Transportation bill heads to Kasich for signature

By Marc Kovac | March 27, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS

The Ohio House gave its approval to a $7 billion-plus biennial budget bill Thursday, sending the legislation to Gov. John Kasich for his signature.

But the chamber couldn’t manage a unanimous, bipartisan vote on House Bill 53, with a final margin of 78-13, as some Democratic members balked at a provision they say will make it harder for out-of-state college students to vote.

“I want to support the transportation budget,” said Rep. Kathleen Clyde, D-Kent, who was among the handful of lawmakers who opposed the legislation. “I think it’s an important document. It’s about jobs. It’s about our state infrastructure ... but, unfortunately, I really do believe that the budget should be a plan for our future, not a vehicle for making it harder to vote in the state of Ohio.”

She added, “I can’t bring myself across the line to vote for a provision that I think will make it harder for many residents in Ohio to exercise one of their fundamental rights, their constitutional right to vote.”

The transportation budget outlines spending over the next two fiscal years for the Ohio Department of Transportation and several other state agencies, including funding for road and bridge work that supporters say translates into 96,000 jobs.

It’s separate from the larger state operating budget, which is being considered by the Ohio House and that isn’t expected to pass until late June, just before the start of the new state fiscal year.

Among other provisions, HB 53 would require 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.

But the Ohio House and Senate left in an amendment requiring new residents to seek Ohio driver’s licenses and register their cars in the state within 30 days of moving.

Backers say more than 40 other states have comparable license requirements on their books and the provisions in the transportation have nothing to do with elections.

But opponents say that language will hurt out-of-state college students, who, to date, have been allowed to cast ballots in Ohio elections without having in-state licenses.