Many of the states with no income tax — like Alaska, Texas, and Wyoming — have oil, gas, and mineral revenues to pay their bills. Ohio could follow that model by using natural gas revenues from the Marcellus Shale to finance the repeal of the income tax.

…Mathews said that lawmakers will have to find $8 billion to balance the budget after getting rid of the tax.

“We were able to find that $8 billion by looking at options without raising taxes and by looking at unleashing the resources underneath us whether that’s natural gas or otherwise,” said Mathews.

The bills would gradually reduce the tax rate each year until by 2030 the income tax would be eliminated.