No. 01 February 7, 2005

PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS BULLETIN TO YOUR COUNCIL, DEPARTMENT HEADS & STAFF

New Session, A Bit of a New System.

This session we are making a few changes to how we report on bills. Every bill of municipal interest will be reported on as introduced. We will state the League=s position on that bill as introduced (favor, oppose, neutral), as opposed to waiting for hearings. As the bill works its way through the process that position may change, depending on changes that inevitably occur to a piece of legislation. A listing of the most current position of the League on all bills of municipal interest will be kept and updated on our website at www.omunileague.org

Also on the website, we will keep an analysis, prepared shortly after introduction and updated as needed, on each bill upon which we take a position. Attached to that analysis will be correspondence to the sponsor and other members of the General Assembly from the League regarding the bill.

We hope this new approach will give you more timely information about the activities of the General Assembly and the League. We also hope this will give you more useful information and talking points regarding specific legislation for use in your discussions with your own members of the General Assembly.

League Opposes Open Records Bill as Introduced.

While the League would be in favor of changes to the open records law that would make that law more fair and workable, we don=t think HB 9, as introduced, gets us there. Included in the changes that raise our concerns include:
_      training is required for all elected officials but not for the municipal employees that most frequently process public records requests.
_      public officials denying a request for a public record would be subject to a mandamus action to obtain a judgment that awards court costs and attorney=s fees and further may include an order awarding a punitive civil forfeiture (up to $100 a day) and/or an order fixing statutory damages (up to $250 a day).
_      no penalties exist for persons bringing actions against public offices when the court determines there is no violation.
_      redaction of material exempt from public inspection is deemed to be a denial of an open records request.

We will watch this bill very closely and lobby for some acceptable changes in this bill. The bill is currently in the House Civil and Law Committee and is scheduled for a sponsor hearing this week.

League Supports Renewal of State Issue 2.

HJR 1 and SJR 2 are both measures that would place on the November, 2005 ballot the renewal of the state infrastructure bond issue for another ten years. This program, which since 1987 has provided $120 million a year in state funds for local infrastructure projects, has been extremely helpful to many communities and we would, of course, like to see it continue. There are some discussions going on related revising upward the number of dollars that could be provided in the program and other issues. We will keep you informed on the progress of these discussions, as their direction becomes a little clearer.

SB 9 is a rewrite of the state=s terrorism law. We will watch this bill closely as it works its way through the process. We are neutral on the bill as introduced.

One curious provision of the bill is a section that bars any local government from receiving Homeland Security money if said local government passes an ordinance countermanding any provision of the federal Patriot Act or an executive order of the President of the United States. We guess we should call this the Ano money if you do something futile@ provision. We are neutral on this provision, but will watch to see what develops in this bill.

As we have in past sessions, the League opposes, as introduced, HB 41, which would require all cities which collect over $100 million in municipal income tax dollars to remit to all nearby communities, including townships, a share of those tax dollars. Those dollars would have to be given to the nearby communities regardless of those communities need or tax policies.

The OML Legislative Conference will be held on Tuesday, April 12^th in the statehouse atrium, please watch for more details on our website and in future bulletins.

Senate Finance & Financial Institutions, (Chr. Carey, 466-8156), Finance Hearing Rm., 3 p.m.

SJR 2 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT BONDS (Carey) Proposing to enact Sec. 2p of Art. VIII of the Constitution of the State of Ohio to permit the issuance of general obligation bonds to fund local government public infrastructure capital improvements. (1st Hearing-Sponsor)

Senate Judiciary-Criminal Justice, (Chr. Jordan, 466-7584), North Hearing Rm., 9 a.m.

SB 4 INCIDENT-BASED REPORTING SYSTEM (Stivers) To create the Ohio Incident-Based Reporting System in the Office of Criminal Justice Services and to require that law enforcement agencies that receive certain types of funding participate in the system or in the Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the F.B.I. (2nd Hearing-Proponent)

SB 9 OHIO TERRORISM LAW (Jacobson) To require law enforcement officers to comply with certain federal mandates regarding homeland security; to create the offenses of criminal possession of a chemical weapon or biological weapon, criminal use of a chemical weapon or biological weapon, illegal assembly or possession of chemicals for the manufacture of a chemical weapon or biological weapon, money laundering in support of terrorism, and unlawful possession of a powerful laser; to require applicants for certain specified licenses to disclose any material assistance they have provided to an organization on the United States Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List; to prohibit the state or a political subdivision of the state from conducting business with any person, company, or others that provide material assistance to any organization on the United States Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List; to require a person in a public place to provide the person's name to a law enforcement officer when the law enforcement officer has reasonable suspicion that either the person is or has been engaged in criminal activity or the person has witnessed a felony offense of violence; to expand the homeland security duties of the Department of Public Safety; and to include animal and ecological terrorism in the definition of corrupt activity. (2nd Hearing-Proponent)

House Civil & Commercial Law, (Chr. Seitz, 466-8258), Hayes Rm. (formerly 114), 9:30 a.m.

HB 9 PUBLIC RECORDS LAW (Oelslager) To revise the Public Records Law. (1st Hearing-Sponsor)