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Legislative Update - March 07, 2018

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March 07, 2018
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CEA Article 3-2-18

State of the State
Governor John Kasich will deliver his final State of the State speech in Westerville, Ohio on Tuesday, March 6th at the Fritsche Theatre at Otterbein University at 7 p.m.  The speech will likely focus on the Kasich administration's accomplishments, thank yous, and what the Governor looks to achieve in the final ten months of office. 

Capital to Spend
This week the State Capital bill was introduced in both the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate.  CEA representatives attended committee hearings for HB 529 (Ryan) and SB 266 (Oelslager).  These companion bills provide $2.63 billion in capital appropriations for construction and maintenance for Fiscal Years 2019-2020.

OBM Director Tim Keen testified that: "Most of the proposed capital spending is focused on maintaining and improving the state's current capital assets, while much of the new construction funded in this bill is used to replace existing facilities that are no longer cost-effective to repair and maintain or no longer optimal for current program delivery needs."

Some overall areas in the Capital Bill that CEA members maybe interested in are:

  • $1.26  billion in Reappropriations (state funding that was unspent last capital cycle)
  • $483.4 million to the Department of Higher Education and institutions of higher education across the state
  • $514 million to the Public Works Commission 
  • $100 million for the Clean Ohio Program
  • $625 million in spending authority for the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) which will look to fund 75 districts with projects currently in progress as well as offering funding to 20 new school districts over the next two years.

More specifically the legislation contains:

  • $58,390,290  in spending for Cuyahoga County
  • $6,074,265   in spending for Lake County
  • $8,836,260   in spending for Lorain County
  • $30,893,650 in spending for Summit County

A much discussed new program provides $20 million for the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services for the New Community Resiliency Project. This new grant program will support the establishment, expansion and/or renovation of safe and healthy programming spaces for middle- and high-school age youth to access pro-social activities in the community. While the space would be available for the entire community, the programming emphasis will focus on engaging a broad spectrum of at-risk youth. Applicants would be community service organizations that provide programs to the targeted population.

The Capital Bill needs to be signed into law by April 1st.  The House version of the legislation will likely serve as the vehicle with legislators looking to pass it before spring break, which is set to begin in late March.

CEA is pleased the current legislation does not contain anti labor / anti prevailing wage policies as have some Capital Bills in the past. This is a credit to the continued efforts to tell our construction story to policy makers. 

For a list of all projects being proposed, please click here to see the attached document. 

Unemployment Compensation Hearings Continue
Legislation on unemployment compensation was up for its 15th hearing at the end of February, but neither HJR 4 Unemployment Compensation (Schuring) or HB 382 Unemployment Compensation (Schuring) had any witnesses testify.  The bills continue to be scheduled at committee with no witnesses commenting on the legislation.  CEA continues to work to let members know the uniqueness of the construction industry and the importance the UC system has to portability in the industry. 

House Keeps HB 415 Road Improvements Rolling
HB 415  (Greenspan, Ryan) would allocate one-half of any surplus revenue to a new Local Government Road Improvement Fund, from which money will be distributed to local governments to fund road improvements.

HB 415 would provide additional funding to counties, townships, and municipalities for road improvement purposes from the LGRIF, subject to there being a surplus GRF balance, beginning in the second half of calendar year calendar year 2019.  The bill passed the House 73-13, and it will now go to the Ohio Senate for review. 

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