OVERVIEW:
Ohioans are working harder than ever, but they just can’t make ends meet. Dr. Acton’s ActOn Costs Agenda will lower costs, help Ohioans keep more of their money by cutting taxes, put money back in people’s pockets, and build an Ohio that delivers for working families.
WORKING FAMILIES TAX CUT:
As governor, my number one priority will be to secure a tax cut for Ohio’s working families to put money back in their pockets, lift families out of poverty, and make sure Ohioans see their hard work pay off. This state has put special interests and wealthy elites before working families in this state for far too long.
Everywhere we go, we hear from families that they are struggling to keep up with rising costs and to afford the basics for their kids. It’s time to put Ohioans first again.
My Working Families Tax Cut is designed to benefit hardworking Ohioans and help parents shoulder the burden of raising a family.
It includes an Earned Income Credit that will support up to 775,000 working families, reward Ohioans’ hard work, and lift families out of poverty. I will also fight for a child tax credit of $1,000 a year for children aged 0-6 and $500 for children aged 7-18 for families making up to $85,000 in annual income, which would help ease the burden for more than 1.4 million children and their families.
Under my Working Families Tax Cut, a married couple with two children earning $60,000 a year could receive an additional $1,778 back in their pockets.
LOWERING HEALTHCARE COSTS:
As a doctor, I’ve seen firsthand how important it is that Ohioans can both access and afford the care they need — and how right now, that simply isn’t the case for so many people in our state. Ohioans are struggling; more than 120,000 people dropped their healthcare coverage through the ACA since 2025, 11 rural hospitals are at risk of closure, and prescription drug prices are rising.
That’s why, as governor, I will:
1. Protect Against Attacks on Medicaid and Medicare from Columbus and Washington – I will help Ohioans stay on and enroll in Medicaid by eliminating unnecessary red tape, shortening approval waiting periods, and eliminating waste and fraud that drive up costs and jeopardize Ohioans’ care. With Medicaid under attack, I will direct state agencies to ensure Ohioans can get the care they need.
2. Reduce Prescription Drug Prices – As governor, I will launch Ohio Rx, an online platform that will leverage Ohio’s purchasing power from its Medicaid single pharmacy benefit manager to drive down prescription drug prices for all Ohioans. I will also push to require that out-of-pocket purchases for medications and other healthcare supplies count towards Ohioans’ health insurance deductibles.
3. Forgive Medical Debt – No one should go bankrupt because of a necessary medical procedure, but I’ve heard too many stories from Ohioans who have had exactly that happen. Medical debt is the leading form of consumer debt, which is why on my first day in office I will direct our state to join the cities in our state – including Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Toledo – that have successfully relieved nearly a billion dollars in medical debt for working families, often for pennies on the dollar, giving families some breathing room and the fresh start they need.
4.Lower Healthcare Premiums – Too many Ohioans are facing skyrocketing insurance premiums, and having to choose between putting other necessities on hold or forgoing insurance altogether. As governor, I will work to bring far more transparency to insurance and hospital pricing, lower healthcare premiums in the process, and support small businesses in covering their employees.
5. Crack Down on Surprise Billing and Aggressive Collections – Just like with any other service, Ohioans should know up-front how much their medical treatments will cost. To keep Ohioans out of punishing medical debt, I will strengthen Ohio’s efforts to crack down on surprise billing and build on the bipartisan effort to end the predatory and overly aggressive collection practices that only hurt Ohio families.
TACKLING HIGH ENERGY BILLS:
Our energy bills are too high. Last summer, Eric and my electric bill went up $140 in one month – and I know I’m not alone. As governor, I will fight to lower your bills and save you money.
1. Put Consumers First:
- I will work to restore the checks and balances vital to a high-performing and affordable state energy strategy. I will appoint PUCO commissioners who put ratepayers first and are not beholden to utility companies.
- I will also work with our Attorney General to restore the budget of the Office of the Consumers’ Counsel so that we can better protect consumers against excessive rate hikes and predatory practices.
2. Lower Energy Bills for Ohioans:
My administration will lower costs for Ohio families through an all-of-the-above energy strategy that:
- Enhances production and incorporates the lowest-cost and cleanest sources of energy readily available.
- Expands access to cost-saving programs such as Ohio’s Home Energy Assistance Program, the Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP), and Home Weatherization Assistance Program, and makes sure these programs continue to deliver for Ohioans in the face of attacks from Washington.
- Reinstates the pro-consumer programs gutted under HB6, including Energy Efficiency, Demand Response and Renewable Portfolio Standards to give consumers and Ohio’s small businesses the tools they need to reduce their bills.
- Empowers consumers to better control their costs and usage in order to reduce their bills.
3. Cost Guardrails for Data Centers
- All additional costs for electricity, gas, water, environmental protection, and other services must be covered by the data centers and investors, and not Ohio taxpayers and communities.
- Data center projects should be transparent and accountable to the local communities where they are operating, not hidden behind secrecy and NDAs.
- Ohio should not loosen its air quality and groundwater standards for data centers.
- Ohio’s data centers should be built and operated by Ohio union workers, along with community benefits agreements that ensure Ohio workers and local communities directly benefit from jobs that are created.
4. Coordinate Across the Region to Reform PJM:
- On my watch, Ohio will work with the 12 other states in PJM to advocate for affordable reliable power for all Ohioans.
PUTTING MONEY BACK IN OHIOANS’ POCKETS:
As costs rise, predatory practices and unseen fees are putting an even greater burden on Ohioans. As governor, I will fight to put money back in Ohioans’ pockets and protect consumers from hidden fees, predatory practices, and fraud.
Cracking Down on Wage Theft:
There are employers right here in Ohio who are stealing from more than 213,000 of our hardworking friends and neighbors, and it’s happening in plain sight. Too many Ohioans are being paid less than the minimum wage, being asked to work “off the books,” or being forced to work unpaid overtime, not to mention the employers who are stealing tips and misclassifying employees as independent contractors. On the first day of the Acton administration, I will issue an executive order to require a rapid turnaround on wage theft cases, so Ohioans get the money they have earned in a timely manner. We should be rewarding and supporting employers who follow the law and respect their workers, and cracking down on bad actors.
Protecting Consumers and Seniors from Predatory Practices, Fraud, and Collections:
Ohio had the sixth-largest volume of complaints about elder scams in the country in 2023, with losses exceeding $64 million. I will protect consumers and seniors from scams that target their life savings by:
- Directing banks, regulators, and law enforcement to work together to protect seniors from identity theft, scams, and fraud
- Creating consumer protections for veterans, military families, and students, such as bans on predatory student loan practices
- Modernizing the SNAP EBT system to make it harder to steal benefits from those who rely on SNAP assistance
- Cracking down on predatory debt collection on student loans and medical debt
Eliminate Hidden Fees on Ohioans
- I will end the surprise markups on concerts + sports tickets by:
- Supporting House Bill 563, a bipartisan bill targeting fees on the secondary market
- Enacting First Click Guarantee – Dr. Acton will work to ensure that the very first price a fan sees on a website must be the final price they pay
- Protect Ohioans against speculative tickets and bot technology, and hold individuals accountable for unfair or deceptive trade practices.
- App Store Accountability: I will push for measures that empower parents to limit exposure to unauthorized in-app purchases, inappropriate content and age-restricted material.
- I will work with the state legislature to require age verification and other protections against in-app purchases, which can add up quickly for families and expose kids to content they shouldn’t be seeing.
- Price Gouging: I will take action to crack down on price gouging by making sure regulators are doing their job, establishing a hotline to report price gouging in Ohio, and working closely with the AG’s office to monitor prices, bring forward enforcement cases, and crack down on illegal and anti-competitive practices that jack up prices.