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Kasich signs $7B road budget bill
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Gov. John Kasich signed a biennial transportation budget into law Wednesday, outlining $7 billion-plus in road, bridge and other infrastructure and public safety spending over the next two fiscal years.
Before doing so, he struck language that would have tied voter registration to a requirement that new residents obtain driver’s licenses and transfer vehicle registrations within 30 days.
The time frame, however, remained in the bill, marking the first time state law has dictated a deadline for new residents to complete the Bureau of Motor Vehicles requirements.
The signing took place at a suburban Columbus manufacturer, and the governor used the occasion to tout the jobs that would be created — some 96,000 positions, backers say — and other efforts by the state to help resident complete training and obtain employment.
“It’s putting people to work,” Kasich said of the legislation.
The legislation is separate from the larger state operating budget, which is being considered by the Ohio House and which won’t pass until late June, just before the start of the new state fiscal year.
Among other provisions, the transportation budget requires bureaus of motor vehicles to accept debit or credit cards for in-person license renewals and other transactions by July 2016, abbreviated driver training for anyone 18 or older who fails a road test while seeking a first driver’s license, and increased coursework for operators of driver training schools.
Lawmakers removed an amendment to increase the speed limit on certain parts of rural highways and the Ohio Turnpike to 75 mph from 70 mph, opting instead to have that issue and others studied by a new task force.
Kasich let stand a requirement that new Ohio residents who drive obtain licenses and register their vehicles in the state within 30 days.
Prior state law did not include a time frame.
The governor did not answer questions about the vetoes Wednesday, and his staff referred reporters to a written statement on the issue.
“Current Ohio law does not ... specify a deadline by which new residents of Ohio who choose to drive or own motor vehicles must comply with these requirements,” Kasich wrote in his veto message.
“These sections would rightly close this loophole by setting a deadline of 30 days for complying with these requirements and by imposing penalties that are consistent with current law.”
Senate Republicans, who put the license language in the transportation budget, said Kasich’s line-item veto will not affect the ultimate requirement for new residents to obtain licenses.
“If you register to vote in the state of Ohio, you are declaring residency as an Ohioan,” said John Fortney, spokesman for the caucus.
“It’s already in the administrative code.”
Rep. Kathleen Clyde, R-Kent, who opposed the amendment and voted against the transportation budget because of it, said the Senate GOP position on the issue is incorrect.
Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni, D-Boardman, added in a statement, “College students and military personnel should never face additional financial burdens or risk criminal prosecution simply because they register to vote in Ohio. Thankfully, that will not be the case and Ohio can remain a welcoming place for people who want to move here to live, go to college or serve our country.”