Ohio senators OK transportation bill, minus 75-mph speed limit

COLUMBUS (AP) — State senators have passed Ohio’s transportation budget after a committee dropped a proposal that would have raised the speed limit to 75 mph on certain rural freeways and the turnpike.

The $7 billion spending blueprint cleared the Senate on a unanimous vote today. The House planned a Thursday vote.

The measure lays out transportation and public safety priorities for the two years beginning July 1. The bulk of the money goes to the Ohio Department of Transportation.

The speed-limit change was among several made during legislative compromise talks. The increase would have made Ohio only the second state entirely east of the Mississippi River to have such a high limit.