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No. 18 October 21, 2005 PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS BULLETIN TO YOUR COUNCIL, DEPARTMENT HEADS & STAFF
REMINDER: Opponent Testimony Scheduled for Anti-Residency Bill. On Thursday of next week, the House Local and Municipal Government and Urban Revitalization Committee will hear opponent testimony on SB 82. This legislation would attempt to overturn the action of voters in many of Ohio’s municipalities who chose to require, in their charters, that municipal employees live within the municipality. We urge all communities in which this issue is important to present opposition testimony before the committee next week. One bill that is not up next week is HB 304. This legislation that would severely decrease the power of municipalities to place liens on property for unpaid sewer bills. Opposition testimony this week was very effective in pointing out the problems this legislation would cause for municipalities and other jurisdictions. HB 304 is in the House Civil and Commercial Law Committee. We will continue to work with the sponsor, the committee chair and the supporters of this legislation to see if some compromise is possible. That same committee will hear and possibly vote on SB 167 next week (see Committee Schedule). That bill would place modified moratorium on the use of eminent domain for economic development in non-blighted areas until December, 2006. The bill would also establish a commission that would review Ohio’s eminent domain laws. Because of its limited focus and the value that may come from a review of Ohio’s eminent domain laws, the League is not objecting to this bill, as it passed the Senate. Also up next week is an “All Testimony” hearing on HB 56, the anti-Red Light Camera bill. That bill was scheduled for a second hearing last week, but the Senate Highways and Transportation Committee was canceled, due to the length of the Senate’s Tuesday session.
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 24, 2005 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25 Senate Finance & Financial Institutions, (Chr. Carey, 466-8156), Finance Hearing Rm., 10 a.m. Presentations on predatory lending from the Department of Commerce and the Attorney General's office Senate Highways & Transportation, (Chr. Armbruster, 644-7613), North Hearing Rm., 2:30 p.m. or after session HB 56 TRAFFIC LIGHT CAMERAS (Raussen) To allow the use of a traffic law photo-monitoring device to detect traffic law violations only if a law enforcement officer is present at the location of the device and issues tickets at the time and location of the violations. (2nd Hearing-All testimony) SB 184 ISLAND SPEED LIMITS (Gardner) To establish a 35 mile-per-hour speed limit for highways outside municipal corporations within island jurisdictions. (1st Hearing-Sponsor) WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26 House Civil & Commercial Law, (Chr. Seitz, 466-8258), Hayes Rm. (114), 9:30 a.m. SB 167 EMINENT DOMAIN MORATORIUM (Grendell) To establish, until December 31, 2006, a moratorium on the use of eminent domain by any entity of the state government or any political subdivision of the state to take, without the owner's consent, private property that is in an unblighted area when the primary purpose for the taking is economic development that will ultimately result in ownership of the property being vested in another private person, to create the Legislative Task Force to Study Eminent Domain and Its Impact on Land Use Planning in the State, and to declare an emergency. (1st Hearing-Sponsor & All testimony-Amendments-Possible vote) House Health, (Chr. White, 466-6504), Rm. 018, 10 a.m. HB 239 ABORTION PROHIBITION (Schneider) To prohibit the use of public funds or facilities for nontherapeutic abortions, proscribe public employees acting in the scope of their employment from performing or inducing a nontherapeutic abortion, and to declare that it is the public policy of the state to prefer childbirth over abortion to the extent that is constitutionally permissible. (4th Hearing-Proponent & Opponent) Senate Environment & Natural Resources, (Chr. Niehaus, 466-8082), South Hearing Rm., 2:30 p.m. or after session SB 191 MINERAL SEVERANCE TAX (Mumper) To revise the distribution of revenues from the severance tax on minerals, to exempt industrial minerals mining operations from the state mine safety laws and instead provide for the adoption of federal mine safety requirements for those operations, to revise the zoning laws concerning industrial minerals mining, and to make other changes governing the mining of industrial minerals. (2nd Hearing-Proponent & Opponent) House Transportation, Public Safety & Homeland Security, (Chr. Reinhard, 644-6265), McKinley Rm. (121), 4:30 p.m. HB 352 ISLAND SPEED LIMITS (Redfern) To establish a 35-mile per hour speed limit for highways outside municipal corporations within island jurisdictions. (1st Hearing-Sponsor) THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27 House Local & Municipal Government & Urban Revitalization, (Chr. Wolpert, 466-9690), Rm. 018, 11 a.m. SB 82 RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS (Grendell) To generally prohibit political subdivisions from imposing residency requirements on certain employees. (4th Hearing-Opponent) HB 365 JOINT DEVELOPMENT DISTRICTS (Setzer) To remove the limitation that only four types of municipal corporations and townships may create a joint economic development district under specified statutes. (1st Hearing-Sponsor) |
