By Scott Miller
President
Posted: June 23, 2021 2:09 PM

Lawmakers could put their final touches on the state operating budget this week, just as soon as they sort out hundreds of differences between the House and Senate's versions of the bill.

The conference committee on the two-year spending outline (HB 110) is scheduled to meet Tuesday morning, but when the final business of sifting through the many disagreements will happen depends on when negotiators reach a deal. The panel is expected to recess immediately after convening.

Conferees heard last week that they have about $3 billion more in anticipated tax revenue for the next biennium to work with as the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has gone better than initially expected.

That extra money will help because the House and Senate have some big disagreements, chief among them being school financing. The lower chamber included in its proposal a historic overhaul of the beleaguered formula, known as the Fair School Funding Plan.

The Senate-passed budget replace the House's K-12 funding formula with its own version with a lower average base cost per-pupil – a move that has irked public school advocates. The upper chamber's spending outline also eliminates millions in spending to help districts purchase school buses over two years. (See separate story).

Another major difference stems from the Senate's change to the Step Up to Quality program for publicly funded child care. The upper chamber proposed eliminating a mandate that providers participate in the quality incentive program and a mandate that they achieve higher ratings in 2025.

Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) has said the move is designed to ensure wider access to some form of child care and to avert a future fiscal problem as costs rise while funds the state has been drawing on to pay for the program are depleted. Child care advocates, meanwhile, have said it will lead to families receiving lower quality early education. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, June 3, 2021)

In Medicaid, the Senate addition of language to require the state to re-do the procurement process for new managed care plans has drawn criticism from groups who say it could jeopardize planned improvements. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, June 4, 2021)

Broadband expansion is also a subject of negotiations, as the Senate cut $190 million that had been planned for the recently created Ohio Residential Broadband Program. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, June 4, 2021)

Sen. Huffman said last week he anticipates a significant amount of money will be included in the budget for broadband. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, June 18, 2021)

Aside from the most-discussed issues, lawmakers face hundreds of decisions big and small as they hash out the final budget. Some examples from the nearly 500-page differences-only comparison document:

• The Senate version included a requirement that the Department of Aging expand the Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly to Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, Lorain and Toledo, in addition to the current program in Cleveland.
• The Senate's version prohibits public officials from settling civil actions in a way that nullifies, suspends or conflicts with the Revised Code. The attorney general would also be prohibited from agreeing to settlements that award more than $10,000 to the state without approval of the governor, Senate president and House speaker.
• Included in the Senate version was a provision modifying an exemption from the public records law for telephone numbers of victims and witnesses to crimes and parties to motor vehicle accidents.
• Added by the Senate was language allowing the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board to contract for an on-call architect engineer to advise and consult with the board.
• The Senate included language stating an employer doesn't violate the Ohio Civil Rights Law when taking an action against a person who uses medical marijuana in violation of a workplace policy.
• The House removed a provision in the executive budget that would hold harmless the holder of unclaimed funds as long as the holder acted in good faith and incompliance with the law, but the Senate restored it.
• The House added a provision re-establishing the Historical Boiler Licensing Board, which was then removed by the Senate.
• R liquor permit holders would be allowed to repackage alcohol under certain conditions under a proposal in the Senate's version.
• The House proposed increasing the number of days ahead of a meeting that the Controlling Board must publish its agenda, from seven to 14, but the Senate removed it.
• Language creating a Court of Claims procedure for hearing complaints about violations of the Open Meetings Law was included by the Senate.
• A provision in the Senate version would require the Department of Development to publish descriptions of and eligibility and application requirements for its loan and grant programs. (All three versions agree on changing the agency's name from the Development Services Agency.)
• The Senate proposed the creation of a grant program for meat processing plants in the Department of Development.
• Preneed funeral contracts and related information in mandatory reports submitted to the Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors would be exempted from public records law in the Senate version.
• The Senate's proposal eliminates a $100 fee for renewal of coverage for a permit for a household sewage treatment system.
• The House proposed changes to water bottle filling station requirements by the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, but the Senate eliminated that language.
• The Senate increased the eligibility age for the Program for Medically Handicapped Children from 21 to 22 on July 1, 2021, and to 23 a year later.
• The maximum age for a child's family to be eligible for home visiting services through the Help Me Grow program was increased from three to five years old in the executive and House versions, but the provision was removed by the Senate.
• The House removed an executive provision to allow joint health districts to levy a property tax levy for operating expenses, but the Senate restored it.
• An executive provision allowing the Department of Health to issue orders, take corrective action and impose fines on nursing homes or related facilities was modified by the House, but the Senate removed it entirely.
• The Senate's budget would allow the Chancellor of Higher Education to approve nursing bachelor's degree programs at community colleges if they meet certain requirements.
• The House created a Commercial Truck Driver Student Aid Program, but it wasn't included in the Senate's version.
• Same-party members of House and Senate committees would be able to meet without violating the Open Meetings Law under a House provision that was not included in the Senate's version.
• The Senate proposal called for the Department of Medicaid to institute a supplemental dispensing fee for retail pharmacies, totaling more than $15 million plus corresponding federal shares.
• Language proposed by the Senate would require the Department of Natural Resources to reimburse school districts and other taxing units for part of the foregone property tax revenue resulting from the acquisition of land to create Jesse Owens State Park and Wildlife Area and Appalachian Hills Wildlife Area.
• The Senate proposed an increase in the share of General Revenue Fund tax revenue going to the Public Library Fund, to the tune of about $11 million per year.
• The House included language creating an income tax deduction starting in 2026 for capital gains received by investors in certain Ohio-based venture capital operating companies, but the Senate took it out.
• The temporary authorization for public bodies to meet electronically would be extended from July 1 to Dec. 31 under a House provision, but the Senate removed that language.