After a brief summer recess, the legislature reconvened in September. A Senate session scheduled for September 6 to further consider the Biennial Budget was cancelled so that talks could continue between the Senate and the Administration. New bills and changes are noted below in bold.

SB 3 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT (Beagle, B., Balderson, T.) Originally, introduced in January, a substitute bill was introduced in April that would revise the laws governing the state’s workforce development system, programs that may be offered by primary and secondary schools, certificates of qualification for employment, and the Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities Agency, and would designate the first week of May as In-Demand Jobs Week. Many of those provisions were adopted in the Biennial Budget Bill, so another substitute version has been introduced, which shifts the focus to an In-Demand Jobs Week in May and revises the training requirements for alternative resident educator licenses, allowing for-profit entities such as Teach for Tomorrow to provide training to prospective alternative educators. That substitute bill was adopted by the Senate Transportation, Commerce and Workforce Committee September 13 to make the bill identical to companion bill HB 166.

After a brief summer recess, the legislature reconvened in September. A Senate session scheduled for September 6 to further consider the Biennial Budget was cancelled so that talks could continue between the Senate and the Administration. New bills and changes are noted below in bold.

HB 10 CROWDFUNDING (Arndt, S.) This bill was introduced in the House February 1 and would permit intrastate equity crowdfunding under certain circumstances. The bill would provide an exemption from registration under the Ohio Securities Law for certain crowdfunding initiatives. The bill passed in the House on June 21 and was referred in Senate (6/28/2017) to the Transportation, Commerce & Workforce Committee. The Committee held its first hearing with sponsor testimony September 6. Sponsoring Representative Steven Arndt (R-Port Clinton) said the measure “keeps Ohio competitive by providing another means or tool that invites and supports investment in Ohio and our communities.” Ohio is in the minority when it comes to intrastate equity crowdfunding, he said. Under the Ohio-Invests Crowdfunding Platform, port authorities, community improvement corporations and chambers of commerce can be issuers.” By doing so, this provides the gateway for Ohio based business to publicly introduce their business venture and its business plan to Ohio residents and thereby provide them the opportunity to invest in an Ohio based business venture,” Rep. Arndt said.

Though enacted more than a month ago, the state budget continues to change.  As reported previously, Governor Kasich signed a state operating budget bill (HB 49) into law on June 30. Before doing so, however, he line-item vetoed 47 items. The House then reconvened July 6 and overrode 11 of the vetoes. The Senate reconvened August 22 and voted to concur with the House on six veto overrides, as noted below in bold and italics.

Ohio municipalities that use tax increment financing (TIF) to support economic development should be aware of significant legislation that was recently approved by the Ohio House of Representatives. Under Ohio House Bill 69 (H.B. 69), authored by Representative Bob Cupp (R-Lima), municipalities would be required to compensate townships for tax revenue diverted through certain TIF incentive arrangements.