Public Policy Advocates

House Committee Schedule

Senate Committee Schedule

Senate Continues Deliberations on Tax Freeze Bill

The Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee finished hearings last week on HB 318, the proposed Tax Freeze Bill.  After hearing testimony from state budget officials the previous week, the committee heard from public interest groups testifying about the harmful effects further budget cuts would have on government services to the poor and needy.  The committee, in addition to searching for ways to fill the budget gap without eliminating tax cuts, seemed to strongly consider two amendments. These amendments would eliminate the requirement for all-day kindergarten from HB 1, and decouple state tax laws from certain federal tax changes to raise an additional $69 million to replace lost funding for private, parochial schools.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Armond Budish (D-Beachwood) and Senate President Bill Harris (R-Ashland) appeared at an event sponsored by the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants to discuss HB 318 and other possible measures to help fix the state’s budget gap.  Having already passed HB 318 from his chamber, Speaker Budish offered his support for the measure and insisted that the measure was not a tax increase, reminding the audience that, “no one in Ohio making the same salary as they were last year will pay more in taxes than they did last year.”  President Harris expressed concern about the measure, because he believes it is too late to eliminate the tax cuts as families have already planned their budgets expecting one.  He also said that his chamber will continue to exhaust every possibility to find new revenue or cut costs in order to fix the budget gap.

The Senate Committee is expected to meet again on Tuesday, November 17 to hear amendments and vote on the bill.

House Committee Passes Elections Reform Bill

The House Elections & Ethics Committee voted to send House Bill 260, the Elections Enhancement bill, to the floor for a vote by the full House.  HB 260 is designed to enhance Ohio election laws and address certain problems that have occurred in Ohio in the past.  Some of the changes include allowing for online voter registration, standardizing the absentee-voting period at 28 days for both in-person and absentee voting, and clarifying rules for provisional voting.

Casino Backers Meet with Governor, Legislative Leaders

Tim Wilmott, president and COO of Penn National Gaming, and Dan Gilbert, chairman and founder of Quicken Loans, met with Governor Strickland and legislative leaders last week to discuss implementation language of Issue 3.  Mr. Wilmott and Mr. Gilbert will each receive the rights to build two casinos under Issue 3.  The Ohio Legislature has six months in which to draft and approve language that enacts the intent of Issue 3.  The casino backers stated that it will be crucial for the state to establish a commonsense casino regulatory structure.  The two men also expressed their willingness to work in concert with the legislature going forward.  

Quinnipiac Poll Reveals Tight Race Between Strickland, Kasich

Quinnipiac University released a poll last week showing the race for the Governor’s Mansion a dead heat, with Gov. Ted Strickland and former Congressman John Kasich each getting 40% support.  The poll showed that voters trust Kasich to rebuild the state economy over Strickland by a margin of 55% to 32%.  However, the poll also revealed that Kasich is a relatively unknown quantity to most voters, with almost 70% having no opinion on the former Congressman.

The same poll also showed a general trend of anti-incumbent and anti-Democratic feelings from the voters.  President Barack Obama’s approval rating dipped to 45%, with 50% disapproval.  The poll also showed former Congressman and Republican Senate candidate Rob Portman with a slight lead over Democratic rivals Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher.