25 things in the Ohio budget you need to know

By Marc Kovac

news@vindy.com

COLUMBUS

There are income-tax cuts and a cigarette-tax hike, along with a promise to act on tax rates on oil and gas produced via horizontal hydraulic fracturing.

There’s even a law change allowing phone companies to abandon landline service, if other service options are available in an area.

There are hundreds of such policy changes in the nearly 3,000 pages of legalese and Ohio Revised Code reference numbers that make up the new biennial budget bill, which was finalized by lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. John Kasich.

A comparison document that outlines budget provisions offered by the governor, House and Senate, along with the final version enacted, provides 1,181 pages of easier-to-understand explanations of what was included and what was excluded. Copies of both can be found on the Legislative Service Commission website: www.lsc.ohio.gov.

Here are 25 ways that Amended Substitute House Bill 64 might affect you in coming months and years:

1Small businesses: Much of the discussion on the budget focuses on tax cuts. A cornerstone of the latest reform package is the phase-out of taxes on small-business income up to $250,000, with a 75 percent deduction allowed in the first year and 100 percent deduction in the second year.

2 Smokers: Tax rates have been increased by 35 cents, to $1.60 per pack from $1.35. The move is expected to bring in more than $375 million in new tax receipts over the biennium. Rates for other tobacco products and e-cigarettes remain the same.

3 Looking ahead: Lawmakers will establish an Ohio 2020 Tax Policy Study Commission to review the overall tax policies and make recommendations for changes into the future.

Among other issues, the new panel will study how to transition the state to a flat income-tax rate of 3.5 percent or 3.75 percent by 2018.

4Tax filings: Starting next year, the budget requires local communities to grant six-month extensions for the filing of municipal income-tax returns, even if residents haven’t requested extensions to file their federal returns, according to LSC.

5 Quiz: Did you have to take one of those online quizzes to verify your identity after filing your state tax return? You’ll have to answer comparable questions next year.

Lawmakers included some limits in the budget on what tax officials can ask on those queries, limiting to five years the time frame covering such questions.

But the governor vetoed the language, noting the tax department “has been deluged with more than 70,000 fraudulent income-tax refund requests in the past year and is taking the necessary steps to thwart these efforts to both save taxpayers money and identify potential criminals.”

6 Abortions: There are several abortion-related provisions in the budget. One would require the state health department to make decisions on variances sought by clinics, the other requiring those locations to have transfer agreements with hospitals within 30 miles. Critics say both will lead to abortion clinic closings.

7Frack Tax: Another line in the budget requires a new study commission to form a working group to complete negotiations on a potential increase in tax rates on oil and gas produce via horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The report is due by Oct. 1, after which lawmakers will have to act to implement the recommendations.

8Speaking of fracking: Lawmakers retained a number of provisions included in the governor’s original budget proposal increasing potential penalties against those who violate Ohio’s oil and gas laws, boosting civil penalties as much as $10,000 per offense from $2,500 to $4,000, allowing felony charges for multiple offenses of brine management, transportation and disposal laws, among other law changes.

9Police relations: The budget makes provision to fund recommendations of the Ohio Task Force on Community-Police Relations, including the creation of “a database on use of force and officer-involved shootings, a public-awareness campaign and state-provided assistance with policy-making and manuals.”

10 Fireworks: Do you like to buy (and then illegally ignite) consumer-grade fireworks in the state? You won’t have to fill out those pesky purchase forms anymore that require disclosure of your personal information and an acknowledgement that you know using fireworks within Ohio’s borders is against state law.

11 Tuition: Tuition and fees will be frozen over the next two years. Also on the college front, the budget blocks state universities from requiring students to live in on-campus housing if those students already live within 25 miles of campus, according to LSC.

12 Pay raises: Lawmakers included several provisions in the budget providing raises for judges, prosecutors, sheriffs and local government officials (but not themselves or statewide officeholders).

13 Union blocking: Lawmakers codified Kasich’s recent rescission of an executive order by former Gov. Ted Strickland allowing home health- and child-care workers to join public employee unions. The language “prohibits the state from collectively bargaining with individuals who are excluded from coverage under the Public Employees’ Collective Bargaining law and the federal National Labor Relations Act,” according to an analysis by the LSC.

14 Dogs: Do you think officers should be prepared to deal with people’s pets? A budget amendment requires the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy to provide officer training on “companion animal encounters and behavior.”

15 Guns: Are you an active-duty member of the U.S. military? You’ll still have to have an Ohio permit to carry a concealed firearm. A short-lived amendment allowing military men and women to carry without a permit died before the budget was passed. Also, the Legislature removed an exemption allowing journalists access to concealed-carry records, effectively closing public access to the information.

16 Rainy Day: Lawmakers and the governor agreed to boost the total that can be deposited into the state’s rainy-day fund to 8.5 percent of general revenue fund revenues for the preceding fiscal year, from 5 percent. That means the budget-stabilization fund will have gone from less than a dollar a few years ago to about $2 billion.

17 Safety forces: There are a number of provisions in the legislation aimed at providing funding for firefighters, police officers and emergency responders. One creates a “Small Government Fire Department Services Revolving Loan Fund” to provide financing for departments.

18 Telephone landlines: Under the legislation, phone companies could abandon local landline services in areas where reasonable and comparatively priced voice service options are available.

19 Absentee ballots: Lawmakers provided funding for the secretary of state to send absentee ballot applications to every eligible voter during the 2016 election cycle, at a cost of $1.25 million.

Also on the election front, the budget eliminates February special elections and requires political subdivisio ns submitting special-election ballot items to prepay more than half of the costs involved.

20 Teachers: The budget allows the state to establish an annual “Teacher of the Year” program, complete with “a gift or privilege” awarded to honorees.

21Common Core: Language would prohibit state general revenue funds from being used to buy assessment tests developed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC. Additional language requires schools to administer assessments once per year and for those tests to take less classroom time than similar tests during the 2014-15 school year.

22 Food banks: The budget earmarks at least $39.5 million over the biennium to food banks to provide assistance.

23 Car stuff: Historical vehicles will no longer have to display a front plate, only the rear one. And those temporary tags you receive when you buy a vehicle will be valid for 45 days instead of 30.

24 Sick prisoners: The legislation will allow judges to release prisoners on medical grounds, thus saving the state from paying for their continued treatment.

State prison officials told lawmakers earlier this year two Ohio inmates are technically brain dead, and close to 60 others have significant medical issues that cost more than $1 million annually.

25 Casino control: The members of the state’s Casino Control Commission will get a temporary raise in pay thanks to the budget bill, increasing salaries from $30,000 to $50,000 in fiscal 2016, $40,000 in ’17 and back to $30,000 in ’18.