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No. 11 April 29, 2005 PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS BULLETIN TO YOUR COUNCIL, DEPARTMENT HEADS & STAFF Senate Continues Budget Deliberations. The Ohio Senate’s Finance and Financial Institutions Committee continued hearings on the state biennial budget (HB 66) this week. In those deliberations, the committee continued to hear from the heads of a number of state agencies. Meanwhile, the Taft administration began releasing its estimates of the “costs” to the biennial budget resulting from changes made to the budget by the Ohio House. From changes made to the number of cartons of cigarettes one can bring into Ohio to exemptions to the commercial activities tax, this seems to begin in earnest the disagreements about the “frame” of the budget. These will be disagreements not about where revenues should come from or where they ought to be spent, but are disagreements over what numbers are most true. Everything from Medicaid caseloads to school enrollments to tax yields will be the subjects of more than one estimate. Which estimates are used make substantial differences in the way that the budget is framed. Those issues will become more prominent the closer we get to June 30, when the budget is due for passage. And this year, with the number of tax changes and untested new taxes being proposed, we expect these disagreements to be more numerous. Now is certainly a great time to speak or write to your member(s) of the Senate about the importance of state Local Government Funds and other municipal issues in the budget. The Senate will be considering the budget through most of May. Local government issues are to be discussed, through testimony, on May 12. We think it is very important for all the members of the Ohio Senate to hear from their municipal officials one more time before that hearing. Any help you can give on this matter would be greatly appreciated and very helpful. Next week, as you can see by the Committee Schedule, there are a number of municipal issues up for possible votes, SB 82, the anti-residency bill and HB 56, the traffic light camera bill. LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 2, 2005 TUESDAY, MAY 3 Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor, (Chr. Hottinger, 466-5838), North Hearing Rm., 9 a.m. SB 7 WORKERS' COMPENSATION (Cates) To direct the General Assembly in its deliberations regarding the enactment of reforms of the state's workers' compensation law. (9th Hearing - Proponent/Opponent/Interested party) Senate Ways & Means & Economic Development, (Chr. Amstutz, 466-7505), Grant Hearing Rm. (formerly 110), 10:30 a.m. SB 1 TAX LAWS (Amstutz) To formally state the General Assembly's intentions in its upcoming deliberations on reforming Ohio's tax laws. (12th Hearing - Proponent, opponent & interested party) Senate Ways & Means & Economic Development, (Chr. Amstutz, 466-7505), McKinley Rm. (formerly 121), 3 p.m. Continued testimony on SB 1 (Tax Reform) WEDNESDAY, MAY 4 House Agriculture & Natural Resources, (Chr. Aslanides, 644-6014), B. Harrison Rm. (formerly 116), 8:30 a.m. HB 189 DANGEROUS DOGS (Walcher) To establish a process by which owners, keepers, or harborers of dogs that have been designated as dangerous or vicious may appeal that designation, to revise the definitions of "dangerous dog," "vicious dog," and "without provocation," to increase the fee imposed for the transfer of ownership of a dog, and to make other changes to the laws governing dogs. (1st Hearing - Sponsor) HB 206 LAKE ERIE COASTAL MANAGEMENT (Martin) To revise the law governing coastal management and the control of erosion along Lake Erie. (2nd Hearing - Proponent/Opponent/Interested party) 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. (9th Hearing-Proponent, opponent & interested party) Senate State & Local Government & Veterans Affairs, (Chr. Coughlin, 466-4823), South Hearing Rm., 4 p.m. SB 82 RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS (Grendell) To generally prohibit political subdivisions from imposing residency requirements on certain employees. (6th Hearing-Proponent, opponent & interested party - Possible vote) House Transportation, Public Safety & Homeland Security, (Chr. Reinhard, 644-6265), McKinley Rm. (formerly 121), 4:30 p.m. HB 56 TRAFFICLIGHT CAMERAS (Raussen) To generally prohibit the use by law enforcement agencies of traffic law photo-monitoring devices. (5th Hearing - Proponent/Opponent/Interested party/Amendments/Possible vote) HB 208 SALVAGE MOTOR VEHICLE LAW (Raga) To allow licensed salvage motor vehicle auctions and pools to sell salvage motor vehicles only to specified authorized purchasers, to require the registration of motor vehicle mechanical repair facilities, to change the name of the Board of Motor Vehicle Collision Repair Registration to the Board of Motor Vehicle Repair Registration, and to further amend section 4775.03 of the Revised Code of January 1, 2006, to dissolve the Board of Motor Vehicle Repair Registration and replace it with a new board of the same name. (1st Hearing - Sponsor) THURSDAY, MAY 5 House Local & Municipal Government & Urban Revitalization, (Chr. Wolpert, 466-9690), Rm. 018, 11 a.m. HB 76 VILLAGE SOLICITORS (Trakas) To permit the electors of a statutory village to vote on a question to authorize the mayor to appoint the village solicitor with the advice and consent of the village's legislative authority. (4th Hearing - Proponent/Opponent/Interested party/Possible vote) HB 101 PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE (Wolpert) To create the Local Government Public Notice Task Force to study local government public notice requirements and to issue a report including recommendations for meeting those requirements in economic and efficient alternative ways. (4th Hearing - Proponent/Opponent/Interested party/Possible vote) HB 219 LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONSOLIDATION (Mason) To provide financial incentives to encourage counties, townships, and municipal corporations to save money through expenditure reductions and consolidation of services. (1st Hearing –Sponsor) |
