Senate budget reinstates two-tag requirement
COLUMBUS (AP) -- The Ohio Senate on Wednesday approved the more than $7 billion, two-year transportation budget, reinstating the requirement for both front and back license plates.
After the 31-1 vote the bill heads back to the House, which had voted to remove the requirement for front plates. This is the second time in two years the Senate has rejected a House attempt to change the law. Police groups favor the front plate because it helps identify crime suspects.
Most of the bill is the $5.6 billion budget for the Ohio Department of Transportation, which oversees highways, rail lines, aviation and public transit. Other portions include highway safety efforts and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The budget, supported mainly by gasoline taxes and separate from the general state budget, begins in July.
The bill also adds a $4 fee for those graduating from private driver education schools. That provision and the late addition of the complicated bill to the Senate calendar were among reasons for the only dissenting vote, by Sen. Timothy Grendell, a Geauga County Republican.