MRR Ohio Legislative Updates: April 22 – May 5, 2016
Notes from the House of Representatives
- HB 529 was introduced to provide for firearms training for tactical medical professionals; to permit such a professional who has received that training or comparable training and who is authorized to carry firearms by the law enforcement agency the professional is serving to carry firearms while on duty in the same manner, to the same extent, in the same areas, and subject to the same potential for civil and criminal liability as a law enforcement officer of the agency; and to grant such a professional, while on duty in that capacity, the same right to carry a concealed handgun in this state as a person who was issued a concealed handgun license.
- HB 531 was introduced to require townships to provide mileage reimbursement to a member of a board of township trustees and to a township fiscal officer for travel within the township that is necessary in the performance of the member’s or fiscal officer’s duties.
- Am. HB 361 was passed upon third consideration to authorize boards of township trustees and boards of park commissioners to expend funds for the public purpose of presenting community events in their parks and at other recreational facilities.
- HB 537 was introduced to make discrimination in housing or employment on the basis of sexual orientation an unlawful discriminatory practice; to provide specified protections for religious expression and beliefs about marriage, family, and sexuality; and to prohibit an elected official who solemnizes marriages from refusing to solemnize a marriage of two persons who have been granted a marriage license.
- HB 545 was introduced to allow a corporation to become a benefit corporation.
- HB 546 was introduced to authorize a board of education or governing authority of a school to enter into an agreement with a volunteer who is a current or retired law enforcement officer to patrol school premises to prevent or respond to a mass casualty event, to generally provide to a board of education or governing authority of a school and to such a volunteer immunity from civil liability for injury, death, or loss arising from the volunteer’s services, and to provide a tax credit for volunteer service.
- HB 547 was introduced to provide authorization and conditions for the operation of state programs and to make appropriations.
- Sub. SB 152 was passed upon third consideration to prohibit a public authority from requiring a contractor to employ a certain percentage of individuals from the geographic area of the public authority for the construction or professional design of a public improvement and to prohibit a state agency or state institution of higher education from requiring a contractor to or prohibiting a contractor from entering into certain labor agreements as a condition of performing or bidding on a public improvement project, was taken up for consideration the third time.
- Sub. SB 75 was passed upon third consideration to limit the authority of a board of county commissioners or board of township trustees to prohibit agritourism through zoning, to apply current agricultural use valuation to land used for agritourism for property tax purposes, and to establish immunity in a civil action for agritourism providers, was taken up for consideration the third time.
Notes from the Senate
- SB 318 was introduced to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, to add mediation to the list of informal methods by which the Ohio Civil Rights Commission must attempt to induce compliance with Ohio’s Civil Rights Law before instituting a formal hearing, and to eliminate certain religious exemptions from the Ohio Civil Rights Law.
- SB 320 was introduced to revise the requirements for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and peak demand reduction, to permit property owners to petition municipal corporations and townships for the purpose of developing and implementing special energy improvement projects, to govern condominium association participation in special improvement districts, to require deployment and permit cost recovery of advanced energy analytics technology by electric distribution utilities, and to revise the law governing net metering service provided by electric utilities and electric services companies.
- SB 220 was passed on third consideration to authorize the Ohio Public Employees Deferred Compensation Board and local governments to establish designated Roth account features and other tax-deferred or nontax-deferred features permitted for government deferred compensation plans.
- SB 321 was introduced to create a procedure within the Court of Claims to hear complaints alleging a denial of access to public records and to modify the circumstances under which a person who files a mandamus action seeking the release of public records may be awarded court costs and attorney’s fees.
- SB 322 was introduced to require the Ohio peace officer training commission to develop and conduct a chief of police training course for newly appointed chiefs of police appointed on or after January 1, 2017, and to require newly appointed chiefs of police of villages, cities, and townships to attend the training course within six months of appointment as a chief of police.
- SB 325 was introduced to repeal the requirement that electric distribution utilities and electric services companies provide 12.5% of their retail power supplies from qualifying renewable energy resources by 2027, to repeal energy efficiency and peak demand reduction requirements for electric distribution utilities, and to modify the topics included in the Energy Mandates Study Committee report.
- Sub. HB 207 was passed upon third consideration to eliminate the minimum number of employees required for a private sector employer or a board of county commissioners with respect to the construction of a sports facility to obtain self-insuring status under the Workers’ Compensation Law and to allow a state fund employer to have a workers’ compensation claim that is likely to be subrogated by a third party paid from the surplus fund account in the state insurance fund rather than charged to the employer’s experience.
For questions or more information on MRR’s Ohio Legislation Updates, contact:
Stacy V. Pollock – MRR Columbus
Phone: 614.324.0163
Email: spollock@mrrlaw.com
