-time sources of cash to balance the upcoming two-year budget would leave an $8 billion hole to fill in the following two years, Ohio’s Republican auditor said Thursday.