Ohio: Ohio House

I received a release from Representative Barbara Sears who does represent part of Northwestern Ohio and one from the Governor’s office and one from the Ohio Democratic Party. I’m including Sears first, then one of the others as a contrast:

Representative Sears Announces Passage of State Budget

COLUMBUS— State Representative Barbara R. Sears (R- Sylvania) yesterday announced the Ohio House of Representatives passed House Bill 1, the two-year, $54 billion state operating budget. The bill includes funding for the operation of state government agencies and services.

The House-passed version of House Bill 1 increases government spending by more than $1 billion over the next two years.

From NBC24 via AP, comes the following news update:

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio Senate Republicans have thrown a roadblock in front of a proposal to let traffic cameras ticket motorists speeding through construction zones.

Opposition from the Senate’s GOP majority got that plan dropped yesterday from a $7.6 billion state transportation spending blueprint. Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Tom Patton of suburban Cleveland called the cameras “Big Brother in the sky.”

Senate Republicans also have ditched another provision to make seat belt violations a primary traffic offense, allowing police to pull over a motorist simply for not buckling up.

Both proposals were in a transportation budget that earlier this month cleared the Ohio House, which is led by Democrats. The House and Senate will need to smooth out their differences.

Previous stories

• Speed camera, seat-belt rules dropped from billCleveland's Inner Belt Bridge could be on fast track for stimulus money

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During deliberations Tuesday night in the Senate's transportation committee, the speed increase was added to the $7.6 billion state transportation bduget, which is expected to be approved during a Senate floor vote later today. Ohio House members would have to agree to the speed change as well or the matter will end up in a conference committee.

"The issue is that it's safer when everyone is going the same speed," said Maggie Ostrowski, spokeswoman for the Senate Republican caucus, which controls the chamber by a 21-12 margin.

The House also announced it would delay final action on the budget until after its spring break, pushing expected passage from late March into mid-April. The spending plan has to make it through both the House and Senate before July 1.

One frustrated member of the House Finance committee, Republican Seth Morgan, filed a second public records request with Gov. Ted Strickland seeking a road map to understanding his "evidence-based" school-funding formula.

Morgan's first request was met with an almost 400-source bibliography of studies and reports upon which the formula is based.

"Providing a bibliography is not full transparency and we remain unsatisfied," said Morgan, who represents minority House Republicans.

Strickland is pushing for a dramatic overhaul of Ohio's school funding formula that would boost the state's share of the cost and reduce what taxpayers are expected to contribute to their local schools.