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
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OML E- BULLETIN
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Memorial Day weekend usually kicks off the summer and, with parades, speeches and remembrance services, a big part of the campaign season. But that may not be the case for the Ohio General Assembly this year. Instead, less than six months before the general election, the House is still struggling to muster enough votes to pass its version of a bill (SB 261) to fill a $1.9 billion state budget gap.

Without enough votes for any one plan, the House adjourned its budget-wrestling sessions at 9:00 p.m. on Thursday night. The House Finance and Appropriations Committee is scheduled to meet on Friday at 10:00 a.m. The Speaker has scheduled tentative sessions for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The Senate has done the same, though Senators, who must only meet to concur or not concur on House changes to the bill, are permitted to return to their districts. Senate members are subject to a two-hour notice should they be needed back in the Statehouse.

SB 261, as it was passed by the Senate (17-15 vote), did not include the 6% cuts to local government funds, as was originally proposed by the Senate and supported by Governor Taft. Instead, the bill included a provision that would give to the Governor's Office of Budget and Management (OBM) the power to cut local government and library funds by any amount. Obviously, with the Governor in support of local government and library cuts, this amendment would not bode well for municipalities and could result in cut to the funds very much higher than 6%.

Representative Kerry Metzger and many others in the House are pushing hard to delete the language that gives such unbridled power over local government aid to the unelected officials at OBM.

We know that many of you have been doing a great job of talking to your local legislators about these threats to local government aid. We also have gotten a great deal of supportive feedback from many House members on this matter. The more you let legislators know how important this issue is back home, the better our chances of weathering this storm. Your calls and letters and other contacts with members of the House and the Senate and with the Governor's office are critical to our efforts on this very important issue. Thank you for all your doing on this issue.

Amidst all the budget problems, the Senate Ways and Means Committee and the full Senate passed SB 255, which is designed to replace Right-of-Way legislation that was declared unconstitutional. Though the compromise version is much better than what was contained in the struck-down SB 283, the League and other municipal groups involved in the negotiations of that bill still have a few issues to discuss further with all parties once we get to the House.

Under provisions of the bill, Right-of-Way fees contained in a municipal ordinance can be appealed to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to determine whether those fees are excessive. "Excessive," in this case, means that the fees raise more money than all the costs that go into the municipality's operation, acquisition and management of the Right-of-Way. If the PUCO determines that the fees are excessive, the portion that is determined to be excessive is charged to only the ratepayers of the municipality involved, not to the utility's entire rate-base. The PUCO cannot reduce the fees in the ordinance. The bill also makes it clears that municipalities can and should manage and control their own Right-of-Way, a precept that SB 283 tried to undercut completely.

Senate Ways & Means, After Session, South Hearing Rm., Chr. Blessing, Phone: 466-8068.

HB 518 COUNTY LODGING TAX (Schmidt) Authorizes boards of county commissioners of certain counties to levy an additional excise tax on lodging. (1^st Hearing - Proponent, opponent & interested party - Possible vote)

Senate Highways & Transportation, After Session or 2:30 p.m., North Hearing Rm., Chr. Armbruster, Phone: 644-7613.

SB 231 MOBILITY DEVICES (Goodman) Exempts electric personal assistive mobility devices from the definition of "vehicle" in the traffic laws and permits their operation on sidewalks, bikeways and public streets and highways, subject to certain restrictions. (4^th Hearing - Proponent, opponent & interested party - Substitute & Possible vote)

SB 263 VEHICLE SPEED LIMITS (Randy Gardner) Allows a municipal corporation to establish speed limits for golf carts and similar motor vehicles operated on streets or highways within the municipal corporation. (1^st Hearing - Sponsor)

House Criminal Justice, 2 p.m., Rm. 114, Chr. Womer Benjamin, Phone: 466-2004.

SB 123 TRAFFIC LAWS (Oelslager) Adopts, effective January 1, 2003, the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission’s Traffic Proposals, with modifications, and related changes in the traffic laws and makes an appropriation. (4^th Hearing - Proponent & opponent)

HB 490 MISDEMEANOR SENTENCING (Latta) Implements recommendations of the Criminal Sentencing Commission pertaining to misdemeanor sentencing generally and makes other changes in the criminal law. (5^th Hearing - Proponent, opponent & interested party - Amendments - Possible vote)

SB 208 FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS (Coughlin) Relative to the use, in an OMVI or OMVUAC prosecution, of the results of field sobriety tests. (5^th Hearing - Proponent & opponent)

House Retirement & Aging, 10:30 a.m., Rm. 122, Chr. Schuring, Phone: 752-2438.

SB 247 RETIREMENT BENEFITS (Blessing) Creates in the State Teachers Retirement System, School Employees Retirement System and Public Employees Retirement System the option of receiving retirement benefits as a partial lump sum followed by a reduced monthly allowance and makes other changes to the law governing STRS. (2^nd Hearing - Possible vote)