Tracked House Bills – November 2020

Jeffry Harris
Bricker & Eckler LLP

 

News from the Statehouse:

New Round of Coronavirus Relief Fund Payments to Local Governments

House Bill 6 repeal: more civil litigation & lame duck efforts: On October 27, Columbus and Cincinnati filed their own lawsuit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court to block HB 6’s nuclear subsidies.  Named defendants in the cities’ complaint include FirstEnergy Corp., Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chair Sam Randazzo and State Treasurer Robert Sprague.  The lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction to block end user surcharges set to begin January 1.  (All ratepayers in Ohio are required to pay up to 85 cents per bill as a means to providing up to $150 million to support the two nuclear plants located in Ohio.)

This lawsuit is in addition to the complaint filed on September 23 by Attorney General Dave Yost to block distribution of the subsidies; the AG’s request for a restraining order was denied and the case remains pending in the same Franklin County court.

In the private sector fallout from the HB 6 scandal, FirstEnergy fired three top executives in the final days of October.  Company officials declared they had fired CEO Chuck Jones and two other executives for violating the company’s code of conduct.  Further, FirstEnergy revealed it received on September 2 a subpoena from the SEC’s Division of Enforcement pertaining to an investigation into the company’s actions.  Interestingly, FirstEnergy is no longer asserting in its public statements that the company acted appropriately at all times; instead the company says it remains committed to reviewing its actions in full.  The company’s standing with ratings agencies has been impacted, as in early November, S&P Global dropped the company down to BB+ and Fitch Ratings downgraded FirstEnergy to a BBB-.

In the post-election period, House leaders stressed their ongoing desire to repeal the nuclear subsidy law.  Democrats have repeatedly sought in committee and on the House floor to wholly repeal HB 6; House Republicans have favored a more methodical approach.

Finally, in news arriving as Bricker published this update, the FBI executed a search warrant at the Columbus home of PUCO Chair, Sam Randazzo; agents were observed on Monday, November 16 removing boxes from the property.  Mr. Randazzo was appointed to the PUCO in 2019 by Gov. DeWine after a long lobbying career in the energy industry; one of his prior consulting firms worked with FirstEnergy Solutions (now Energy Harbor), which is the primary beneficiary of the nuclear subsidies.

Centralized collections of municipal net profits taxes: The Ohio Supreme Court on November 5 issued its decision that the state can centralize the collection of municipal net profits taxes.  But in the same decision, the Court held the State cannot levy an administrative charge on municipalities for such tax collection.

Specifically, the Supreme Court held to be constitutional the General Assembly’s effort to impose on municipal corporations a process of centralized tax collection.  But the Court stated the same law allowing Ohio to retain 0.5% of collected municipal net-profits taxes amounts to the imposition of a fee, and therefore exceeds the General Assembly’s constitutional authority.

This case arose from HB5, passed during the 130th General Assembly, forbidding municipalities from imposing an income tax unless they levied taxes according to the provisions in state law, as well as from the HB 49 budget bill passed during the 132nd General Assembly, allowing for the centralized collection of municipal net profits taxes.  Nearly 200 cities and villages across Ohio argued these two measures violated home rule.

Broadband expansion: The DeWine administration is pushing the Ohio General Assembly to adopt HB 13 to establish a broadband expansion grant program within the Ohio Department of Commerce.  This measure has bipartisan support, having cleared the House by a wide margin June (81-8 vote).  But it has languished in the Senate Energy & Public Utilities Committee.

On Tuesday, November 17, the Senate Committee will accept proponent feedback on the plan.

Federal COVID-19 Update:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on November 6 noted a large infrastructure package could be an area where Democrats and Republicans cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden.  Speaker Pelosi further rejected the idea of Democrats downsizing their stalled coronavirus relief package to strike a compromise with Republicans; she emphasized the need for more federal financial assistance to state and local governments.  During the past few weeks, in negotiations with Secretary of Commerce Steve Mnuchin, Democrats have been pushing a $2 trillion relief package, including approximately $400 billion for states and local governments.

Senator Lindsey Graham is in line to chair the Senate Budget Committee.  He noted, “I think there’s a lot of bipartisanship for roads and bridges and ports….  We need to redesign the Highway Trust Fund because there are less cars on the road using gasoline and the Highway Trust Fund is based on gas taxes.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce lists infrastructure and another round of coronavirus stimulus as two of its top post-election priorities.

Federal Court Action:

Ohio’s Land Bank foreclosure process challenged in U.S. Supreme Court:  Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, who left office in disgrace and now is in private practice, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down as unconstitutional Ohio’s administrative tax foreclosure process used by county land banks to acquire blighted properties.  Under a Takings Clause argument, attorney Dann has filed a federal challenge with the process used across the state to confiscate vacant and abandoned property to satisfy delinquent taxes.

Several years ago, the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision foreclosed on and seized tax delinquent property and transferred it to the Cuyahoga County Land Bank.  Attorney Dann’s same argument was rejected earlier this year by the Ohio Supreme Court; Bricker provided a summary of the case in a DevelopOhio blog post, available here: https://www.bricker.com/industries-practices/economic-development/insights-resources/publications/ohio-supreme-court-upholds-%E2%80%9Cexpedited-tax-foreclosures%E2%80%9D-allowing-county-land-banks-to-acquire-unoccupied-tax-delinquent-properties-free-of-charge

NON-COVID-19 BILLS (Changes from last month are noted in BOLD):

House Bills:

HB 6 ENERGY (Callender, J., Wilkin, S.) This new law took effect October 21, 2019 and supports FirstEnergy Solutions’ two Ohio nuclear plants by creating a surcharge beginning in 2021 to be paid by all Ohio electricity customers and overseen by the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority (“OAQDA”). The legislation provides the plants up to $150 million a year and eligible solar projects $20 million. The program would sunset December 31, 2026 with monthly customers’ charges capped at 85 cents for residential and $2,400 for large users. The bill also lowers the state’s renewable energy standards to 8.5% by 2026, enables the PUCO to end energy efficiency standards if the 17.5% target has been reached, and enables extension of cost recovery for the Ohio Valley Electric Corp.’s gas-fired plants. With the arrest of House Speaker Larry Householder, bipartisan plans began to take shape almost immediately to repeal HB 6’s nuclear subsidy. A minority party plan to repeal HB 6 is underway with HB 738 sponsored by Rep. Michael O’Brien (D-Warren), who co-chaired the House Energy Generation Subcommittee, and Rep. Michael Skindell (D-Lakewood). Similarly, a majority-led HB 746 has been sponsored by Rep. Mark Romanchuk (R-Mansfield) and Rep. Laura Lanese (R-Grove City). House Bill 6 passed with such narrow margins that it might not take many defections to repeal the law (the bill passed the House initially by three votes and the Senate by two votes).  Groups interested in repeal include the Buckeye Institute, the Ohio Environmental Council and the Ohio Consumers Power Alliance. Governor DeWine has called for the bill’s repeal and replacement, stating that it is “tainted” and that the corrupted process that resulted in the bill’s passage has eroded public trust.

HB 7  WATER FUND  (Ghanbari, H., Patterson, J.)  This bill, introduced May 13, 2019 would create the H2Ohio Trust Fund for the protection and preservation of Ohio’s water quality, create the H2Ohio Advisory Council to disburse money from the Fund for water quality programs, and create the H2Ohio Endowment Board to make recommendations to the Treasurer of State regarding the issuance of securities to pay for costs related to the purposes of the Fund.  The bill was referred to the House Finance Committee where a substitute bill was approved on June 18. The revised bill passed in the House June 20 and would increase the cap on the annual disbursement of funds from $50 million to $100 million and eliminate the creation of the H2Ohio Advisory Council, instead vesting authority over the disbursements in the Ohio Water Development Authority.  It also included a provision allowing the Department of Natural Resources to establish a pilot program to study water withdrawals by using streamflow monitoring in Eastern Ohio and another provision which enables the Controlling Board to approve or deny an amount recommended by the director of the Office of Budget Management for year-end unspent balances. It was referred to the Senate Finance Committee where a first hearing with sponsor testimony occurred October 22, 2019.

HB 13 BROADBAND (Carfagna, R., O’Brian, M.) As introduced May 16, 2019, this bill was based on a proposal that passed the House last year (HB 281, 132nd GA) and would have required the Development Services Agency (DSA) to establish the Residential Broadband Expansion (RBE) Program to provide grants to municipal corporations and townships (project sponsors) to help fund projects that provide broadband to any residential area within their boundaries that is without broadband (eligible area).  It excludes as an eligible area under the RBE Program, any area that has received, or is designated to receive, any other state or federally funded grants that are designed to encourage broadband deployment. The program would allow the Director of DSA to accept applications from project sponsors each fiscal year, review each application within 60 days, and fund applications on a first-come, first-served basis until all program funds for the fiscal year are awarded. Program funds, up to $2 Million per biennium, would come from currently-budgeted DSA funds.  On May 19, 2020, a substitute bill was accepted by the House Finance Committee that made changes to this proposed broadband grant program.  Under the revised bill, local governments are no longer eligible to apply; instead, only video services providers, telecommunications/satellite broadcasters/wireless service providers may apply.  The program will now be run by the Department of Commerce instead of the Development Services Agency.  Grant award decisions will be made by a Broadband Expansion Program Authority comprised of the Director of the Department of Commerce, the JobsOhio President, one Governor appointee, one Senate appointee, and one House appointee. The program would be funded by the transfer of $20 million from the Facilities Establishment Fund to the Department of Commerce. The substitute bill allows a broadband provider to share an existing easement held by an electric cooperative and requires electric cooperatives to grant broadband providers nondiscriminatory access to the cooperatives’ electric poles. On June 2, after objections by the railroad industry, the Committee removed language that would have streamlined the process to gain approvals to traverse railroad crossings by setting standardized crossing fees and establishing a uniform crossing application process. HB 13 was also adjusted to place any dispute resolution among broadband service providers and rural electric co-ops in county courts of common pleas (rather than PUCO, as originally proposed).  The House Finance Committee’s 29-2 vote was delayed as an amendment was added to allow an electric distribution utility to build out middle mile infrastructure for broadband and receive recovery through their rate. Ultimately, a compromise three-year “pilot project” version of the amendment was added to HB 13 and the measure passed the House on June 11 with hundreds of millions of dollars in new capital appropriations for school construction.  The measure was first heard by the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee on July 21, with Rep. Carfagna providing sponsor testimony to the committee members.  This bill is scheduled for proponent testimony on Tuesday, November 17.

HB 34   MINIMUM WAGE  (Kelly, B.)  This bill would increase the state minimum wage and allow municipalities, townships and counties to establish higher minimum wage requirements.  The bill has been referred to the House Commerce & Labor Committee, where initial hearings occurred in January 2020.

HB 48  ROAD IMPROVEMENT FUND  (Greenspan, D.)  This measure would provide for a new Local Government Road Improvement Fund for local governments to fund road improvements.  It was referred to the Finance Committee in February 2019.

HB 93  PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION (Skindell, M., Upchurch, T.)  Introduced February 21, 2019, in addition to any appropriations made for the 2020-2021 biennium, this bill would make additional appropriations related to public transportation in the amount of $100 million for public transportation and $50 million for the highway operating fund in both 2020 and 2021.  The bill was referred to the House Finance Committee in March 2019.

HB 98  LOAN FUND  (Jones, D., Cera, J.)  Similar to HB 695 introduced in the last General Assembly, this bill would reinstate the rural industrial park loan program under Ohio Development Services Agency, as detailed in ORC 122.23-.25, with an appropriation of $25 million.  The program would assist eligible applicants in financing the development and improvement of industrial parks by providing financial assistance in the form of loans and loan guarantees for land acquisition; constructing, reconstructing, rehabilitating, remodeling, renovating, enlarging, or improving industrial park buildings; and infrastructure improvements.  The bill has been assigned to the House Economic & Workforce Development where it had its first hearing March 27, 2019. The provisions of this bill were included in the signed Budget Bill (HB 166).

HB 116  TRANSPORTATION PLANNING  (Brinkman, T.)  Introduced March 4, 2019, in addition to any appropriations made for the 2020-2021 biennium, this bill would make additional appropriations related to transportation planning and research in the amount of $4.5 million for FY 2020 which shall be used to (1) study the Cincinnati Eastern Bypass Project, (2) review work done previously by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet relative to the Brent Spence Bridge Project, and (3) make recommendations on moving forward with both projects cooperatively.  The bill was referred in March 2019 to the House Finance Committee.

HB 149 TAX EXEMPTION (Merrin, D.)  Introduced March 19, 2019 and identical to HB 371 from the last General Assembly, this bill would amend ORC 5709.51 among other code sections and temporarily exempt from property tax the increased value of land subdivided for residential development until construction commences or the land is sold.  The bill would benchmark an “ascribed taxable value” of the newly subdivided parcel, and any increase in taxable value would be exempt from taxation until either (1) Construction of a residential building on that property commences, or (2) Title to the property is transferred for consideration by a qualifying owner to another person.  The construction of streets, sidewalks, curbs, or driveways or the installation of water, sewer, or other utility lines on a subdivided parcel would not cause construction of a residential building to commence for purposes of the bill, and the value of those improvements would thus automatically be exempted from taxation until construction of a residence begins or the property is sold.  The bill was referred to the House Economic and Workforce Development Committee, and its provisions were then included in the Conference Committee version of the state budget bill, HB 166.  However, after concerns were expressed by numerous local government groups including the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, the Ohio Library Council, the Ohio Association of School Board Officials, the Ohio Township Association, the County Commissioners Association and the County Auditors Association, Governor DeWine line-item vetoed the provisions of the bill.

HB 162 TAX CREDIT (Patton, T.)  This bill would increase the overall cap on the motion picture tax credit from $40 million per fiscal year to $100 million per fiscal biennium.  The bill was referred to the Finance Committee in March 2019.

HB 163 WATER/SEWER SERVICE (Brinkman, T.) This bill, introduced March 25, 2019 would create a process for withholding local government funds and state water and sewer assistance from municipal corporations that engage in certain water and sewer practices (for example, charging higher rates for nonresident customers) with respect to extraterritorial service.  The bill was referred to the House Public Utilities Committee, where 5 hearings have occurred.  On September 26, the committee accepted three amendments.  The first would specify that the civil action referenced in the bill is a declaratory judgment action.  The second would create a safe harbor for municipalities charging no more than 25% above rates charged to residents.  The third would final ensure the bill has no effect on existing contracts.  The bill had its sixth hearing January 29, 2020 during which an amendment was accepted that clarifies that nonresident rates that are no higher than 125% of residential rates are deemed to be reasonable.  The bill was reported out of the committee May 13 and passed the House on a 56-38 vote held on June 10.  The measure was referred to the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee in late July 2020.

HB 168 BONA FIDE PURCHASER (Arndt, S.)  This bill should assist with brownfield development by incorporating into Ohio law the federal Bona Fide Purchaser Defense (BFPD) established under CERCLA, which provides prospective buyers of contaminated property with an option to establish a defense to environmental liability after completing the All Appropriate Inquires and proper due diligence.  The bill passed the House May 30 and had its third hearing November 13, where an amendment was approved that would provide the director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency the ability to issue an order voiding a covenant not to sue if a property subject to institutional controls or use limitations fails to comply with those requirements.  A fifth hearing occurred May 6, and after adopting an amendment that makes clear the bona fide prospective purchaser provision is retroactive to January 2002 following the lead of federal law, the bill was reported out of Committee and passed by the Senate May 6, 2020.  On May 13, the House concurred on the Senate amendments.  The bill was signed by the Governor June 16 and took effect mid-September.

HB 185 JOBSOHIO (Ingram, C.)  Introduced April 4, this bill would establish that records kept by JobsOhio are public records subject to inspection and copying under Ohio Public Records Law and to require all meetings of the JobsOhio Board of Directors to be open to the public, except when in an executive session.  It has been referred to the Economic and Workforce Development Committee where a first hearing occurred May 15, 2019.

HB 190 BROADBAND PROGRAM  (Smith, R.) This bill is identical to HB 378 which passed in the House during the 132nd GA, would create the Ohio Broadband Development Grant Program to provide funds to extend broadband service to unserved areas of the state.  The program would be administered by the Ohio Development Services Agency.  The following entities could apply for a grant: (1) private businesses, (2) political subdivisions, (3) nonprofit entities organized to provide telecommunications services, and (4) co-ops organized to provide phone and Internet services.  Grant amounts cannot exceed the lesser of: (1) 50% of the total project cost, or (2) $5 million. Recipients could use funds to construct broadband infrastructure to serve unserved areas, including installing middle-mile or last-mile infrastructure, grant-project planning, obtaining construction permits, constructing facilities, purchasing equipment, and installing and testing the service.  The bill would appropriate $50 million per year for FYs 2020 and 2021 from the Facilities Establishment Fund, to be used to award grants under the Program.  It was referred to the Finance Committee in April 2019.

HB 218 PUBLIC-PRIVATE AGREEMENTS (Patton, T.) Introduced April 24, 2019, this bill would  authorize certain public bodies, including state agencies, state institutions of higher education, counties, townships, municipal corporations, school districts, community schools, STEM schools, college-preparatory boarding schools, library districts, and port authorities, to execute a public-private agreement (“PPA”) with a private party for the planning, acquisition, financing, development, design, construction, reconstruction, replacement, improvement, maintenance, management, repair, leasing, or operation of a “facility”.  “Facility” is defined to include a new or existing public building, public improvement, or public infrastructure used by a public body, by the public at large, in support of a public purpose, or for the delivery of services, and it must be owned by the public body or owned by the private party through a lease agreement under which the facility reverts to the public body upon expiration of the agreement.  A public body that has authority to issue bonds/obligations may issue them for the purpose of funding the development or financing of a facility under a PPA. A public body may accept a grant, loan, or other financial assistance from the United States or any of its agencies or may enter into agreements with the United States as necessary to fund the facility. A public body may also accept from any source any grant, donation, gift, or other form of conveyance of land, money, other real or personal property or other items of value, and the public body may use federal, state, local, and private funds to finance a facility. Finally, a facility may be financed in whole or in part by contribution of any funds or property made by any operator or an affected jurisdiction that is a party to a PPA.    In the State and Local Government Committee, HB 218 was changed with clarifying language to make public-private agreements align with laws governing public improvement projects.  The fourth committee hearing was held June 9, 2020.  This bill is scheduled for its fifth hearing and possible vote out of committee on Tuesday, November 17.

HB 247 ELECTRIC SERVICE (Stein, D.) Introduced May 15, this bill would permit electric distribution utilities (EDUs) to offer customer-focused energy services or products, which may include energy efficiency, energy monitoring, electric vehicle charging stations, the installation and management of smart grid technology, and other items.  These products may be offered if either the PUCO has approved them under certain sections of the Ohio Revised Code or the products are optional, the EDU maintains separate accounting for the products, and the EDU does not include incremental costs directly related to the products in base distribution rates but instead recovers incremental costs through charges to customers who elect to subscribe to those services.  The bill would also allow an EDU’s electric security plan to include provisions for the EDU’s recovery of costs for the products and smart grid technology deployment, including lost revenue, shared savings, and avoided costs, and a just and reasonable rate of return on smart grid technology deployment.  Additionally, it would lift the corporate separation requirements that currently apply to the offering of a product or service other than retail electric service, effectively allowing an EDU to offer such a product or service directly, rather than through a fully separated affiliate.

Finally, it authorizes nonbypassable electric riders for: (1) infrastructure development costs for state and local economic development projects and (2) facilities of mercantile customers that are locating or expanding in Ohio.  The bill grants an EDU timely recovery of infrastructure development costs necessary to support or enable a state or local economic development project, including any project approved, certified, or funded by “the agency” (presumably the Development Services Agency). The bill defines “infrastructure development costs” as any cost of infrastructure development, including, if applicable, an allowance for funds used during construction. The bill defines “infrastructure development” as the planning, development, and construction of substation facilities and extensions of transmission or distribution facilities that an EDU owns and operates and the performance of load studies.  The bill requires the EDU, before beginning the infrastructure development, to file a notice with the PUCO that contains all of the following:

• A description of the economic development project;
• A summary of the infrastructure development costs;
• A statement from the state or local entity involved that the infrastructure development is necessary to support or enable the economic development project.

The costs are to be recovered through a nonbypassable rider charged to all distribution customers regardless of whether the infrastructure development is used and useful at the time constructed.

The bill also expands the definition of “smart grid” to include capital investment in equipment deployed in conjunction with an EDU’s distribution infrastructure that facilitates intelligent city designs, such as traffic sensors, infrastructure monitoring equipment, data management systems, and similar technology as well as the deployment, adaptation, replacement, or subsequent reinforcement of any technology that facilitates the storage, control, or delivery of electric energy.

A third hearing on the bill occurred October 23, 2019 in the House Public Utilities Committee, where opponent testimony was heard from the OMA, IGS, Direct Energy, ChargePoint, the Environmental Law & Policy Center, the Ohio Environmental Council, the Consumers Council, the  Retail Energy Supply Association and others.

HB 255 TAX EXPENDITURES (Hoops, J.)  Introduced May 23, 2019, this bill would require the Tax Commissioner’s biennial tax expenditure report to include information on local property tax exemptions and to require the Tax Expenditure Review Committee to periodically review each such property tax exemption.  It has been referred to the Ways & Means Committee, which approved a substitute bill May 12 that made two changes.  The first removes the requirement to include tangible personal property tax exemptions in the tax commissioner’s biennial tax expenditure report.  The second change defines property tax exemption to mean a provision in Revised Code exempting all or a portion of real property value as reported on forms prescribed by the tax commissioner and categorized by the commissioner as a charitable and public worship, public and education, local economic development, or other exemptions.  The sixth committee hearing was held June 10.  The House had been scheduled to take action on this measure in August, but the procedural maneuvers in the House by Speaker Cupp to avoid HB 6-related repeal amendments has ceased House action into fall 2020.

HB 264 INFRASTRUCTURE LOANS (Wilkin, S., O’Brien, M.)  Introduced May 28, this bill would authorize the Ohio Water Development Authority (OWDA) to make loans and grants to persons and government agencies for the refinancing of certain public water and waste water infrastructure projects.  The bill also authorizes the OWDA to issue water development revenue bonds and notes for the purpose of paying any part of refinancing of these projects.  The bill was passed by the House December 12 and by the Senate June 30.  This bill has been sent to Governor DeWine for his signature.

HB 283  GRANT PROGRAM (Miller, A., Sweeney, B.) Introduced June 11, this bill would require JobsOhio to establish and administer the Competitive Global Air Service Development Grant Program. Under the program, JobsOhio would be required to:

• Provide grants to air carriers to support the establishment of new direct international and domestic air service to and from Ohio airports;
• Ensure that grants made under the program provide minimum revenue guarantees and marketing assistance to air carriers;
• Give priority consideration to air carriers that propose to establish new direct air service between Ohio and destinations located in the European Union or Japan;
• Establish eligibility requirements; and
• Prepare, and submit to the General Assembly, a written report not later than the last business day of January of each year detailing all aspects of the program occurring during the immediately preceding year.

The bill has been assigned to the House Economic and Workforce Development Committee.  This bill is scheduled for its first hearing, with sponsor testimony, on Wednesday, November 18.

HB 382 MUNICIPAL TAXES (Jordan, K.)  Introduced October 29, 2019, this bill would prohibit municipal corporations from levying an income tax on nonresidents’ compensation for personal services or on net profits from a sole proprietorship owned by a nonresident.

HB 386 TRUCK DRIVER STUDENTS (Hoops, J., Sobecki, L.) Introduced November 5, this bill would establish the Commercial Truck Driver Student Aid program and allocate funds for a grant and loan program to individuals seeking a Commercial Driver’s License.  If students meet the eligibility requirements, they can receive a grant equal to one-half of the remaining state cost of attendance after the student’s federal Pell grant and expected family contribution are applied to instructional and general charges for the student’s enrollment in a certified commercial driver’s license school. They can also receive a loan in an amount equal to the grant, repayable if they do not complete the program and stay in Ohio for at least a year after completion.  It was referred to the Economic & Workforce Development Committee where a second hearing occurred February 12, 2020.

HB 401 WIND REGULATIONS (Reineke, B.)  Introduced November 6, 2019, this bill would apply to “economically significant wind farms” and would require inclusion of certain safety specifications in wind farm certificate applications to the Ohio Power Siting Board, would modify their wind turbine setback requirements and would permit a township referendum vote on these wind farm certificates issued by the Siting Board. The bill defines that term as already defined in ORC 4906.13, which is as follows:  “economically significant wind farm” means wind turbines and associated facilities with a single interconnection to the electrical grid and designed for, or capable of, operation at an aggregate capacity of five or more megawatts but less than fifty megawatts.” The term excludes any such wind farm in operation on June 24, 2008. The term also excludes one or more wind turbines and associated facilities that are primarily dedicated to providing electricity to a single customer at a single location and that are designed for, or capable of, operation at an aggregate capacity of less than twenty megawatts, as measured at the customer’s point of interconnection to the electrical grid.  If passed, the legislation would enable township residents by referendum to overturn a wind project already approved by the Ohio Power Siting Board. Amendments to approval certificates from the Power Siting Board for existing turbine projects would also be subject to potential referendum if they add more turbines, increase the height of a turbine or the diameter of a turbine tower’s base, or relocate any turbine. The bill also revises wind turbine setbacks with the distance to be equivalent to the manufacturer’s safety recommendations rather than current law which provides the greater of either 1.1 times total turbine height or at least 1,125 feet from the tip of the nearest blade to the property line of the nearest adjacent property.  The bill has been assigned to the House Energy & Natural Resources Committee, where a first hearing occurred November 13 and a second one is scheduled for November 19.  Senator Rob McColley has introduced companion Senate Bill 234.  A third hearing occurred December 3, 2019 at which lawmakers discussed possibly revising the bill to move a proposed township referendum process to the Power Siting Board.

HB 440 TAX EXEMPTION (Miranda, J., Carruthers, S.) Introduced December 9, 2019, this bill would authorize sales tax exemptions for property and services used to clean or maintain manufacturing machinery and for employment services used to operate manufacturing machinery.  It has been referred to the Ways & Means Committee where an initial hearing occurred January 28, 2020.

HB 444 Township Laws (Baldridge, B., Abrams, C.) This bill seeks to make various changes to township law, including provisions related to energy-special improvement districts (ESID).  The measure was reported out of the House State & Local Government Committee on November 10, 2020.

HB 481 LAND CONVEYANCE (Fraizer, M.) This bill was originally introduced to authorize the conveyance of state-owned real property and was passed by the House May 20.  On June 10, 2020 the bill was passed by the Senate after being amended to include the provisions of SB 310 (distributing $350 million in federal CARES Act – Coronavirus Relief Fund payments to local governments) and SB 316 (the Senate’s $1.28 billion capital re-appropriations bill).  On June 11, the House concurred in the Senate’s amendments, and the bill was signed by the Governor June 19.

HB 507 TAX LIENS (Manning, D.)   Introduced February 13, 2020, this bill would prohibit enforcement of delinquent property tax liens against owner-occupied homesteads and require that any delinquent tax be paid before the title to a homestead may be transferred.  The bill was referred to the House Ways & Means Committee.

HB 523 LOAN PROGRAM (Patterson, J., Carfagna, R.)  Introduced February 21, this bill would establish the STEM Degree Loan Repayment Program, providing a refundable tax credit for employers who make payments on student loans obtained by graduates to earn a STEM degree.  The bill was referred to the House Finance Committee March 10, 2020.

HB 531 JOBSOHIO (Rogers, J.) Introduced March 3, 2020, this bill would establish that JobsOhio must submit to audits by the Auditor of State, and that an audit of JobsOhio must include an audit of the revenues, receipts, and expenditures of JobsOhio associated with the enterprise acquisition project.  The bill received its first hearing before the House State & Local Government Committee on Tuesday, November 10.

HB 614 UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION (Fraizer, M., Richardson, T.)  Passed with an emergency clause, this bill was first introduced to create the Unemployment Compensation Modernization and Improvement Council and revise the state’s unemployment claims process.  But the measure was amended and fast-tracked by the Ohio General Assembly to provide for the final distribution of $650MM in federal CARES Act – Coronavirus Relief Fund payments to units of local government.  This bill does not address federal Coronavirus Relief Fund payments received by the six (6) large population jurisdictions directly from the U.S. Treasury.  Governor DeWine signed this measure into law on October 1, 2020.

HB 631 ECONOMIC ALLIANCES (Rogers, J., Hambley, S.) Introduced May 13, this bill would authorize municipal corporations to establish regional economic development alliances for the sharing of services or resources among alliance members. 10 or more municipalities may form an alliance but only 1 alliance may be formed per “region”.  “Region” means the territory included within the boundaries of a central county and of each county that is adjacent to that central county. If two or more central counties are adjacent to each other, “region” means the entire territory included within the boundaries of those central counties and each county adjacent to either of those central counties. If two  or more central counties are each adjacent to a common county,  “region” may mean either of the following: The territory included within the boundaries of those central counties and each county that is adjacent to either of those central counties,  or The territory included within the boundaries of one of the central counties and of each county that is adjacent to that central county, provided that, if a county is adjacent to two or more central counties that are included in separate regions under this division, the municipal corporations in that county may choose to join an alliance in any one of those separate regions.  “Central county” means either Cuyahoga or Summit County (as stated in the bill, “a county that has adopted a charter under Sections 3 and 4 of Article X, Ohio Constitution and that has a population of at least four hundred thousand according to the most recent federal decennial census as of the date an agreement is entered into under this chapter”).  The bill provides that alliances will have the same powers as given to COGs (Councils of Governments) under ORC Chapter 167 and sets forth a complex funding system alliances must follow, with annual contributions made by and funds received by municipalities factoring in their income tax rates and their revenues received  from income taxes.  Additionally, alliances may pool resources to fund infrastructure and economic development. It was referred to the House Economic and Workforce Development Committee where sponsor testimony was introduced on June 11.  Representative Rogers (Mentor-on-the-Lake) and Hambley (Brunswick) presented on the bill, noting it would establish a pilot program among only large counties to increase regional cooperation in Ohio.

HB 663 PREVAILING WAGE (Hood, R., Dean, B.) Introduced May 19, this bill would repeal the Prevailing Wage Law.  The legislation was referred to the Commerce & Labor Committee.

HB 670 CAPITAL REAPPROPRIATIONS (Merrin, D.)  Introduced May 20, this bill proposed to make approximately $600 million in capital re-appropriations to continue funding to previously-funded projects, for the biennium ending June 30, 2022. As noted below, its provisions were folded into SB 4.

HB 675 CLEANOHIO (Hillyer, B., Swearingen, D.)  Introduced May 26, this bill would restore funding to the state’s CleanOhio Revitalization Fund (CORF) which operated through 2013 as a competitive grant program administered by the Development Services Agency. Grants for the cleanup of brownfields would be available for up to 75% of the cleanup cost to a max of $3 million.  The bill adds land banks (county land reutilization corporations) to the list of public entities and nonprofits eligible to apply.  The program would be funded by the excess liquor profits paid by JobsOhio to the State pursuant to agreements between the parties. It was referred to the State & Local Government Committee.

HB 704 REDEVELOPMENT AREAS (Cross, J., Fraizer, M.) Introduced by Rep. Frazier, a new member of the Ohio House who recently served on Newark City Council.  The bill’s key elements are summarized below:

• Amend the community reinvestment area (CRA) tax abatement program as it relates to commercial and industrial properties.
• The measure removes the requirement for a property owner and the municipal corporation or county to enter into an agreement setting forth job and investment commitments to receive the CRA abatement.
• The bill also ends the requirement that municipal corporations or counties petition the Ohio Development Services Agency to certify the creation of new CRAs.
• HB 704 alters the annual reporting requirements and removes the fee paid to ODSA for CRA agreements.
• The measure amends the statutory threshold for school district approval from an abatement.  Under current law, school district approval is required if the schools would receive payments of less than 50% of the amount they would have received in taxes if there was no CRA abatement (see R.C. 3735.671(A)(2)).  HB 704 changes the threshold to require school district approval if the schools receive payments of less than 75% of the amount of taxes they would have received but for the CRA abatement.

This bill is scheduled for its first hearing, with sponsor testimony, on Wednesday, November 18.

HB 725 MEDIA TAX CREDIT (SMITH, K.) Introduced July 13, this bill seeks to authorize a refundable income tax credit for investing in a sound recording production company.  The measure was referred to the House Ways & Means Committee on August 31, 2020.

HB 734 FORECLOSURES (ROGERS, J., HICKS-HUDSON, P.) Introduced late July, this bill would modify delinquent property tax foreclosure proceedings and prohibit tax-delinquent persons and their associates from purchasing tax-foreclosed property or delinquent tax certificates.  The bill received its first hearing before the House Ways & Means Committee on Tuesday, November 10.

HB 738 HB6 REPEAL (SKINDELL, M., O’BRIEN, M.) One of three HB 6-repeal measures (as of this writing), this bill would repeal the changes made by H.B. 6 to the laws governing electric service, renewable energy, and energy efficiency.  The measure was referred to the House Select Committee on Energy Policy & Oversight.  The Select Committee held four hearings on this measure during September, taking no further action.

HB 746 ENERGY REPEAL (LANESE, L., GREENSPAN, D.) One of three HB 6-repeal measures (as of this writing), this bill would repeal the changes made by H.B. 6 to the laws governing electric service, renewable energy, and energy efficiency.  The measure was referred to the House Select Committee on Energy Policy & Oversight.  The Select Committee held four hearings on this measure during September, taking no further action.

HB 751 PROPERTY TAX VALUATIONS (Hillyer, B.) This bill seeks to modify the law regarding property tax valuation complaints.  The bill received its first hearing before the House Ways & Means Committee on Tuesday, November 10.

HB 754 MUNICIPAL TAXES (Jordan, K.)  This measure was introduced on August 31 and seeks to modify municipal income tax employer withholding rules for COVID-19-related work-from-home employees.

HB 755 TAX FORECLOSURES (PATTON, T.) This bill was introduced on August 31 and seeks to make large-scale changes to county land banking law (R.C. Chapter 5722) and the law relating to tax foreclosures (R.C. Chapter 323).  This measure was written in coordination with the Cuyahoga County Land Bank and other land bank leaders in Ohio.  The Senate corollary measure is SB 356.

HB 763 STATE OF EMERGENCY (Grendell, D., Stoltzfus, R.) This bill was introduced on September 23, 2020 and would terminate the declared COVID-19 state of emergency in Ohio.

HB 772 ELECTRIC UTILITY SERVICE LAW/REPEAL PART OF HB 6 (Romanchuk M)  This was introduced on September 30, 2020 as a repeal-H.B. 6 measure, and will receive its first hearing, with sponsor testimony, before the House Select Committee on Energy Policy & Oversight on Thursday, November 19.

HB 774 EMINENT DOMAIN (Miller, A.)  This bill seeks to amend the law regarding eminent domain and was introduced on October 14.

COVID-19 RELATED BILLS –

For brevity’s sake, measures are included here only if they moved beyond introduction and saw activity in the Ohio House or Senate during fall 2020:

House Bills:

HB 567 TAX CREDIT (Rogers, J., Crossman, J.)  To temporarily authorize a partially refundable earned income tax credit and to declare an emergency.  This bill is scheduled for its first hearing, with sponsor testimony, on Tuesday, November 17.

HB 580 TELEMEDICINE (Liston, B., Patton, T.) This bill seeks to require health plan issuers to cover telemedicine services during a state of emergency.  The House Insurance Committee conducted its first hearing on this measure on September 23, taking no action.

HB 606 CIVIL IMMUNITY (Grendell, D.)  This bill would grant civil immunity to a person (including businesses) providing essential services and operations from injury, death, or loss that was caused by the transmission of COVID-19 during the period of emergency declared by Executive Order 2020-01D, issued on March 9, 2020. Immunity would not apply in cases in which by clear and convincing evidence an individual can prove the virus was transmitted due to reckless or intentional conduct or willful or wanton misconduct.  The bill had two hearings in May before the House Civil Justice Committee.  The House panel accepted a substitute version of the bill that contained two components: one for the health care industry and another for general immunity. Examples of entities covered by the bill include all Ohio businesses, hospitals, healthcare workers, volunteers, grocery stores, churches, delivery drivers, and business employees.  Senate Bill 308 is a companion bill.  The bill passed in the House May 28 and passed in the Senate June 30 after being amended earlier that day by the Judiciary Committee.  The bill was signed into law on September 14; it will take effect 90 days hence.

HB 609 TAX AMNESTY (West, T.)  This measure would require the Tax Commissioner to administer a temporary amnesty program from August 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, with respect to delinquent state taxes and fees.  This measure passed the House by unanimous vote in May and was sent to the Senate.  The Senate Ways & Means Committee conducted its second hearing on September 22.