Week in Review: June 9, 2024

FY24-25 BUDGET

Tax revenues were back on target in May after a slide over the past several months that turned a $200 million-plus overage into a $400 million-plus shortfall in collections, according to preliminary figures from the Office of Budget and Management (OBM). Year-to-date underspending, however, far exceeds any revenue shortfalls. May collections were ahead of the month's estimates by $17.3 million or 0.7 percent, yielding nearly $2.6 billion versus expectations of $2.57 billion. With one month remaining in FY24, tax collections stand at $25.34 billion versus expectations of $25.77 billion, down $429.4 million or 1.7 percent.

DISASTERS

Gov. Mike DeWine is challenging the assessment of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in requesting a Presidential Disaster Declaration from President Joe Biden to address the damage affecting eight Southeastern Ohio counties hit by severe storms, flooding and tornadoes. According to DeWine's office, the severe weather events from Monday-Thursday, April 1-4, 2024 significantly damaged critical public infrastructure in Belmont, Monroe, Jefferson, Guernsey, Noble, Washington, Morgan and Meigs counties. "These eight Appalachian counties cannot afford to fix the tremendous amount of infrastructure damage on their own, and I believe it's the president's duty to step in and help," said DeWine in a letter to the White House sent Monday.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/URBAN REVITALIZATION

The Ohio Department of Development (DOD) recently announced it will provide $2.25 million in grants to five communities for infrastructure upgrades and elimination of safety hazards. The funds are part of the Residential Public Infrastructure Grant and Flexible Grant programs, both of which are supported by the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).

ELECTIONS 2024

Special session legislation delaying the deadline for major political parties to certify their presidential and vice presidential candidates will take effect on Saturday, Aug. 31, Secretary of State Frank LaRose said in an advisory to county boards of elections. HB2 (Dobos) delays the certification deadline from Wednesday, Aug. 7 to Sunday, Sept. 1, giving the candidates one day to comply with the law if they choose to use the process under the legislation.

The secretary of state’s office this week published a list of 158,857 people who will have their voter registrations cancelled in several weeks unless they take steps to confirm or update their information. The list is made up of people identified by county boards of elections as those who filled out a national change of address form and are no longer eligible to vote at the prior address, or those flagged for removal because of inactivity. County boards have been directed by LaRose to complete removals by Monday, July 22, but people on the list can have their registration restored to active status if, before that date, they confirm or update their registration or engage in voter activity, such as updating or confirming their address with the county board of elections or BMV or signing a verified candidate or issue petition. Voters can confirm their registration online at www.voteohio.gov, by mail or in person. Those interested can search to see if their name is on the list or download the entire list at https://registrationreadiness.ohiosos.gov/.

FEDERAL

U.S. Rep. Mike Turner (R-Dayton) and Gov. Mike DeWine joined local leaders Monday in announcing that Dayton will be the site of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliamentary Assembly's 2025 spring session. It will be the first time a NATO session will be held in the U.S. since the fall of 2003. Turner heads the U.S. delegation to NATO and has been a member of its Parliamentary Assembly since January 2009. He also serves as vice chairman of its Defense and Security Committee.

GAMING/GAMBLING

Ohio's casinos and racinos saw slight drops in revenue in April 2024 compared to April 2023, according to data provided by the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) and Ohio Lottery Commission (OLC). However, total taxable revenue from the sports gambling industry was $73.9 million in April 2024, up from $63.4 million in April 2023. Total gross receipts (handle) for April 2024 was $673.2 million, up from $520.6 million in April 2023. Operating transfers to the Lottery Profits Education Fund (LPEF) for April 2024 totaled $129.9 million, up from $121.2 million in April 2023.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY/SPECIAL SESSION

The Senate Friday voted 24-7 to pass HB1 (Seitz), which would prohibit foreign nationals from contributing to ballot issue campaigns, and 30-1 to pass HB2 (Dobos), which extends the deadline for major parties to submit the names of their presidential and vice presidential candidates. HB1 passed along party lines, and Sen. Niraj Antani (R-Miamisburg) was the only senator to vote against HB2. The House passed both bills on Thursday, May 30. The governor called the General Assembly into a special session to address both issues.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY/STATEHOUSE

Ohio should not call for a convention of states under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, opponents of HJR3 (McClain-Willis) told the House Government Oversight Committee on Tuesday. "I have been studying both sides of this convention of states issue for three years, and I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that it would be a very dangerous experiment," Robert Tuttle said. Tuttle criticized the Convention of States (COS) organization, saying proponents of HJR3 are either ignoring the risks or don't understand what they're talking about. The states of Delaware, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Virginia and New York have recently rescinded their applications for an Article V Convention, Tuttle said, noting New Hampshire is close to rescinding its application.

Opponents of HB451 (Wiggam-King), which sets a refundable remittance fee on money transmissions to people outside the U.S., gave overlapping testimony Tuesday in the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill is known as the WIRED Act, for "Withholding Illegal Revenue Entering Drug Markets." Similar legislation has been offered at the federal level by U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH). In-person opposition testimony was given by industry representatives Adam Fleisher, counsel for the Money Services Round Table, and Kathy Tomasofsky, executive director of the Money Services Business Association; the Ohio Chamber of Commerce; and religious organizations.

GOVERNOR

Gov. Mike DeWine signed both bills passed during the General Assembly's special session. On Sunday, the governor signed foreign campaign donation ban HB1 (Seitz) and presidential certification deadline delay measure HB2 (Dobos). Both are effective in 90 days. The House passed both bills on Thursday, May 30, and the Senate passed them on Friday, May 31. The governor called the special session on Thursday, May 23. HB1 prohibits foreign nationals -- including lawful permanent U.S. residents, also known as "green card" holders -- from directly or indirectly contributing to campaigns in Ohio. Under the bill, the attorney general has the exclusive authority to investigate and prosecute violations of the law regarding foreign nationals. The AG is required to investigate any alleged violation of the bill if a written request is submitted to the AG by the governor, secretary of state, General Assembly or Ohio Elections Commission. The AG is also required to investigate any complaint filed by an elector in Ohio. HB2 delays the deadline -- from Wednesday Aug. 7 to Sunday, Sept. 1 -- for a major political party to certify its presidential and vice presidential candidates to the secretary of state for the 2024 general election. There are 91 days between June 2, when the governor signed the bill, and Sept. 1.

MARIJUANA/HEMP

Ohio Department of Commerce (DOC) Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) rules on adult use dispensaries, cultivators, processors and testing labs take effect on Friday, June 7. Under the rules, all current medical marijuana license holders will have the opportunity to apply to for a dual-use cannabis license, allowing the companies to work in the adult-use cannabis industry and the medical marijuana field. The applications will be available on June 7, but it's unclear how long it will take for companies to apply, and for DCC to review and approve the applications.

At least 56 Ohio municipal corporations or townships have passed moratoriums prohibiting adult-use cannabis businesses, according to the Ohio State University (OSU) Drug Enforcement and Policy Center (DEPC). The 56 jurisdictions represent just over 10 percent of Ohio's population, with the average population of moratorium localities hovering just under 22,000 residents, DEPC said in its recently updated report, "Local Moratoriums for Ohio Adult Use Marijuana Operators." The data provided in the report is accurate as of May 31. "We were able to collect the language of 50 of these moratoriums. Of the 50 ordinances we collected, 49 jurisdictions enacted full moratoriums for all types of adult use operators," the report says. DEPC researcher Dexter Ridgeway, an author of the report, told Hannah News that Kirtland has the one moratorium they observed that didn't ban all types of operators -- it only prohibits dispensaries. The full report can be found at https://tinyurl.com/2zh4mftk.

TAXATION

Gov. Mike DeWine Friday announced dates for an expanded sales tax holiday this year, which will last 10 days rather than the 14 that had been proposed by the Legislature in the biennial budget. DeWine used his line-item veto on a provision of HB33 (Edwards) that would have specified the 2024 sales tax holiday would last two weeks, saying it would be too difficult to predict whether the funding lawmakers had provided to offset revenue losses from the holiday is sufficient for a holiday of that length. Lawmakers had passed language expanding the sales tax holiday to items priced at $500 or less starting in 2024 in any year in which at least $60 million in surplus revenue is available after the Rainy Day Fund target is met. The use of surplus revenue replaces the Income Tax Reduction Fund, a disused mechanism for sending surplus revenue back to taxpayers via income tax cuts. The governor's office said that the 2024 expanded sales tax holiday will take place from midnight on Tuesday, July 30 until 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8.

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) Board of Directors on Friday approved state agency contribution rates for three new agencies and a commission that were not addressed earlier in 2024. In January 2024, The BWC Board had approved an 8.6 percent contribution rate reduction for state agencies. Some personnel from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) have transferred to the State Board of Education and Ohio Deaf and Blind Education Services. The contribution rates for all three will be the same -- 0.0512. Some personnel from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) transferred to the Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY), and additional staffers may transfer to DCY in the future. The rate for DCY will be the same as the rate for ODJFS -- 0.0900. The Ohio New African Immigrants Commission, which was formed in 2008, will hire an executive director as its first employee in the upcoming fiscal year. The contribution rate for this commission will be 0.0505.

BWC Administrator/CEO John Logue, BWC Board Chair Chan Cochran and several other members of the board said goodbye to board member Michael Taylor, whose term expires on Tuesday, June 11, making Friday his last board meeting. Gov. Mike DeWine announced Friday the appointment of Jon D. Harvey of Germantown to the board.

This feature was provided by Hannah New Service and selected for you by OSCPA Government Relations Staff.