Legislative Update - April 6, 2018

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CEA Article April 

Capital Bill Passes
The State Capital / ReAppropriations Bill was introduced in late February. CEA representatives were present at multiple hearings.  HB 529 was not changed throughout the process.  The bill provides $2.63 billion in capital appropriations for construction and maintenance for fiscal years 2019-2020. It was passed and then signed by the Governor the last week of March.

Some provisions of interest are that the bill contains:

  • $625 million for repairs, renovations, and new K-12 facilities
  • $400 million for projects at Ohio’s colleges and universities

In the past, some capital bills have included anti labor / anti prevailing wage policies.  This bill DOES NOT included any of those types of harmful provisions. 

For county project by project information, please click here.  Please note that Cuyahoga County projects appear on pages 8 and 9. 

Update on Employer Group - Self Insured Legislation
Tim Linville and CEA’s lobbying team met with statewide business groups and some statewide labor organizations to give background on CEA supported legislation, HB 459 (Henne), which would allow groups of employers to be granted workers’ compensation self-insuring status.  

Testimony Lacking In Unemployment Hearings
HJR 4 Unemployment Compensation (Schuring) and HB 382 Unemployment Compensation (Schuring) had their 20th hearings in late March.  The bills continue to be scheduled for hearings with no witnesses testifying. CEA’s focus has been to remind members of the distinct nature of the construction industry and the importance the UC system has to portability in the industry. 

Students To Receive More Information on Careers
HB 98 was introduced by Representatives Duffey and Boggs.  The goal was to make sure schools were providing students access to job information.  The legislation passed both chambers of the legislature. It was signed by the Governor on March 30th.  
The bill:

  • Prohibits school district boards of education from imposing restrictions on the presentation of career information to students by representatives of skilled trades or providers of career-technical education that are not uniformly imposed on representatives of business, industry, charitable institutions, institutions of higher education, armed forces, and other employers. 
  • Requires each district board to provide the representative of any entity described above with at least two opportunities per school year to present information in person to all high school students individually or in a group setting.
  • Permits district boards to develop an application process for entities that wish to access school property for the purpose of presenting information to students

If you want to learn more about the topics above or state advocacy, please contact Glen Shumate at [email protected].