MRR Ohio Legislation Updates: February 24 – March 9, 2017
Notes from the House of Representatives
- HB No. 91 was introduced to develop and conduct a chief of police training course for newly appointed village, city, and township chiefs of police.
- HB No. 102 was introduced to replace locally levied school district property taxes with a statewide property tax and require recipients of certain tax exemptions to reimburse the state for such levy revenue lost due to those exemptions; to increase the state sales and use tax rates and allocate additional revenue to state education purposes; to repeal school district income taxes; to require the Treasurer of State to issue general obligation bonds to refund certain school district debt obligations; to create a new system of funding schools where the state pays a specified amount per student that each student may use to attend the public or chartered nonpublic school of the student’s choice, without the requirement of a local contribution; to eliminate the School Facilities Commission; to eliminate the Educational Choice Scholarship Pilot Program, Pilot Project Scholarship Program, Autism Scholarship Program, and Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program; to eliminate interdistrict open enrollment; to require educational service centers to transport students on a countywide basis; and to permit school districts to enter into a memoranda of understanding for one district to manage another.
- HB No. 5 was passed on third consideration to create a statutory definition of microbusiness.
- HB No. 113 was introduced to prohibit any requirement that employees of private employers join or pay dues to any employee organization and to establish civil and criminal penalties against employers who violate that prohibition.
Notes from the Senate
- SB No. 72 was introduced to allow political subdivisions, special districts, and state institutions of higher education to elect to apply the Prevailing Wage Law to public improvement projects.
- SB No. 83 was introduced to establish the duties and authority of the Attorney General to investigate and prosecute cases relating to the death of a person caused by a peace officer.
- SB No. 84 was introduced to require the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission to develop a course to train peace officers in performing their duties without biased policing or status based profiling; to prohibit law enforcement officers and officials from engaging in biased policing or status-based profiling; to require each law enforcement agency to develop and provide annually to its officers an educational training program on how to perform law enforcement duties without engaging in biased policing or status-based profiling; to create the racial and identity profiling advisory board; to provide a civil cause of action for an individual who is a victim of biased policing or status-based profiling; and to permit the Attorney General to seek injunctive relief against a law enforcement agency served by an officer who commits biased policing or status-based profiling.
- SB No. 88 was introduced to modify the composition and powers of the financial planning and supervision commission of a political subdivision that is in a state of fiscal emergency and to clarify the duties of that political subdivision.
- SB No. 91 was introduced to establish and operate the Ohio Health Care Plan to provide universal health care coverage to all Ohio residents.
- SB No. 94 was introduced to abolish the death penalty.
- SB No. 95 was introduced to require a public authority to consider all piping materials that meet the engineering specifications for a state-funded water or waste water project.
For further information, please contact:
Stacy V. Pollock – MRR Columbus
614.324.0163
spollock@mrrlaw.com