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BILLS OF THE 124th GENERAL ASSEMBLY
AS OF NOVEMBER, 2002

SENATE BILLS

SB 5 ANNEXATION (Wachtmann) Am., En. & Rep. 505, 709, 929 & 5705. Revises the laws governing municipal annexations. The bill is effective October 26, 2001. DUE TO VARIOUS CHALLENGES TO THIS LEGISLATION THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE BILL IS STILL UNDETERMINED.

SB 10 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (Armbruster) Am. & En. 112 & 166. Establishes the Capital Access Loan Program in the Department of Development. The bill has been referred to the House Economic Development & Small Business Committee.

SB 18 CAPITAL APPROPRIATIONS EQUITY (Shoemaker) Am. 126. Establishes the policy that appropriations for community improvement projects provided for in the capital improvements budget each biennium be shared more or less equally by eight districts of the state created by the director of Budget and Management on the basis of population. The bill has been referred to the Senate Finance & Financial Institutions Committee.

SB 19 PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS (Shoemaker) Am. 3318. Prohibits the Ohio School Facilities Commission from prohibiting the use of project labor agreements for school building projects and prohibits the Commission from considering the use of project labor agreements in its decision to approve the building project for state building assistance. The bill has been referred to the Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee.

SB 24 SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY EXPANSION (Johnson) Am. 2744. Include as a governmental function under the Political Subdivision Sovereign Immunity Law the operation of a bicycle motorcross, bicycling, skating, skate boarding, or scooter riding facility. The bill is effective October 26, 2001.

SB 37 SOLID WASTE DISTRICTS (Oelslager) Am. & En. 343. Requires arbitration prior to withdrawal of a county from a joint solid waste management district under specified circumstances and revises the requirements for withdrawal of a county from a joint solid waste management district under those circumstances. The bill has been referred to the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee.

SB 43 UTILITY AGGREGATION (Brady) En. 4929. Provides a municipal corporation, county, or township with authority for governmental aggregation of the retail natural gas loads of those consumers who are within its jurisdiction and have a choice of gas supplier. The bill has been referred to the Senate Ways & Means Committee.

SB 70 INCOME TAX REDUCTION (Jordan) Am. 5747. Reduces the personal income tax rates by 10% over four years. The bill has been referred to Senate Ways & Means Committee.

SB 71 LANDFILL MORATORIUM (Coughlin) En. 3734. Establishes a two-year moratorium on the issuance of permits for new solid waste landfills or the modification of existing solid waste landfills and declares an emergency. The bill has passed the Senate and is being heard by the House Energy & Environment Committee.

SB 73 CONTRACTOR RETAINAGE (Hottinger) Am. 153, 1311, 4113 & 5559. Prohibits the practice of withholding a percentage of payment from contractors, subcontractors and material suppliers in the form of retainage. The bill has been referred to the Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee.

SB 74 COMMERCIAL CODE (Blessing) Am., En. & Rep. 111, 317, 1301, 1302, 1303, 1304, 1307, 1308, 1309, 1310, 1311, 1317, 1321, 1329, 1336, 1548, 1701, 4503, 4505 & 4519. Adopts revisions to the secured transactions portion of the Uniform Commercial Code that were recommended by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and makes related changes in the Uniform Commercial Code and the Revised Code and declares an emergency. The bill became effective June 19, 2001.

SB 88 NEIGHBORHOOD ASSISTANCE CREDITS (Armbruster) Am. & En. 122, 5727, 5733 & 5747. Creates tax credits against public utility gross receipts, corporation franchise, or income tax liability for contributions to neighborhood assistance projects certified by the Director of Development. The bill has been referred to the Senate Ways & Means Committee.

SB 91 CRIME VICTIM NOTICES (Shoemaker) Am. & En. 2903, 2929, 2930 & 4507. Relative to eligibility restrictions for judicial release; expansion of criminal victim notification; public hearings for reducing a publicly state sentence; prohibiting occupational driving privileges for certain offenders; and disciplining a prosecutor for failing to provide crime victim notifications. The bill has been referred to Senate Judiciary Committee on Criminal Justice.

SB 100 WORKERS' COMP/PFPF BENEFITS (DiDonato) Am. 742 & 4123. Provides that a firefighter or emergency medical services worker who is disabled as a result of cancer or certain contagious or infectious diseases is presumed for purposes of the laws governing workers' compensation and the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund to have incurred the disease while performing official duties as a firefighter or emergency medical services worker. The bill has been referred to Senate Rules Committee.

SB 105 ENVIRONMENTAL CIVIL ACTIONS (Hottinger) En. 3745. Establishes a five-year statute of limitations for civil actions brought under certain environmental laws. The bill has been signed by the Governor and is effective July 23, 2002.

SB 106 SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY (Hottinger) To amend sections 723.01, 2744.01, 2744.02, 2744.03, 2744.04, 2744.05, 2744.06, 4582.27, 5591.36, and 5591.37 of the Revised Code to include as a governmental function under the Political Subdivision Sovereign Immunity Law the design, construction, reconstruction, renovation, repair, maintenance, and operation of any school athletic facility, school auditorium, or gymnasium; to re-enact changes made by Am. Sub. H.B. 350 of the 121st General Assembly to the Political Subdivision Sovereign Immunity Law; and to amend sections 2744.01 and 2744.03 of the Revised Code as scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2002, to continue the amendments of this act on and after that date. The bill has been signed by the Governor.

SB 107 TORT LAW (Armbruster) Am. 2307. Enacts changes made to the tort law that were enacted by Am.Sub. HB350 of the 121st General Assembly and amended by Sub. HB547 of the 122nd General Assembly and by Sub.HB294 of the 123rd General Assembly. The bill has ben signed by the Governor and is effective June 28, 2002.

SB 108 TORT LAW (Jacobson) Am. & Rep. 109, 163, 1343, 1701, 1707, 1775, 1901, 2101, 2117, 2125, 2305, 2307, 2313, 2315, 2501, 2743, 2744, 3123, 3701, 3722, 4112, 4113, 4171, 4399, 4507, 4513, 4582, 4909, 5111, 5591. Revises tort law and declares an emergency. The bill become effective July 6, 2001.

SB 109 BONDING REQUIREMENTS (Nein) En. 9. Prohibits and agent of a public authority, in issuing an invitation for bids or a request for proposals for a contract with the public authority, from requiring that any bond under the contract be furnished by or acquired from a particular surety or other company or a particular agent or broker. The bill has been signed by the Governor and became effective May 16, 2002.

SB 114 PREVAILING WAGE LAW (Wachtmann) Am., En. & Rep. 122, 164, 165, 166, 175, 176, 307, 351, 1551, 1710, 1728, 3383, 3706, 4115, 4116, 4582, 4981, 5122, 5123, 5540, 6117 & 6121. Modifies the Prevailing Wage Law to apply only to public improvements owned by the state and establishes a two-year statute of limitations for actions alleging violations of that law. The bill has been referred to the Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee.

SB 119 PUBLIC RETIREMENT (Austria) Am. & En. 145, 742, 3307, 3309 & 5505. Permits multiple transfers of service credit and contributions between Ohio's state retirement systems. The bill is effective February 20, 2002.

SB 120 CIVIL LIABILITY (Johnson) Am., En. & Rep. 1775, 2101, 2307, 2313, 2315, 4507 & 5703. Modifies the law regarding the apportionment of liability in specified civil actions. The bill has been signed by the Governor.

SB 123 TRAFFIC LAWS (Oelslager) Am., En. & Rep. 9, 119, 733, 1547, 1901, 1905, 1907, 2151, 2152, 2743, 2903, 2907, 2919, 2921, 2923, 2925, 2929, 2935, 2937, 2951, 2953, 3123, 3327, 3793, 3937, 4301, 4501, 4503, 4505, 4506, 4507, 4508, 4509, 4511, 4513, 4517, 4519, 4549, 4551, 4561, 4563, 4582, 4583, 5120, 5503, & 5743. Adopts, effective January 1, 2003, the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission's Traffic Proposals, with modifications, and related changes in the traffic laws and makes an appropriation. The bill has been signed by the Governor and is effective November 1, 2003.

SB 128 SMOKING RULES (Wachtmann) Am. 3709. Requires that any orders or rules enacted by a board of health related to the sale or use of cigarettes or other tobacco products be adopted by the legislative authority of a municipal corporation or township before those orders or rules are effective within the boundaries of that political subdivision. The bill is before a Committee Of Conference.

SB 130 CONCEALED WEAPONS (Wachtmann) Am. & En. 1547, 2921, 2923 & 2953. Authorizes county sheriffs to issue licenses to carry concealed handguns to certain persons and creates the offenses of falsification to obtain a concealed handgun license and possessing a revoked or suspended concealed handgun license. The bill has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Criminal Justice Committee.

SB 134 OPF RETIREMENT (Blessing) Am. & En. 742. Provides for the establishment of the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund deferred retirement option plan. The bill his been signed by the Governor and is effective July 23, 2002.

SB 151 LANDFILL SITING (Coughlin) En. 3745. Requires a local election in certain circumstances before the Environmental Protection Agency, the Hazardous Waste Facility Board, or a board of health may approve certain landfill or facility applications. The bill has been referred to the Senate Energy, Natural Resources and Environment Committee.

SB 156 LIQUOR SALES (Mumper) To amend sections 4301.333, 4301.334, 4301.351,4301.354, 4301.355, 4301.356, 4301.361, 4301.364,4301.365, 4301.366, and 4303.182 of the Revised Code to authorize certain Sunday liquor sales to begin at 11 a.m. even if these sales previously were approved by the voters to commence at 1 p.m., and to change from 1 p.m. to 11 a.m. the time at which Sunday liquor sales may start as specified in certain local option questions submitted to the voters. The bill is has been referred to the House State Government Committee.

SB 180 VENTURE CAPITAL PROGRAM (ARMBRUSTER) Am. & En. 122,5733 &5747. Creates the Ohio Venture Capital Program to provide for the direction of moneys of a private investment fund into loans and investments that are consistent with a general policy adopted by the new Ohio Venture Capital Authority and that are secured up to a specified maximum loss, first through program revenues or, if insufficient, through proceeds from the sale of transferable tax credits that may be claimed against the corporate franchise tax or the personal income tax. The bill has been signed by the Governor.

SB 184 TERRORISM (Spada) To amend sections 2901.01, 2929.04, and 2933.51 and to enact sections 2909.21, 2909.22, 2909.23, 2909.24, and 2909.25 of the Revised Code to create the offenses of terrorism, soliciting or providing support for an act of terrorism, making a terroristic threat, and hindering prosecution of terrorism and to declare an emergency. The bill has been signed by the Governor and became effective May 15, 2002.

SB 223 WORKERS COMPENSATION (Wachtmann) Am. 4123. Defines "injury" for purposes of the Workers' Compensation Law to include, for emergency workers, instances when their blood or other body fluid comes in direct contact with the blood or other body fluid of another person while working. The bill is pending in House Rules Committee.

SB 231 MOBILITY DEVICES (Goodman) Am. & En. 4511. Exempts electric personal assistive mobility devices from the definition of "vehicle" in the traffic laws and permits their operation on sidewalks, bikeways and public streets and highways, subject to certain restrictions. The bill becomes effective October 24, 2002.

SB 233 CONDOMINIUM LAW (Spada) Am., En. & Rep. 317, 5301, 5311 & 5721. Revises the Ohio Condominium Law. The bill has been referred to the Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee.

SB 236 DESIGN-BUILD USAGE (Coughlin) Am. & En. 153. Permits public authorities to use design-build firms in the construction of public improvements and establishes a two-phase procedure for selecting those firms. The bill has been referred to the Senate Insurance, Commerce & Labor Committee.

SB 247 RETIREMENT BENEFITS (Blessing) Am. 145, 3307 & 3309. Creates in the State Teachers Retirement System, School Employees Retirement System and Public Employees Retirement System the option of receiving retirement benefits as a partial lump sum followed by a reduced monthly allowance and makes other changes to the law governing STRS. The bill has passed the General Assembly and becomes effective October 1, 2002.

SB 255 RIGHTS-OF-WAY (Blessing) Am., En. & Rep. 4939. Re-enacts certain provisions of the utility and cable public right-of-way law as enacted by Am.Sub.HB283 of the 123rd General Assembly; changes the definitional section of that law, as re-enacted by this act; broadens the application of the law to gas and petroleum or other hazardous liquid pipelines; states, as an express prohibition, a provision of law relating to additional consent for an existing use of a public way; provides that only those customers of a utility service provider that receive service from the provider within a political subdivision may be charged for specified costs levied by the subdivision on the provider for the use of public ways; removes an exemption in the law concerning any legal requirements of political subdivisions, in effect prior to Jan. 1, 1999, for certain compensation for the right or privilege of use of a public way and declares an emergency. The bill has passed the General Assembly and became effective July 2, 2002.

SB 258 FIREFIGHTERS/PUBLIC RECORDS (Austria) Am. & En. 109, 149, 505 & 737. Requires background checks on firefighters and exempts from the Public Records Law specified residential and familial information of a member of a fire department and certain security-related information. The bill has been signed by the Governor.

SB 261 TAX INCREASE/BUDGET (Carnes) Am., En. & Rep. 5733, 5743 & 5747. Increases the rate of tax on cigarettes; requires corporations and individuals, in computing franchise or income tax liability, to add back some of the depreciation bonus permitted under federal law; makes budgetary modifications; and makes an appropriation. The bill's effective date is June 5, 2002.

SB 289 RETIREMENT SYSTEM (Blessing) Am. 102. Regarding state retirement system investment activities. The bill has been referred to the Senate Ways & Means Committee.

SB 296 BIOTERRORISM (Mead) Am. & En. 339, 3701, 3707, 3901, 4736 & 6111. Modifies the powers and duties of the Department of Health, Public Health Council, and boards of health relative to bioterrorism and other public health matters. The bill has passed the Senate.

SB 307 MUTUAL AID PROGRAM (Amstutz) En. 5502. Establishes an intrastate mutual aid program for emergency preparedness and disaster response and recovery to be known as the Intrastate Mutual Aid Compact and declares an emergency. The bill has been referred to the Senate State and Local Government & Veterans Affairs Committee.

HOUSE BILLS

HB 3 ENVIRONMENTAL BONDS (Blasdel) En. 1559. Declares it to be the public policy of the state to establish the Clean Ohio Fund for the purpose of achieving certain goals related to the protection of the environment and preservation of the state's natural resources. The bill is effective July 26, 2001.

HB 6 TAX INCREMENT FINANCING (Hollister) Am. & En. 122, 166 & 5709. Establishes the Capital Access Program in the Department of Development and permits political subdivisions in economically distressed areas to employ tax increment financing throughout a designated area. The bill has been folded into HB 405, which passed and became effective.

HB 9 NATURAL GAS SALES (Setzer) Am. & En. 4905, 4911 & 4929. Subjects retail natural gas suppliers and governmental aggregators to certification by the Public Utilities Commission, authorizes governmental aggregation for competitive retail natural gas services, and authorizes the PUCO, upon application by a governmental aggregator, to require a natural gas company to provide distribution service on a comparable and nondiscriminatory basis within the area of the governmental aggregation. The bill became effective June 26, 2001.

HB 17 INTOXICATION (Willamowski) Am. 4301. Prohibits a person under 21 years of age from being under the influence of beer or intoxicating liquor in a public or private place. The bill becomes effective October 11, 2002.

HB 18 TRAFFIC FINES (Willamowski) Am. & En. 4511. Imposes an additional one dollar fine for state moving violations and requires that the additional fine money be used to maintain and upgrade public safety equipment used by police officers. The bill has been referred to the House Transportation & Public Safety Committee.

HB 21 PURCHASE CERTIFICATES (Core) Am. 5705. Enables super blanket certificates to be used by subdivisions and local taxing units for qualified purchases amounting to $5,000 or less, not just those amounting to more than $5,000. The bill will be effective August 28, 2001.

HB 37 WATER FLUORIDATION (Metzger) Am. 6109. Provides for a special election pertaining to the fluoridation of water to be used by political subdivisions that opted out of the fluoridation requirement as allowed by law in 1969 and 1970 and authorizes municipal corporations that opted out of the requirement to adopt an ordinance requiring fluoridation. The bill has been referred to the House Health & Family Services Committee.

 

HB 40 TRAFFIC FINES (Sulzer) En. 2949. Imposes an additional court cost of $1 in cases involving a person who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a motor vehicle speeding violation, creates the Spinal Cord Injury and Head Injury Cure Research Fund, and requires the additional court cost to be deposited into that fund. The bill has been referred to the House Transportation & Public Safety Committee.

 

HB 41 MUNICIPAL INVESTMENTS (Sulzer) Am. 731. Permits a municipal corporation to include the treasurer of a city or village, rather than the city director of law or village solicitor, among the officials who may order the investment of moneys in the municipal corporation's treasury. The bill has been referred to the House Local Government & Townships Committee.

 

HB 42 INDIGENT DEFENSE COSTS (Sulzer) Am. 120. Requires the state to reimburse counties for 50% of the total costs associated with the defense of certain indigent persons. The bill has been referred to the House State Government Committee.

 

HB 45 ANNEXATION (Seitz) Am., En. & Rep. 505, 709, 929 & 5705. Revises the laws governing municipal annexations. The bill has been referred to the House Local Government & Townships Committee.

 

HB 61 NATURAL GAS AGGREGATION (DePiero) En. 4929. Provides a municipal corporation, county, or township with authority for automatic governmental aggregation of the retail natural gas loans of those consumers who are within its jurisdiction and have a choice of gas supplier. The bill has been referred to the House Public Utilities Committee.

 

HB 67 STATE INVESTIGATION COSTS (Latell) Am. & En. 120, 2151, 2929, 2335, 2941 & 2947. Generally provides for state payment of investigation, prosecution, and defense costs related to a felony committed in a Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Youth Services, Mental Health, or Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities institution or facility. The bill has been referred to the House Criminal Justice Committee.

 

HB 73 TRANSPORTATION BUDGET (Buehrer) Am., En. & Rep. 151, 163, 4501, 4503, 4509, 5501, 5502, 5503, 5516, 5517, 5526 & 5529. Makes appropriations for programs related to transportation and public safety for the biennium beginning July 1, 2001 and ending June 30, 2003 and provides authorization and conditions for the operation of those programs. The bill became effective June 29, 2001.

 

HB 83 SOLID WASTE DISTRICTS (Schuring) Am. & En. 343. Requires arbitration prior to withdrawal of a county from a joint solid waste management district under specified circumstances and revises the requirements for withdrawal of a county from a joint solid waste management district under those circumstances. The bill has been referred to the House Energy & Environment Committee.

HB 84 RETIREMENT RESTRICTION (Schmidt) Am. 145. Prohibits an elected official from receiving a Public Employees Retirement System pension while earning a salary for the same public office and declares an emergency.

The bill is effective July 31, 2001.

 

HB 95 BIENNIAL BUDGET (Carey) Am., En. & Rep. 9, 105, 111, 118, 120, 121, 122, 125, 126, 131, 133, 166, 173, 175, 179, 181, 183, 329, 340, 901, 917, 1309, 1329, 1501, 1502, 1503, 1507, 1509, 1514, 1521, 1531, 1533, 1547, 1553, 1561, 1701, 1702, 1703, 1705, 1746, 1747, 1775, 1782, 1785, 1901, 1907, 2151, 2303, 2317, 2329, 2715, 2716, 2921, 2953, 3109, 3301, 3333, 3383, 3517, 3702, 3721, 3729, 3733, 3734, 3745, 3748, 3769, 3773, 3902, 3923, 4105, 4115, 4121, 4123, 4301, 4701, 4713, 4715, 4717, 4723, 4729, 4731, 4736, 4741, 4743, 4771, 4775,4905, 5101, 5103, 5107, 5108, 5111, 5119, 5123, , 5139, 5153, 5727, 5733, 5735, 5739, 5747, 5749, 6109 & 6111. Makes operating appropriations for the biennium beginning July 1, 2001 and ending June 30, 2003, and provides authorization and conditions for the operation of state programs. The bill was incorporated into HB 94, the Education Budget, and became effective June 6, 2001.

 

HB 108 RACIAL PROFILING (Jones) En. 109. Requires every law enforcement agency to record detailed data whenever one of its law enforcement officers causes the operator of a motor vehicle to stop the motor vehicle, requires the data to be submitted to the Attorney General, and requires the Attorney General to analyze the data, draw conclusions from the data, and report the data, analysis, and conclusions to the General Assembly. The bill has been referred to the House Criminal Justice Committee.

 

HB 109 OMVI LICENSE SUSPENSION (Ford) Am. 4511. Relative to the length of a license suspension for refusing to submit to a blood alcohol test following an auto accident that results in serious physical harm or death to a person and for refusing to submit to the test following a combination of four or more prior refusals and alcohol-related motor vehicle convictions. The bill has been referred to the House Criminal Justice Committee.

 

HB 113 SEAT BELT USE (Damschroder) Am. & Rep. 2151 & 4513. Requires all passengers in an automobile to wear a seat belt and revises the amounts of and liability for seat belt violations. The bill has been referred to the House Rules Committee.

 

HB 114 ESTATE TAXATION (Latta) Am., En. & Rep. 5709 & 5731. Phases out the basic estate tax by 2006 and thereafter retaining only the tax that picks up the maximum federal credit for state estate taxes. The bill has been referred to the House Ways & Means Committee.

 

HB 120 GOVERNMENT PURCHASES (Raga) Am. & En. 9, 125, 307, 505 & 717. Permits the Department of Administrative Services and political subdivisions to purchase supplies or services through a competitive reverse auction process via the Internet and makes changes in the notice required when the Department purchases supplies or services by competitive selection. The bill is effective October 26, 2001.

 

HB 129 COUNTY TAX BUDGET (Webster) Am. 5705. Permits a county budget commission to waive the requirement that a taxing authority adopt a tax budget for a subdivision or taxing unit. The bill is effective June 3, 2002.

 

HB 143 RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT (Young) Am. & En. 9, 505, 733 & 737. Specifies that state law does not require a municipal corporation fire chief or village fire prevention officer to be a resident or elector of the municipal corporation, does not require a township fire chief or fire prevention officer to be a resident of the township, and does not require a township fire district fire chief, joint fire district fire chief, or fire and ambulance district fire chief to be a resident of the township fire district, joint fire district, or fire and ambulance district. The bill has passed both Houses and becomes effective January 25, 2002.

 

HB 148 POLICE/FIRE TAX EXEMPTION (Reinhard) Am. & En. 5747. Allows a credit against the personal income tax for amounts paid by firefighters and auxiliary police officers for training programs, clothing, and equipment for fire fighting and law enforcement purposes. The bill has been referred to the House Ways & Means Committee.

 

HB 152 RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT (Ford) Am. & En. 733 & 737. Prohibits a municipal corporation from requiring any police or fire officer or employee to reside within the municipal corporation. The bill has been referred to the House Local Government and Townships Committee.

 

HB 157 PENSION BENEFITS (Schuring) Am. 145, 742, 3307, 3309 & 5505. Provides that the annual cost of living increase paid to retired members and beneficiaries of Ohio's state retirement systems will be three percent. The bill's effective date is February 1, 2002.

 

HB 158 PERS LAW ENFORCEMENT BENEFIT (Schuring) Am. 145 & 3309. Permits Public Employees Retirement System members with at least 25 years of law enforcement service credit to retire with full benefits at age 48, includes transit and highway patrol police officers as law enforcement officers for PERS purposes, and increases the employee contribution rate for law enforcement service credit. The bill's effective date is February 1, 2002.

 

HB 166 SOLID WASTE PERMIT MORATORIUM (Metzger) Establishes a moratorium on the issuance of permits for new solid waste landfills until the Director of Environmental Protection implements the recommendations for changes to siting criteria for those facilities made by a Solid Waste Landfill Siting Criteria Legislative Task Force. The bill has been referred to the House Energy & Environment Committee.

 

HB 167 TELECOMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES (Coates) Am. 303, 519 & 5501. Requires any telecommunications facilities for which the Department of Transportation provides a lease, easement or license to comply with local zoning regulations. The bill has been referred to the House Local Government and Townships Committee.

 

HB 173 TECHNOLOGY FUND (Calvert) Am. & En. 145, 168, 3307, 3309 & 4123. Creates the Ohio Technology fund, a venture capital investment fund to invest in high technology businesses with moneys provided by the Public Employees Retirement System, the State Teachers Retirement System, the School Employees Retirement System and the Bureau of Workers' Compensation and with moneys appropriated from the state's General Revenue Fund. The bill has been referred to the House Finance & Appropriations Committee.

 

HB 177 LANDFILL ARBITRATION (Kearns) Am. 3734. Applies to private sanitary landfills certain arbitration procedures related to the siting or modification of landfills and changes the definition of "affected community" in the law related to those arbitration procedures. The bill has been referred to the House Energy & Environment Committee.

 

HB 187 FIREARM BACKGROUND CHECKS (Flannery) Am. & En. 109, 149, 2923, 2945, 5122 & 5123. Requires the Superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation to establish a database of relevant information regarding certain mentally ill persons subject to hospitalization by court order and mentally retarded persons subject to institutionalization by court order for purposes of performing instant mental competence records checks of potential purchasers of firearms from federally licensed firearms dealers and establishes procedures for requesting and performing those mental competence records checks. The bill has been referred to the House Criminal Justice Committee.

 

HB 191 MUNICIPAL TAXES (Schaffer) En. 718. Requires municipal corporations with more than $100 million in annual income tax collections to pay a portion of a nonresident individual's municipal income tax liability to the township or municipal corporation where the individual resides. The bill has been referred to the House Ways & Means Committee.

 

HB 192 FIREARMS LAWSUITS (Callender) En. 2305. Provides a qualified immunity from civil liability and injunctive relief to members of the firearms industry that will be both prospective and retroactive in its application. The bill will become effective October 8, 2001.

 

HB 215 PERS/LAW ENFORCEMENT (Willamowski) Am. 145. Includes municipal park rangers in the law enforcement division of the Public Employees Retirement System. The bill is pending in Senate Rules Committee.

 

HB 220 ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION (Ford) Am. 2317. Requires a health care provider to supply the results of a test of a person's blood, breath or urine to specific officers if they indicate a prohibited blood, breath or urine alcohol concentration and if either the person operate a vehicle that was in an accident within the two hours preceding the test or the provider knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the person operated a motor vehicle within that two-hour period. The bill has been referred to the House Criminal Justice Committee.

 

HB 225 CONCEALED WEAPONS (Brinkman) Am. & Rep. 109, 1531, 1533, 1547 & 2923.Permits the carrying of concealed weapons and repeals the offenses of improperly handing firearms in a motor vehicle and improperly handling firearms in a watercraft. The bill has been referred to the House Criminal Justice Committee.

 

HB 233 ATTORNEY'S FEES (Womer Benjamin) Am. 2721. Excludes from the prohibition against awarding attorney's fees in declaratory relief claims the award of attorney's fees to a fiduciary, beneficiary, or other interested party to be paid out of trust or estate property in accordance with equitable principles. The bill is effective January 25, 2002.

 

 

HB 240 MUNICIPAL TAX DEDUCTIONS (Cirelli) To amend sections 718.01 and 5747.01 of the Revised Code to allow a municipal income tax deduction for amounts paid by individuals in federal and state income taxes and a state income tax deduction for amounts paid by individuals in federal income taxes, and to amend the version of section 718.01 of the Revised Code that is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2002, to continue the provisions of this act on and after that effective date. The bill has been referred to the House Ways & Means Committee.

 

HB 241 PHOTO TRAFFIC CONTROL (Latta) Am. & En. 4501 & 4511. Establishes standards, procedures, and a non-criminal enforcement mechanism that apply when any municipal corporation, county, or township authorizes the installation of traffic control signal photo-monitoring devices at intersections. The bill has been referred to the House Transportation & Public Safety.

 

HB 244 OPFP REPORTS (Niehaus) Am. & En. 742. Modifies the penalties assessed against employers who fail to submit certain reports and information to the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund and reduces the amount of certain penalties currently owed by employers. The bill passed becomes effective February 19, 2002.

 

HB 245 VILLAGE OFFICES (Evans) En. 733. Permits the offices of village clerk and treasurer to be combined into an appointed office of village fiscal officer and permits the appointed office to be subsequently abolished and replaced by the elected office of village clerk-treasurer. The bill's effective date is February 1, 2002.

 

HB 252 PREVAILING WAGE LAW (Boccieri) Am. 125, 153, 3704 & 4115. Makes school facilities construction subject to the Prevailing Wage Law and prohibits a board of education of a school district or the governing board of an educational service center from awarding a contract for construction, repair, or other work on a public improvement that is supported in whole or in party by the state to a contractor that does not have a principal place of business in Ohio. The bill has been referred to the House Commerce & Labor Committee.

 

HB 258 RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS (Flowers) Am. & En. 3 & 733. Prohibits certain political subdivisions from requiring their employees, and municipal corporations from requiring police or fire officers, to reside within any specific area of this state. The bill has passed the House and is pending referral in the Senate.

 

HB 263 WRONGFUL IMPRISONMENT (Sykes) Am. 2743. Increases the amount that a wrongfully imprisoned individual, in an action brought in the Court of Claims, is entitled to for each year of imprisonment. The bill has been referred to the House Civil & Commercial Law Committee.

 

HB 270 ALCOHOL LEVEL (Damschroder) Am. 1547 & 4511. Reduces the prohibited concentrations of alcohol in a person's blood, breath or urine for purposes of the state OMVI law, implied consent law and watercraft law. The bill is pending House floor vote.

 

HB 274 CONCEALED WEAPONS (Aslanides) Authorizes county sheriffs to issue licenses to carry concealed handguns to certain persons and creates the offense of falsification of a concealed handgun license, falsification of a concealed handgun license and possessing a revoked or suspended concealed handgun license. The bill has passed the Senate but there was no House concurrence.

 

HB 298 POLICE & FIRE BENEFITS (Ford) Am. 742. Provides monthly pension benefits for remarried surviving spouses of former members of local police or firemen's pension funds established under former Chapter 741 of the Revised Code. The bill has been referred to the House Retirement & Aging Committee.

 

HB 303 FIREARM OWNERSHIP (Young) En. 9. Generally authorizes any person to own, possess, purchase, otherwise acquire, transport, carry, sell or otherwise transfer a firearm, a component of a firearm, or ammunition for a firearm. The bill has been referred to the House Civil & Commercial Law Committee.

 

HB 329 LOCAL GOVERNMENT FUNDS (Blasdel) Am. 5705 & 5747. Allows local government funds under certain circumstances to be distributed among subdivisions under an alternative apportionment scheme without the approval of the largest municipal corporation in the county. The bill has passed the and becomes effective August 29, 2002.

 

HB 365 GOVERNMENT FISCAL WATCH (Setzer) Am. 118. Authorizes the Auditor of State to declare a fiscal watch when the projected fiscal year-end deficit of a municipal corporation, county, or township exceeds one-twelfth of its general fund revenue from the preceding fiscal year. The bill has been signed by the Governor, it is effective May 30, 2002.

 

HB 386 FINANCIAL SERVICE REGULATION (Blasdel) En. 1. States the intent of the General Assembly on the relationship of state and local laws regarding the regulation of loans and other forms of credit. The bill has been signed by the Governor and became effective May 24, 2002.

 

HB 403 UNIFORM BUILDING CODE (Kilbane) Am. & En. 3703 & 3781. Establishes a statewide uniform building code and two advisory committees to assist the Board of Building Standards in developing and interpreting the Ohio building code. The bill has been referred to the House Commerce & Labor Committee.

 

HB 405 MRDD SERVICES/ REVISE COUNTY BOARD MEMBERSHIP (Peterson) To amend sections 103.144, 103.145, 103.146, 122.15, 145.01, 149.07, 166.03, 183.02, 317.33, 742.01, 1309.528, 1333.11, 3307.01, 3309.01, 3313.37, 3313.375, 3318.31, 3353.07, 3353.11, 3770.02, 3770.03, 3770.06, 5111.34, 5111.872, 5123.043, 5123.046, 5123.048, 5123.049, 5123.0411, 5126.01, 5126.02, 5126.021, 5126.033, 5126.035, 5126.036, 5126.042, 5126.046, 5126.05, 5126.054, 5126.055, 5126.06, 5126.14, 5126.15, 5126.17, 5126.18, 5126.19, 5126.221, 5126.357, 5505.01, 5705.44, 5709.12, 5709.121, 5709.17, 5709.40, 5709.411, 5709.43, 5709.73, 5709.74, 5709.75, 5709.77, 5709.78, 5709.79, 5709.80, 5709.81, 5725.14, 5725.24, 5725.25, 5725.26, 5733.056, 5733.06, 5733.0610, 5733.09, 5733.11, 5733.98, 5739.01, 5741.01, 5743.05, 5747.058, 5747.13, 5747.98, 5923.05, and 5923.051; to amend, for the purpose of adopting a new section number as indicated in parentheses, section 5126.056 (5126.057); to enact new section 5126.056 and sections 122.171, 122.60, 122.601, 122.602, 122.603, 122.604, 122.605, 307.6910, 5733.45, 5739.012, and 5741.011; to repeal section 103.147 of the Revised Code and to amend Section 11 of Am. Sub. S.B. 50 of the 121st General Assembly, to amend Section 3 of Am. Sub. H.B. 440 of the 121st General Assembly, as subsequently amended, to amend Section 5.02 of Sub. H.B. 73 of the 124th General Assembly, to amend Section 41 of Am. Sub. H.B. 94 of the 124th General Assembly, as subsequently amended, to amend Sections 41.15, 45, 63.25, 74.01, 74.02, 94.11, 104, and 140 of Am. Sub. H.B. 94 of the 124th General Assembly, to amend Sections 41.10 and 63.09 of Am. Sub. H.B. 94 of the 124th General Assembly, as subsequently amended, to amend Section 10 of Am. Sub. S.B. 192 of the 123rd General Assembly, to amend Section 9 of Am. Sub. S.B. 192 of the 123rd General Assembly, as subsequently amended, and to repeal Section 11 of Sub. H.B. 73 of the 124th General Assembly, to revise provisions of Am. Sub. H.B. 94 of the 124th General Assembly regarding services for persons with mental retardation or other developmental disabilities, to revise the law governing membership of county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, to grant property tax exemptions for Edison program grantees, to modify Local Government Fund and Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement Fund distributions, to increase the cigarette wholesaler's markup, to expand the uses of the Corporate and Uniform Commercial Code Filing Fund, to revise provisions of the TANF Housing Program within the Department of Development, to authorize transfers from the Budget Stabilization Fund to the General Revenue Fund, to clarify the application of the "in lieu of other tax" exemption regarding certain dealers in intangibles, to modify the "deposits only" apportionment fraction for certain financial institutions, to establish the Capital Access Program in the Department of Development, to create a nonrefundable credit against the corporate franchise and personal income taxes for job retention, to exempt temporarily certain new high-technology companies from the net worth calculation of the corporate franchise tax, to establish the Rural Development Initiative Fund in the state treasury, and to permit the disbursement of grants from that fund in conjunction with loans from the Rural Industrial Park Loan Program, to extend the sunset of the Rural Industrial Park Loan Program to July 1, 2007, to permit political subdivisions in economically distressed areas to employ tax increment financing throughout a designated incentive district, to modify other tax increment financing provisions, to revise the criteria for the award and use of certain TANF Funds for Appalachia, to permit a county to enter into an agreement with a political subdivision authorizing the county to receive payments of certain revenue in the county treasury that are due a political subdivision as a credit against amounts otherwise owed to the county, to require the Department of Education in fiscal years 2002 and 2003 only to pay a subsidy to certain community schools in which at least half of the total number of students enrolled are severe behaviorally handicapped students, to specify control over Ohio Government Telecommunications and associated funds, to require the State Lottery Commission to enter into a multistate lottery if the Governor so directs, modifies the liability of county recorders, to increase the membership of the Nursing Facility Reimbursement Study Council, to create a committee to study the impact of gambling, to permit certain nursing homes to apply for Medicare certification of certain beds, to revise the requirement for independent healthcare actuarial reviews of mandated benefits, to reduce the cigarette tax stump discount, to eliminate a study of road and bridge funding mandates, to make corrections, to repeal section 307.6910 of the Revised Code effective July 1, 2007, and to make appropriations. The bill became effective December 13, 2001.

 

HB 410 TOWNSHIP EXPENDITURES (Wolpert) En. 505. Permits a township to appropriate general fund moneys to certain municipal corporations for specific public purposes. The bill has been referred to the House Finance & Financial Institutions Committee.

 

HB 426 EMINENT DOMAIN (Young) Am. 163. Requires acquiring state agencies to make every reasonable effort to provide a copy of the appraisal to the owner of real property appraised at more than $10,000, requires those agencies to update or obtain new appraisals under certain circumstances, and specifies that their acquisition of property must be for a clearly defined public purposes that is to be achieved in a defined and reasonable period of time. The bill becomes effective September 6, 2002

 

HB 448 MILITARY PERSONNEL TAX PAYMENTS (Cirelli) To extend the time within which members of the National Guard and reserve components of the Armed Forces of the United States who have been called to active or other duty under Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Noble Eagle, or the Governor's directive of September 28, 2001, must pay real property and manufactured home taxes and to declare an emergency. The bill has been referred to the House Ways & Means Committee.

 

HB 449 PARK COMMISSION EMINENT DOMAIN (Lendrum) The bill has been referred to the House Local Government & Townships Committee.

 

HB 454 LOCAL GOVERNMENT SPENDING (Coates) Am. 5705. Raises the threshold amount below which the fiscal officer of a political subdivisions can approve expenditures made without a certificate of available funds. The bill has been signed by the Governor.

 

HB 459 WASTE COMMISSION (Schuring) To create the Solid Waste and Construction and Demolition Debris Commission for the purpose of evaluating various aspects of the solid waste and construction and demolition debris laws. The bill has been referred to the House Energy & Environment Committee.

 

HB 468 OPEN RECORDS (Trakas) To amend section 149.43 and to enact section 3781.51 of the Revised Code to exempt private single-family dwelling architectural plans in the possession of a public agency from disclosure as a public record with exceptions. The bill has been referred to the House State Government Committee.

 

HB 469 PUBLIC INDECENCY (ROMAN) To amend sections 503.29, 2505.08, 2506.01, 2506.02, 2506.03, 2506.04, and 2907.09, to amend, for the purpose of adopting a new section number as indicated in parentheses, section 503.29 (503.53), to enact new sections 503.51 and 503.52 and sections 2506.05, 2506.06, 2506.07, 2506.08, 3768.01, 3768.02, 3768.03, 3768.04, 3768.05, 3768.06, 3768.07, and 3768.99, and to repeal sections 503.51, 503.52, 503.53, 503.54, 503.55, 503.56, 503.57, 503.58, 503.59, 503.65, and 503.99 of the Revised Code to modify Ohio's public indecency law; to generally regulate adult entertainment establishments; to permit townships to regulate the location and operation of those establishments; to create an expedited appeal from orders, adjudications, or decisions denying an application for, or suspending or revoking, a license or permit to locate or operate such an establishment; and to create an expedited appeal in any case in which a court determines there is a threat of restraint of protected Expression. The bill has before the House Civil & Commercial Law Committee.

 

HB 482 ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT (Buehrer) Am. & En. 1306. Adopts 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 procedures established by the act. The bill has been referred to the House State Government Committee.

 

HB 490 MISDEMEANOR SENTENCING (Latta) Am., En. & Rep. 1, 109, 120, 149, 306, 307, 311, 321, 341, 505, 509, 511, 737, 753, 1501, 1503, 1517, 1702, 1713, 1905, 2101, 2152, 2301, 2305, 2313, 2903, 2905, 2907, 2919, 2923, 2925, 2929, 2935, 2937, 2945, 2947, 2949, 2950, 2951, 2953, 2961, 2963, 2967, 2969, 3313, 3321, 3345, 3719, 3734, 3735, 3748, 3793, 3937, 3959, 4507, 4511, 4517, 4734, 4761, 4973, 5101, 5119, 5120, 5122, 5123, 5145, 5147, 5149, 5321, 5502, 5743, 5907 & 6101. Implements recommendations of the Criminal Sentencing Commission pertaining to misdemeanor sentencing generally and makes other changes in the criminal law. The bill has been signed by the Governor.

 

HB 501 MOBILITY DEVICES (Husted) Am. & En. 4511. Exempts electric personal assistive mobility devices from the definition of "vehicle" in the traffic laws and to permit their operation on sidewalks, bikeways, and public streets and highways, subject to certain restrictions. The bill is pending in House Rules Committee.

 

HB 505 CONDOMINIUM LAW (Salerno) Revises the Ohio Condominium Law. The bill has been referred to the House Housing & Urban Revitalization Subcommittee.

 

HB 518 COUNTY LODGING TAX (Schmidt) Authorizes boards of county commissioners of certain counties to levy an additional excise tax on lodging. The bill becomes effective September 6, 2002

 

HB 562 PARKING VIOLATIONS (Williams) Am. 4521. Permits a local authority to consider for purposes of the Local Noncriminal Parking Law a fine of up to $500 for a violation of an ordinance, resolution, or regulation that regulates the standing or parking of a vehicle in a disability parking space and provides that if a person fails to pay a fine for such a violation and the fine exceeds $100 that person may not be permitted to register a motor vehicle in that person's name. The bill has been referred to the House Transportation & Public Safety Committee.

 

HB 601 PUBLIC SAFETY RETIREMENT (Willamowski) Am. 145. Creates special provisions in the Public Employees Retirement System for public safety officials. The Bill has been referred to the House Retirement & Aging Committee.

 

HB 605 MUTUAL AID PROGRAM (White) En. 5502. Establishes an intrastate mutual aid program for emergency preparedness and disaster response and recovery to be known as the Intrastate Mutual Aid Compact and declares an emergency. The bill became effective December been referred to the House State Government Committee.

 

HB 629 ELECTED OFFICIAL PENSIONS (Olman) Am. 145. Prohibits an elected official from receiving a pension from the Public Employees Retirement System while earning a salary for the same term or a subsequent term of the same public office. The Bill has been referred to the House Retirement & Aging Committee.

 

HB 635 PUBLIC/PRIVATE LABOR LAW (Brinkman) Am. & En. 9, 4113, 4117 & 4119. Removes any requirement under the Public Employees Collective Bargaining Law that public employees join or pay dues to any employee organization, expands the scope of unfair labor practices under that law, makes other changes in the Public Employees Collective Bargaining Law, prohibits any requirement that employees of private employers join or pay dues to any employee organization and requires public and private employers to post notices to that effect, prohibits certain actions by private employers relative to employee organization membership, and establishes civil and criminal penalties against private employers who violate those prohibitions. The bill has been referred to the House Commerce & Labor Committee.

 

HB 638 DOG CONTROL LAWS (Metzger) Am. 955. Increases the penalty for a violation of a local ordinance enacted or resolution adopted under the Dogs Law to control dogs. The bill has been referred to the House Local Government & Townships Committee.

 

HB 644 VILLAGE DISBANDMENT (Wolpert) Am. & En. 703. Permits the board of county commissioners to dissolve a village under certain circumstances. The bill has been referred to the House Local Government & Townships Committee.

 

HB 659 CONTRACTOR LICENSING (Buehrer) Am. & Rep. 307, 505, 715, 3703, 3722, 3781, 3791, 4703, 4733, 4740 & 4929. Requires statewide licensing of residential contractors, establishes a statewide uniform building code for commercial and residential buildings, establishes a process for granting variances from the statewide uniform building code, and makes other changes in the laws governing contractors and construction. The Bill has been referred to the House Commerce & Labor Committee.