Legislative Update – April 2005
Hearings continue in the Ohio House on the Biennial Budget Bill, HB 66, as they get closer to passing their version of the budget. Meanwhile, the Senate is beginning preparations to do their work on the budget bill. The State Library is scheduled to testify before the Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee, chaired by Senator John Carey, on Thursday April 21, 2005 at 9:30 a.m.
Representative Mike Gilb (R–Findlay) has introduced a bill, House Bill 77, to reorganize the Executive branch of State Government. A companion bill, Senate Bill 78, has also been introduced by Senator Timothy Grendell (R–Chesterland). The bills propose restructuring the Governor's 19 cabinet departments into eight departments. The State Library would be folded into a newly created Department of Education under the Division of Cultural Resources. The new Department of Education would consist of the following six divisions: a Division of Primary and Secondary Education, a Division of Higher Education for Four–Year Colleges and Universities, a Division of Higher Education for Two–Year Colleges, a Division of Education Finance, a Division of Education Technology, and a Division of Cultural Resources. At this point neither bill has received a hearing.
Another recently introduced bill of interest is House Bill 115, a bill which creates the Educational Regional Service System (ERSS) to provide support services to school districts, community schools, and chartered nonpublic schools in each of 16 designated regions. This bill, introduced by Representative Arlene Setzer (R– Vandalia) is a revamped version of the OREDS bill (HB 474, 125th GA) which she introduced in the last General Assembly. Of particular interest is Section 5 at the end of the bill which states the intent to make necessary changes through the budget bill including eliminating "the area media centers funded by the Ohio SchoolNet Commission and transfer their functions and responsibilities to the state system of libraries established pursuant to Chapter 3375. of the Revised Code". The State Library is investigating what the intent of this language is.
For an in depth look at these bills and analyses by the Legislative Service Commission please go to http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/ and enter the bill number in the current legislation search box.
Legislative Update – March 2005
Considerable activity is taking place in the State Legislature as the 126th General Assembly ramps up. The Governor's Biennial Budget has been introduced in the House as House Bill 66 which can be found online : http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=126_HB_66. The proposed budget would reduce the distributions to the Library and Local Government Support Fund (LLGSF) by 5 percent beginning in January 2006. The Governor's budget also proposes 10% cuts to the OPLIN line item and the Regional Library Systems line items within the State Library Budget.
On February 22, the State Library had a hearing before the House Higher Education Subcommittee of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee chaired by Representative Shawn Webster (R-Hamilton). State Librarian Jo Budler and Deborah O'Connor, Director of the Geauga County Public Library, testified on behalf of the State Library's budget and the programs it supports. Ms. Budler's testimony can be found online at http://winslo.state.oh.us/testimony.html. According to Chairman Webster the subcommittees are supposed to have their work done on the budget within three weeks. The bill will then be voted on by the full Finance and Appropriations committee and the entire House before moving on to the Ohio Senate.
The Governor has also proposed a tax reform package which among other things would lower the personal income tax by 21% across the board over five years. Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Senator Ron Amstutz (R–Wooster) is currently under consideration by the Senate Ways & Means & Economic Development Committee. The full text of the bill, and analysis of it, can be found at: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=126_SB_1.
Deliberations on these proposals will be moving forward in the coming weeks and months. It is vital for legislators to hear from their constituents about the impact of these proposals as they consider what actions to take.
Legislative Update – February 2005
It's clear from the first bills to be introduced this session that the Ohio General Assembly hopes to reform Ohio's tax code. Both House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1 read as follows, in their entirety:
A BILL
To formally state the General Assembly's intentions in its upcoming deliberations on reforming Ohio's tax laws.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. The General Assembly hereby sets forth its intent to reform Ohio's tax code to improve economic competitiveness and foster job retention and creation, thereby making Ohio a more attractive place to live and do business.
Expect these two bills to increase dramatically in size as deliberations proceed during the session.
To see the latest bills introduced check out the 126th Ohio General Assembly website at http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/. In addition to providing the full text of bills introduced the site provides other useful information such as legislative schedules, information about individual legislators, committee assignments and more.
Legislative Update – January 2005
The 126th Ohio General Assembly convenes for the start of a new two-year session in January. One of the first major items of business will be consideration of the 2006–2007 Biennial Budget. The Budget Bill is usually introduced sometime soon after the Governor gives his State of the State speech toward the end of January. Watch this space for updates about the progress of the Budget Bill and any other legislation of interest to libraries, which may be introduced in the state legislature. The 109th U.S. Congress will also be starting in January so watch for updates on any federal legislation of interest too.
