No. 12 December 15, 2006

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

Lame Duck Session to End.

It is expected that the House and Senate will conclude the business of this session of the General Assembly on either Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week. It is reported that a growing number of Ohioans, lobbyists and legislators, for distinctively diverse reasons, simply can’t get a particularly familiar refrain from a popular musical work by Handel out of their heads as those dates draw near. Due to session schedule and the holiday, there may not be a Legislative Bulletin next week. We will do a session wrap-up prior to the new year.

Red Light Camera Bill Sent to the Governor.

The Senate version of HB 56 was concurred by the Ohio House this week and, thus, will be sent to the Governor at some point. After the Governor receives the bill he has ten days to act upon it. Along with the mayors of the cities which use these photo enforcement devices for either red light or speed enforcement, the League has sent a letter to the Governor seeking a veto of HB 56. That letter is available at our website, www.omunileague.org.

HB 56, as written, is clearly just another masked attempt by the General Assembly to bar the effective and practical use of this technology. Even if you, as a municipal official view this technology dimly, the critical question is whether you believe that the decision to use this technology should be a municipal or state decision. The question is who should run your police department and its practices? Should it be those who want more and more to centralize government in Columbus or the citizens, the council and the police professionals who pay for that police department and know local conditions? Currently less than a dozen cities in Ohio have chosen to use this technology and those cities have reported wide acceptance of the technology and safer streets. In many communities, red light technology will never happen. The need will not be there or the community acceptance will not be there. That’s fine and a great decision for that community to make. But, we see no reason for the folks at the Statehouse to make that decision for you and your citizens.

Please, support those cities that have found photo enforcement technology increases the safety of their communities and/or your right to make decisions in the future on what practices should be part of running the police department for which you and your citizens provide the funding. A letter or phone call to the Governor’s Office asking for a veto on HB56 would show that support. The phone number for the Governor’s office is 614.466.3555 and the address is 30^th Floor, 77 S. High St, Columbus, 43215.

Civil Service Bill Moving Through.

HB 187, which makes changes in the state civil service laws, passed the Ohio House this week. Hearings have begun on the bill in Ohio Senate and we expect action on the bill in the Senate this coming week. League-supported provisions, which would provide greater flexibility on picking fire and police chiefs in statutory cities, were deleted from the bill prior to passage in the House, as a sop to the police and fire lobbies.

Enough said.

SB 281 on Fast Track.

SB 281 requires all Ohio peace officers to begin taking 24 hours of continuing professional education each year, primarily as programs developed by the Ohio Peace Officers’ Training Academy. It is expected that most of the program offered will be offered on-line, but we’ll have to wait and see how that works out. The bill gives broad rule-making authority to the Attorney General for how the whole program will work.

The program is funded with $5 million in state funds. Municipalities whose officers take these programs are to be reimbursed for any costs associated with the training, a League requested amendment. Also, at the League’s request, there is no requirement for officers to keep taking the training unless the state continues to fund the program. No money, no requirement.

House action on the bill is expected this coming week. We will be working hard early next year to make sure this program works effectively and efficiently for all of our members.

Late this week the Ohio House passed SB 117, which was a multi-faceted bill to place new, explicit limits on award for non-economic damages under the state’s Consumer Sales Practices Act and limit the ability of municipalities and others to bring public nuisance suits. Though the CSPA aspects of the bill were criticized by consumer advocates and both Ohio’s current Attorney General, Jim Petro, and future Attorney General, Mark Dann, the limit on suits was directed at Ohio cities which have or will file suit against those companies that manufactured lead-paint paint, a toxic product which has not been produced in the United States since 1978.

Though the provisions of the bill apply to all future such suits, no matter the product, the lead-based paint suits, filed and under consideration by some Ohio cities, sparked the amendment to SB 117. The crux of the amendment made to SB 117 is to impose the rules of Ohio’s limits on product liability suits (HB 80) on public nuisance suits on products, effectively, in many cases, barring those suits.

Because these significant changes were made in the House on a Senate bill, the only legislative action now required for passage is concurrence by the Ohio Senate, without any public hearings on the changes in the Senate.

Since SB 117 will not be passed as an emergency measure and is not retroactive, the bill will not bar current lead-based paint suits or those suits filed prior to enactment, 90 days after the Governor’s signature and the filing of the bill with the Secretary of State’s office.

HB 9, a bill on open records that was substantially and favorably altered in the Senate Judiciary, was passed on the floor of the Ohio Senate. Final amendments on the bill did not radically alter the substance of the bill, which we have reported on in the past. Should Senate amendments be concurred in by the Ohio House, we will prepare a point-by point analysis prior to the New Year for you.

Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor, (Chr. Stivers, 466-5981), North Hearing Rm., 9:30 a.m.

HB 187 CIVIL SERVICE REVIEW (Buehrer) To implement recommendations of the Civil Service Review Commission. (2nd Hearing-All testimony-Possible vote)

HB 690 MINIMUM WAGE IMPLEMENTATION (Seitz) To implement Section 34a, Article II, of the Constitution of the State of Ohio and to declare an emergency (2nd Hearing-All testimony-Possible vote)