Fall 2015 Legislative Update

UPDATED 9/25/15:

State

November State Ballot Issues that are Making News

STATE ISSUE 3

The State referendum issue is championed by an organization called ResponsibleOhio.  Issue 3 would legalize marijuana for recreational and medicinal use and give ten predetermined beneficiaries at sites around the state the exclusive right to grow marijuana commercially. Ohio would become the fifth state to legalize marijuana for recreational use should Issue 3 pass.  The Anti Marijuana group that has various statewide support is “No on 3 - No Marijuana Monopoly.”

STATE ISSUE 2

Issue 2 is also on the State ballot, and it seeks to nullify efforts to use the constitution to create a monopoly for certain businesses.  Thus, it would likely nullify Issue 3 if Issue 3 passes.

Residency

HB 180 (Maag) passed the House on 6/30/2015 by a 61-31 margin.  SB 152 (Uecker) passed the Senate on 6/25/2015 by a 21-11 margin.  One of the bills will now have to make it through the other House to become law.  HB 180 was recently referred (9/15/2015) to the Senate Government Oversight & Reform Committee.  This is the same committee that passed SB 152.

HR 205  Designating Careers in Construction Month, October 2015 (Schuring)

The congratulatory resolution was passed in one day by the House Rules Committee.  It does not have to go on the full floor or the Senate.

Anti Prevailing Wage / Apprenticeship Bills Introduced in the Ohio House

Representatives Kristina Roegner and Ron Hood introduced legislation (HB 282) to repeal the Prevailing Wage Law.   The bill was recently introduced on 7/7/2015 and was referred to the House Commerce and Labor Committee.  The sponsors have said that they are shifting focus from right to work legislation to prevailing wage. 

Representative Christina Hagan has introduced a bill (HB 274) similar to one she had last year that creates a subprogram of the College Credit Plus Program. It would permit students to participate in certified apprenticeship programs.  The legislation was introduced on 6/23/15 and referred to the House Education Committee. Last session labor and management had concerns on this bill. Some of the concerns were due to safety and training issues.  CEA last session testified against the bill.

Unemployment Compensation Legislation To Be Introduced.

Legislation that would produce higher unemployment taxes on Ohio companies and decreased benefits for Ohio workers could be introduced in the fall session. Ohio owes $875 million to the federal government for unemployment compensation. Rep. Barbara Sears wants to prevent future reliance on federal loans when the economy takes a downturn.  The legislation will propose new rules.  One area would be to institute Michigan’s three-day “no call, no show” law.  This provision states that a person who is absent from work for three consecutive days without contacting the employer is considered to have voluntarily left work.  Thus, that person would then be disqualified from benefits.

BWC Budget Provisions

The budget was passed and contains provisions that include:

• Self-insuring employers and allowing a self-insuring employer to furnish rehabilitation services directly to injured employees without prior approval from BWC.
• Requiring a self-insuring employer to furnish or pay directly for various compensation and benefits that, under prior law, were allowed to be temporarily paid for from the Surplus Fund Account.

State Operating Budget Passed and Signed by the Governor

The bill was passed and signed by the Governor.  Here are a couple issues CEA members may have interest in:

• Historic Preservation Tax Credits   

The Senate tried to put a moratorium on the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit and deny new tax credit certificates starting on July 1. CEA advocated against changing the program in this way.  The Senate provision was removed and the original program remains intact.  There was one minor provision that requires a tax commission to do a report on the historic building rehabilitation tax credit by October 31, 2016.

• Minority Business Bonding Program

Permits the Director of Development Services to pledge up to $10.0 million in unclaimed funds to the Minority Business Bonding Program.

• OFCC Bonding and Electronic Bids

The bill permits a bid guaranty that is required to be made available to a public authority after a public bid opening to be provided by an electronic verification and security system established under rules adopted by OFCC. It limits the ability to broadcast a public bid opening by electronic means to only bids that are filed electronically, and eliminates the requirement that bids submitted for improvements to the property or public works of the state be tabulated upon duplicate sheets.

• Public-Private Partnership (P3) agreements 

For transportation projects, public private partnership (P3) agreements must contain a payment and performance bond if the P3 agreement contains a construction services component.

• Competitive Bidding Threshold Raised

Increases the competitive bidding threshold for school building, improvement, and repair contracts for all school districts from $25,000 to $50,000.

Legislation

HB  236 PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS (Landis, A., Blessing, L.) To require professional engineers to complete continuing professional development hours in professional ethics or rules relevant to engineering or surveying practices.  The bill had its first hearing in the House Commerce and Labor Committee on 6/23/15.

HB 243 ARCHITECTS (Schaffer, T.) To make changes governing the architects board and the landscape architects board regarding continuing education requirements.   The bill would align Ohio's continuing education requirements for architects and landscape architects with national trends and give state boards more control over them. Currently, he said, the state's continuing education requirements conflict with model law established by national associations.  The House State Government Committee heard the bill for its first hearing on 6/24/15.

HB 333 BIDDING THRESHOLDS (Schaffer, T., Hambley, S.) To increase the monetary thresholds above which competitive bidding is required for township road construction, repair, or maintenance contracts, and to increase the monetary thresholds above which a force account assessment is required for a township road construction, repair, or maintenance project. The bill was recently referred to House Finance Committee.  SB 210 is a companion bill and is in the Senate State & Local Government Committee. Neither bill has received a hearing.

Here are the key provisions:

Raises non bid from forty-five to ninety thousand dollars or less, to do work no bid or force account

Raises the total estimated cost of the work from exceeds fifteen thousand dollars to exceeds thirty thousand dollars per mile, to invite and receive competitive bids for furnishing all the labor, materials, and equipment and doing the work, as provided in section 5575.02 of the Revised Code, and shall consider and reject them before ordering the work done by force account.

Force account assessment forms are not required under division (A) of this section for road maintenance or repair projects of less than fifteen forty-five thousand dollars, or under division (B) of this section for road construction or reconstruction projects of less than five fifteen thousand dollars per mile. 

SB 208 BUSINESS TAX DEDUCTION (Beagle, B.) To make technical changes to the state income tax law, to modify the requirements for receiving the joint filing credit, and to provide that, for the 2015 taxable year, any taxable business income under $125,000 for married taxpayers filing separately or $250,000 for other taxpayers is subject to the graduated tax rates applicable to nonbusiness income, while business income in excess of those amounts remains subject to the existing 3% flat tax.   The bill will likely be on Gov. John Kasich's desk by the end of the month. The legislation addresses a drafting problem with a tax break included in the budget bill (HB 64), which also included income tax rate changes. The final budget bill provisions could have led to tax increases for some businesses.   The bill was introduced on 9/3/15 to the Senate Ways and Means Committee where it had a hearing on 9/9/15.  HB 326 is a companion bill that is in the House Ways and Means Committee.  It received a hearing on 9/16/15.

SB 210 BIDDING THRESHOLDS (Balderson, T.) To increase the monetary thresholds above which competitive bidding is required for township road construction, repair, or maintenance contracts, and to increase the monetary thresholds above which a force account assessment is required for a township road construction, repair, or maintenance project.  The bill was referred to the Senate State and Local Government Committee. It has not had a hearing.

County

Five Year Economic Development Plan Passes County Council

Each year the County revises its economic plan.  The process has been completed.  Some high points that the County will be focusing on are:

• Producing hard tangible outcomes
• Expanding the participants who are involved in implementing the economic plan
• Job Growth and Opportunity
• County government that will be a solution-driven
• Fairness and Equity

The County feels it must address the fundamentals of equality and fairness in the marketplace. The region’s economic competitiveness must embrace inclusion, collaboration and sustainability for the benefit of all county residents. The success of the County is inextricably tied to the success of historically isolated populations. As part of business growth, the County should work to grow the number and size of female and minority-owned enterprises, expand access for minority and economically isolated residents to educational training and business opportunities, and build a sustainable system that generates economic access and opportunities for all residents, particularly historically isolated populations.

• Government that Gets Results
• Integration with Proven Talent and Workforce Development Models

Work Continues on Disparity Study and Community Benefits

The County Administration is scheduled to receive a final version of the Disparity Study from its consultants. When that version is finalized, it will likely come before full Council simply for approval of the report. Although not decided, the next steps may be discussions about separate pieces of legislation to implement the Disparity Study. CEA continues its work on this issue.  CEA had meetings with Councilman Pernel Jones, and Councilman Jones attended a CAA event.  CEA also met with Law Director Robert Triozzi to discuss CEA’s perspective on the construction industry.

County Issue 8 on this November’s Ballot - Extension of Excise Tax on Cigarettes for Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. The renewal of the cigarette excise tax for an additional ten years to support arts and culture facilities in Cuyahoga County was approved by the County Council.  The original levy was passed in 2006.  The levy provides about $15 million dollars per year. The ballot language will read as follows:  A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage. Shall an excise tax on the sale of cigarettes at wholesale continue to be levied throughout Cuyahoga County for the benefit of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture for the purposes of making grants to support operating or capital expenses of arts or cultural organizations in Cuyahoga County, to defray the costs of acquiring, constructing, equipping, furnishing, improving, enlarging, renovating, remodeling or maintaining an artistic or cultural facility, and to meet operating expenses, at a rate of 15 mills per cigarette, which amounts to 1.5 cents per cigarette, for 10 years?

For questions and input on CEA Legislative efforts contact Tim Linville ([email protected]) or Glen Shumate ([email protected]).