Ohio Municipal League
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Columbus, Ohio 43215

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OML E- BULLETIN
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State of the State.

This week was dominated by the Governor’s State of the State speech. Governor Taft focused on the need to create more jobs in Ohio. The Governor was in favor of jobs, Republicans applauded him for being in favor of jobs and Democrats criticized the Governor for not being in favor of jobs enough.

Pretty predictable stuff. The only wrinkle was when Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who we assume is also in favor of jobs, blasted the Governor’s address for not being in favor or even mentioning Secretary Blackwell’s initiative to repeal early the temporary sales tax increase enacted by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor. The Secretary is trying to get the Legislature or the voters to end the 1% sales tax increase in December of 2004, rather than its scheduled demise in June of 2005. Asked by a reporter what he thought of the Secretary’s criticism of the Governor, House Speaker Larry Householder, who helped engineer the tax hike, said, "I don’t really care what he says, so I’m not going to comment on it." The Speaker later went on in comments to other reporters to say just how much he didn’t care for the Secretary’s comments.

Uniform Everything.

In it’s ongoing consideration of making all of Ohio uniform in everything (which Ohio isn’t), introduced in the House this week was HB 386, which specifies the building code adopted by the state Board of Building Standards is a statewide uniform building code. That fits in nicely with HB 175, which would establish a uniform building code for all residential buildings.

The League will oppose both pieces of legislation.

Municipal Officials Testify to Growth & Land Use committee.

On Thursday the House Subcommittee on Growth & Land Use met and received testimony from a number of our member communities. We would like to extend our appreciation to Mayor Grossman of Grove City, Mayor Shonhardt of Hilliard, City Manager Barney of Upper Arlington, Councilman Flaherty of Westerville, and Development Director Barbash of Columbus. The testimony our officials presented to Chairman Wolpert and the subcommittee was very insightful on the current challenges facing central Ohio communities as they deal with growth management and scarcity of financial resources. The subcommittee continues to hold hearings across the state to hear from community leaders on the growth challenges facing local governments and the need to keep the Local Government Fund fully funded.

Concealed- Carry Mistake.

In one of our last issues, someone ( John Mahoney) read HB 12, the concealed-carry bill wrong on the issue of posting "no concealed carry" at public facilities which are not public buildings (parks, parking lots, etc.) That posting option only applies to when the public grounds are leased or rented to a private party. The prohibition in all public buildings was correct.

House Energy & Environment: Regulatory Reform Sub., (Chr. McGregor, 644-6002), W.H. Harrison Rm. (formerly 113), 1:30 p.m.

HB 231 SEPTIC SYSTEM REGULATION (Niehaus) Revises the definition of "household sewage treatment system" for purposes of the regulation of those systems by boards of health, requires the Public Health Council to adopt rules governing those systems, creates the Household Sewage Treatment System Technical Advisory Committee to review and approve new systems, requires the transferor of real property that is served by a household sewage treatment system to provide operation and maintenance information on the system at the same time that the transferor provides a real property disclosure form, and establishes other requirements governing household sewage treatment systems. (4th Hearing - Substitute bill)

Senate Highways & Transportation, (Chr. Armbruster, 644-7613), North Hearing Rm., 1:30 p.m.

HB 247 RAILROAD QUIET ZONES (Patton, T.) Authorizes the establishment of railroad quiet zones by municipal corporations and townships. (1st Hearing - Sponsor)

Senate State & Local Government & Veterans Affairs, (Chr. Coughlin, 466-4823), South Hearing Rm., 2:30 p.m. or after session

HB 246 CIVIL SERVICE EXAMS (Patton, T.) Modifies the percentage of additional credit that may be awarded to qualifying veterans in classified civil service examinations. (1st Hearing - Sponsor)

Senate Agriculture, (Chr. Mumper, 466-8049), Harding Rm. (formerly 109), 3 p.m.

HB 278 OIL & GAS DRILLING REGULATION (Niehaus) Declares that the Division of Mineral Resources Management in the Department of Natural Resources has exclusive authority to regulate the permitting, location, and spacing of oil and gas wells in the state and revises the laws governing the drilling of oil and gas. (1st Hearing - Sponsor)

House Ways & Means, (Chr. Kilbane, 466-0961), McKinley Rm. (formerly 121), 10 a.m.

HB 319 MUNICIPAL TAX ADMINISTRATORS (Raussen) Authorizes the Tax Commissioner to provide municipal income tax administrators with access to school district income tax records and returns. (3rd Hearing - Proponent, opponent & interested party)

House Municipal Government & Urban Revitalization, (Chr. Williams, 644-5085), Taft Rm. (formerly 122), 11 a.m.