Week in Review: Aug. 4, 2024

ARTS, SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik announced Monday that $36.7 million in state tax credits will support 17 theatrical, television, and film production projects in Ohio. The tax credits are being awarded as part of the Motion Picture Tax Credit Program. Fourteen feature films, one television mini-series, one television series and one Broadway/theatrical production are expected to create around 500 new jobs, nearly $122 million in eligible production expenditures and $150 million in total production expenses, according to the Department of Development.

BALLOT ISSUES

Attorney General Dave Yost Wednesday announced he had rejected the petition summary of a proposed constitutional amendment titled "Homestead and Personal Property" for lack of enough verified voter signatures. The proposed amendment says the state or local governments "shall not have the right or power to increase the taxable property value on any citizen's private property or properties," without the private property owner's agreement or consent. The amendment also states that the only time private property or properties may be reappraised for taxation purposes is in the case of transference of the property through sale or inheritance, and that the state shall provide for seniors and/or disabled persons a homestead exemption credit of $50,000, to be adjusted each year for inflation. Yost's office said it received the petition on July 23, but the minimum-required 1,000 signatures of qualified Ohio voters could not be verified by county boards of elections. Yost said the submission contained only 508 valid signatures.

ELECTIONS

Secretary of State Frank LaRose Thursday marked the fourth annual National Poll Worker Recruitment Day, issuing a statement reminding voters of the important role of poll workers in elections and urging them to consider volunteering to be a poll worker in November. The secretary of state's office said it has undertaken several initiatives to support county board of election poll worker recruitment efforts. In addition to a general poll worker recruitment toolkit, tailored resources for businesses, young Ohioans, military veterans, and more can be found at http://VoteOhio.gov/DefendDemocracy. Ohioans wishing to sign up to be a poll worker may also visit https://pollworkertracker.ohiosos.gov/signup.

TAXATION

Ohio’s broader sales tax holiday, which supplants the back-to-school sales tax holiday in years the state has enough excess revenue to sustain the hit to tax collections, is now underway through Thursday, Aug. 8. Lawmakers created the expanded sales tax holiday in the biennial budget bill, HB33 (Edwards). It is triggered in any year in which the state has at least $60 million in surplus revenue after meeting Rainy Day Fund targets. This mechanism for returning surplus tax revenue replaced the Income Tax Reduction Fund, which was designed to trigger automatic income tax cuts in times of surplus revenue but was not used by lawmakers in any recent budgets. The 2024 sales tax holiday applies to items priced at $500 or less, purchased in-person or online, with some exceptions including purchases of services, watercraft, outboard motors, motor vehicles, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, vapor products or any item that contains marijuana.

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

The Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) Board of Directors met Friday, with Administrator/CEO John Logue updating members on efforts to promote OH|ID, a DeWine administration effort enabling Ohioans to use a single account to access a range of state services, to BWC customers. He said over 38,000 new users registered an account in the past month and an additional 30,000 accounts were merged. A total of 172,000 users are registered in connection with BWC's ongoing efforts. The agency's "true-up" process now requires an employer to have an OH|ID as well, Logue continued. They are helping make that process as easy for employers as possible but he said they are a "little bit behind" the number of employers who completed true-up at this point last year, partly due to the OH|ID requirement. Call center hours have been extended into the evening and on Saturday morning for it.