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No. 12 May 13, 2005 PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS BULLETIN TO YOUR COUNCIL, DEPARTMENT HEADS & STAFF Senate Hears Local Officials on LGF Cuts. The Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee took extensive testimony from many municipal, county, library and township officials about the value and necessity of state support through local government funds. Joining those supporters in the fight to void the severe cuts to local government funds proposed by the Taft administration and the Ohio House were spokespersons for the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, the Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters and the Ohio Fire Chiefs Association. Joining with those municipal and others who gave testimony at the Thursday afternoon hearing were many other officials who came to the hearing to show their support for local government funding. We appreciate everyone who took the time to come to Columbus to show and voice their support for a budget that would keep the state’s promise to help fund a part of the essential, everyday services that local government provides. Senate hearings and our lobbying efforts on the budget will continue next week. SB 56 May Be on House Floor Next Week. For those interested in HB 56, a bill that would attempt to prohibit the use of “red light cameras” in Ohio, that legislation my be up for a floor vote in the Ohio House next week. The League has opposed the legislation in its current form as unconstitutional (see Letter on HB 56 at www.omunileague.org). If you wish to voice your concerns to your House members one last time, now would probably be the time. League Testifies on SJR 2. The League testified in support of the SJR 2 this week. That proposal would put on the ballot in November a renewal and increase for State Issue 2, the state’s local infrastructure bond program. The proposal would increase the annual amount for Issue 2 from $120 million a year to $150 million a year in the last five years of this ten-year renewal. The new proposal would also provide $150 million over seven years for grants to make local industrial sites “shovel-ready” and equipped with all the necessary infrastructure. In addition, SJR 2 would put on the ballot, as part of this issue, the administration’s proposal for a $500 million investment into the infrastructure and research necessary to create more of a high technology sector in Ohio’s economy. This final component, dubbed the Third Frontier, lost at the ballot by a 2% margin two years ago, after what many consider a less than well-calculated campaign. With a better campaign and a clear message about the value of all three of these investments in the future of Ohio’s economy, we think all three parts of this one issue can be successful in the fall. You can read the League’s testimony on SJR 2 at www.omunileague.org. Though SJR 2 proposes sending these three programs to the ballot as one issue, the state’s infrastructure program for local governments would continue, upon passage, to operate through local district integrating committees and be administered by the independent Ohio Public Works Commission. Chief Justice Calls for Elimination of Mayor’s Courts. Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, in a speech to the Ohio State Bar Association, called for the elimination of Ohio’s 333 Mayor’s Courts and the 68 part-time judges in the state. Obviously, it is a long way from the Chief Justice saying something and legislation being introduced and heard, but we will, of course, stay on top of this issue and keep you informed as events occur. LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES FOR THE WEEK MAY 16, 2005 TUESDAY, MAY 17 Senate Finance & Financial Institutions, (Chr. Carey, 466-8156), Finance Hearing Rm., 9:30 a.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. (5th Hearing-Proponent, opponent & interested party - Possible vote) House Commerce & Labor, (Chr. Schaffer, 466-8100), Taft Rm. (formerly 122), 1:30 p.m. HB 148 HOME CONTRACTORS (Trakas) To adopt the Home Improvement Contractor Law, establish the Home Improvement Contractor Registration Board in the Department of Commerce, establish civil and criminal penalties for violation of the law, and grant the attorney general enforcement powers. (2nd Hearing-Proponent) HB 188 ELECTRONIC COMMERCE SERVICES (Buehrer) To adopt the Electronic Government Services Act to prohibit a government agency from providing duplicative or competing electronic commerce services with the private sector unless the government agency complies with specified procedures. (3rd Hearing-Proponent, opponent & interested party) WEDNESDAY, MAY 18 House Agriculture & Natural Resources, (Chr. Aslanides, 644-6014), Rm. 313, 9 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. (2nd Hearing - Proponent/Opponent/Interested party) HB 206 LAKE ERIE COASTAL MANAGEMENT (Martin) To revise the law governing coastal management and the control of erosion along Lake Erie. (4th Hearing - Proponent/Opponent/Interested party) House Elections & Ethics, (Chr. Hughes, 466-2473), Taft Rm. (formerly 122), 10:30 a.m. HB 106 MUNICIPAL REFERENDUM PETITIONS (Setzer) To increase the number of signatures needed on a municipal referendum petition, to permit persons who sign a municipal referendum petition to remove their names from that petition within eight days after the petition is filed, and to permit the circulator of a municipal referendum petition from which names have been removed to amend the statement identifying the number of signatures on the petition. (3rd Hearing-Proponent, opponent & interested party - Possible vote) 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. (7th Hearing-Proponent, opponent & interested party) SB 86 PUBLIC EMPLOYEE POLITICAL ACTIVITIES (Gardner) To authorize classified employees to engage in political activities during nonworking hours, to broaden the prohibition against coercion or harassment of classified employees for political purposes, and to authorize the State Personnel Board of Review and local civil service commissions to remedy such coercion or harassment. (3rd Hearing-Opponent) SB 143 GOVERNMENT CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS (Jacobson) To impose contract, record-keeping, auditing, and other requirements on persons that receive money from governmental entities for the provision of certain services, to provide civil remedies for the misuse of that and other public money, and to create the Government Contracting Advisory Council. (1st Hearing-Sponsor & proponent) SCHEDULE FOR HEARINGS ON HB 66, BIENNIAL BUDGET BILL SENATE FINANCE AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS COMMITTEE (Chr. Carey, 466-8156), Finance Hearing Rm. HB 66 BIENNIAL BUDGET (Calvert) To make operating appropriations for the biennium beginning July 1, 2005 and ending June 30, 2007, and to provide authorization and conditions for the operation of state programs. WEDNESDAY, MAY 18 9:30 a.m. & 2 p.m. or after session, Public Testimony THURSDAY, MAY 19 9:30 a.m. & 1:30 p.m., Public Testimony FRIDAY, MAY 20 9:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. (IF NEEDED), Public Testimony |
