Ohio Municipal League
175 South Third Street
Suite 510
Columbus, Ohio 43215

614-221-4349 Office
614-221-4390 Fax

email:
Legislative Inquiries
John Mahoney
General Inquiries
info@omunileague.org

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General Assembly Returns.

The General Assembly will end its spring break and return to session this coming week. At the top of the agenda will be HB's 94 and 95, the state two-year education and general operating budgets respectively. While there is a hope afloat that the legislature's budget efforts will be concluded by June 1, fifteen days ahead of a court-imposed deadline for the state to present a new funding scheme for schools, there are still many challenges facing lawmakers that make meeting that goal very difficult.

A primary challenge is the differences between the legislative and executive branch over what those two budgets ought to look like. With revenue projections going south and expenditure estimates going north, pledges to not raise taxes remaining in bedrock and different views on gambling and the number of rainy days ahead for Ohio's economy, legislative leaders and their caucuses seem at odds with the Governor over the best ways to bridge the budget gaps. Within the General Assembly, there seems to be support for budget cuts in state agencies other than education deeper than what the Governor s willing to accept. There also seems to be some support for keeping Video Gambling Terminals at Ohio's race tracks on the table, a move that would certainly, at this point, invite a gubernatorial veto. The Governor, on the other hand, would apparently still like to see expansion of Ohio's gambling into the multi-state lotteries, a plan that, within the legislature, seems to be a long shot at best. The Governor also wants the state to tap its $1 billion "rainy day" fund to help pay for this biennial budget. That approach, so far, has met with legislative resistance, especially from Senate President Richard Finan.

There does seem to be a great deal of agreement that funding education with a $1.4 billion increase is a good thing all around the table, as long as the coalition of schools which sued the state aren't invited to that table. For the coalition, which any education funding plan will have to face before the Supreme Court in June, that $1.4 billion increase is but a silly continuation of the state's bad habit of not funding schools adequately. Unlike budgeting in the real world, the coalition wants the state to come up with more than $3 billion in new money for schools, despite the economy or any other state budgetary need.

TUESDAY, APRIL 24

HOUSE JOBS, AEROSPACE & TECHNOLOGY SUB., 1:30 p.m., Rm. 113, Chr. DeWine, Phone:

644-6020.

HB 6 TAX INCREMENT FINANCING (Hollister) Establishes the Capital Access Program in the Department of Development and permits political subdivisions in economically distressed areas to employ tax increment financing throughout a designated area. (2nd Hearing - Proponent)

HOUSE LOCAL GOVERNMENT & TOWNSHIPS, 10 a.m., Rm. 121, Chr. Roman, Phone: 466-1790.

HB 152 RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT (Ford) Prohibits a municipal corporation from requiring any police or fire officer or employee to reside within the municipal corporation. (1st Hearing - Sponsor)

HB 45 ANNEXATION (Seitz) Revises the laws governing municipal annexations. (1st Hearing - Sponsor)

SB 5 ANNEXATION (Wachtmann) Revises the laws governing municipal annexations. (5th Hearing - Opponent & interested party)

HOUSE RETIREMENT & AGING, 10:30 a.m., Rm. 122, Chr. Schuring, Phone: 752-2438.

HB 157 PENSION BENEFITS (Schuring) Provides that the annual cost of living increase paid to retired members and beneficiaries of Ohio's state retirement systems will be three per cent. (3rd Hearing - Proponent & opponent)

HB 158 PERS LAW ENFORCEMENT BENEFIT (Schuring) Permits Public Employees Retirement System members with at least 25 years of law enforcement service credit to retire with full benefits at age 48, includes transit and highway patrol police officers as law enforcement officers for PERS purposes, and increases the employee contribution rate for law enforcement service credit. (3rd Hearing - Proponent & opponent)

THURSDAY, APRIL 26

HOUSE WAYS & MEANS, 10 a.m., Rm. 121, Chr. Kilbane, Phone: 466-0961.