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Senate Passes Budget
The Ohio Senate this week passed its version of the state's $45 billion biennial budget. Though the budget still includes the freeze on local government funds, originally proposed by the Taft administration, the new version of the budget does include a couple of smaller amendments helpful to Ohio's cities and villages. The Senate version deleted an increase of $2 in court costs, a provision that was included in the House version of the budget. The League supports this deletion in that state-imposed increases in Court costs make necessary local increases in Court costs more difficult and thus make balancing the budgets of local courts more difficult. The Senate also included an amendment that would clean up the competitive bid limit statute to raise the safety director's bid limit to $15,000, a provision that makes that bid limit the same as it is for service departments.

The budget will now go to a conference committee of the two houses to iron out differences between tine bodies. That discussion is expected to be a fairly quick one as the two houses attempt to pass this biennial budget by June 1^st.

Annexation Amendments on the Agenda.
SB 5 is scheduled to be discussed and to have amendments offered to the bill in the House Local Government and Townships Committee next week. This will not be a hearing for additional public testimony on the bill. We expect the Committee will consider a large number of amendments, some of which would improve the bill from the League’s point of view. We will keep you informed on this important issue.

Sovereign Immunity Bill to be Heard.
SB 106, which restores previously enacted immunities for local government in the areas of premise immunity and immunity with respect to sidewalks, will be heard on Wednesday Of this coming week in the Senate State and Local Government and Veteran’s Affairs Committee. This bill is strongly supported by the League and municipal officials need to support this bill by contacting members of that committee by phone or fax to support this important legislation. This bill is scheduled for a third hearing this coming week. Reenactment of the provisions of this bill is necessary since the Ohio Supreme Court declared a previously enacted bill unconstitutional on a single subject in regard to the provisions of SB 106.

COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE FOR WEEK OF MAY 28, 2001

WEDNESDAY, MAY 30

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

HB 245 VILLAGE OFFICES (Evans) Permits the offices of village clerk and treasurer to be combined into an appointed office of village fiscal officer and permits the appointed office to be subsequently abolished and replaced by the elected office of village clerk-treasurer. (3rd Hearing - Proponent & interested party)

SB 5 ANNEXATION (Wachtmann) Revises the laws governing municipal annexations. (7th Hearing - Amendments - Possible Vote)

SENATE STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT & VETERANS AFFAIRS, 3 p.m., South Hearing Room, Chr. Spada; Phone: 466-8056.