WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2006

PASSED

SB 164  STUDENT MEDICINES  (Schuring)  Permits students of school districts, community schools, and chartered nonpublic schools to carry epinephrine medication approved by the students' physicians and parents, and to grant immunity to school districts, community schools, and chartered nonpublic schools and their employees for good faith actions in connection with this permission.   Full Text   Gongwer Coverage

96-0

HB 272  PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM  (Schneider)  Regarding the Public Employees Retirement System.   Full Text   Gongwer Coverage

96-0

HB 365  JOINT DEVELOPMENT DISTRICTS  (Setzer)  To remove the limitation that only four types of municipal corporations and townships may create a joint economic development district under specified statutes.   Full Text   Gongwer Coverage

94-1 (Fessler)

CALENDAR FOR COMING SESSION

SB 5  EMPLOYER HEALTH CARE PLANS  (Hottinger)  To regulate discount medical plan organizations concerning provider agreements and marketing, disclosure, cancellation, and refund requirements; to make changes to the Small Employer Health Care Alliances Law and the Small Employer Health Benefit Plans Law; to exclude insurance consultants from the definition of public servant for purposes of the Offenses Against Justice and Public Administration Law; and to limit the amount of copayments and deductibles paid by persons insured by health benefit plans.   Full Text

HB 239  ABORTION PROHIBITION  (Schneider)  To prohibit the use of public funds or facilities for nontherapeutic abortions, proscribe public employees acting in the scope of their employment from performing or inducing a nontherapeutic abortion, and to declare that it is the public policy of the state to prefer childbirth over abortion to the extent that is constitutionally permissible.   Full Text   Gongwer Coverage

REPORTED-AMENDED-SUBSTITUTE (See separate story)

HB 271  VEHICLE SEIZURE  (Bubp)  To eliminate the penalty of vehicle seizure and subsequent impoundment or forfeiture for persons convicted of driving while under suspension imposed due to a financial responsibility law violation.   Full Text

HB 487  CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS  (Widener)  To specify that an owner, part owner, or lessee of real property, with respect to a home construction contract, must record a notice of commencement only if required by a lending institution, to stipulate that a notice of commencement for a home construction contract expires six years after it is recorded, and to permit court costs and reasonable attorney fees to be included in damages an owner may recover from a lienholder who refuses to release the lien after the owner makes full payment and to stipulate for all types of liens that a mortgage is considered filed first if a mortgage and notice of commencement are filed on the same day.   Full Text

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE

Agriculture & Natural Resources:

SB 393  CAFO DISCHARGES  (Mumper)  To make changes to the national pollutant discharge elimination system program with respect to concentrated animal feeding facilities.   Full Text

Civil & Commercial Law:

HJR 15  EMINENT DOMAIN AMENDMENT  (Gibbs)  Proposing to enact Section 19b of Article I of the Constitution of the State of Ohio to provide limits on the power of public authority to take private property for a public use.   Full Text

Health:

SB 116  MENTAL HEALTH PARITY  (Spada)  To prohibit, subject to certain exceptions, discrimination in group health care policies, contracts and agreements in the coverage provided for the diagnosis, care and treatment of biologically based mental illnesses.   Full Text   Gongwer Coverage

HB 697  HOSPITAL REQUIREMENTS  (McGregor, R.)  To require hospitals to operate emergency departments and maintain Medicaid and Medicare provider agreements, to provide exemptions to these requirements, and to permit the Director of Health to seek an injunction for violation of these requirements.   Full Text

HB 698  REVISED CODE UPDATE  (Peterson)  To replace certain outdated Ohio Revised Code terms.   Full Text

HOUSE SPEAKER'S APPOINTMENTS

Local & Municipal Government & Urban Revitalization: Remove former Rep. Walcher Reed; appoint Rep. D. White

COMMITTEE HEARING

AGRICULTURE & NATURAL RESOURCES

HB 443 DNR OPERATIONS   (Uecker)   To revise the statutes governing the Department of Natural Resources.   Full Text

REPORTED-AMENDED SUBSTITUTE (See separate story)

HB 643 DANGEROUS/EXOTIC ANIMALS   (Distel)   To require persons who possess dangerous wild animals or exotic animals to obtain a personal possession permit and to establish requirements regarding the possession and care of dangerous wild animals and exotic animals.   Full Text

CONTINUED

Rep. Distel called Ohio's current statutes relative to owning wild and/or exotic animals weak as the present statute governs only the sale and breeding of bears and deer (animals native to the state) without governing who can raise the animals and does not provide any safety to the public. He said his bill brings both safety and accountability to the law.

He cited an occurrence in Ashtabula where a woman was attacked by a black bear that had escaped from the confines of a nearby neighbor's property who raises wild/exotic animals. Rep. Distel said the victim, Rachael Supplee, did not even know her neighbor owned exotic animals. Furthermore she has not even been able to get help with medical expenses as the animal owner was not required to carry any insurance and cannot be held accountable for the attack.

The sponsor said the bill is not an attempt to put exotic owners/breeders out of business but a means of strictly setting safeguards and parameters for protecting the public. Specifically, he explained the bill would require cage containment with a secondary perimeter fence with a 500-foot setback requirement from existing neighbors; liability insurance and bonding; public notice of pending license application and renewal; inspections of the facility; and transportation needs for transporting the animals. He also said the legislation includes enhanced penalties and fines.

HB 696 POLLUTANT DISCHARGE   (Aslanides)   To make changes to the national pollutant discharge elimination system program with respect to concentrated animal feeding facilities.   Full Text

CONTINUED

Kevin Elder of the Ohio Department of Agriculture testified in support of the bill, noting it would facilitate the state's progress in shifting regulation of large-scale agricultural facilities from the Ohio EPA to ODA. He said the measure makes technical changes in the NPDES permitting system, noting that the adjustments will help the agency pursue environmental violators.

David White of the Ohio Livestock Coalition also backed the proposal, telling the committee that the measure is needed to help the state align its laws with federal standards. The change, he added, will help ODA become a federally designated permitting agency.

TRANSPORTATION, PUBLIC SAFETY & HOMELAND SECURITY

HB 674 FLOODED ROADWAYS   (White, D.)   To prohibit the operation of a motor vehicle on or onto any location that is temporarily covered by a rise in water level.   Full Text

CONTINUED

Rep. White, in presenting the bill, said its provisions would serve to deter drivers from crossing barriers blocking roadways covered by flood waters. He said drivers going through and becoming stranded in such situations unnecessarily imperil first responders coming to their assistance. Violators would face minor misdemeanor charges and could be responsible to expenses of any emergency response required to remove the operator or a passenger from the vehicle or for the removal of the vehicle itself.

HB 667 TROOPER DEATHS   (Hughes)   To require the Director of Transportation to designate a portion of a state highway as a memorial highway in honor of every state highway patrol trooper who is or has been killed in the line of duty.   Full Text

CONTINUED-AMENDED

Rep. Hughes said the bill will allow the director of the Department of Transportation to create memorial highways at the request of the Highway Patrol or local sheriff's departments and the family of the fallen officer. He said a marker can be placed much quicker without further legislation being necessary, thereby speeding the process of honoring those who have given their lives to make the state a safer place. The committee adopted an amendment, offered by sponsor Hughes, to would include sheriff departments under the provisions of the bill for the naming of memorial highways in honor of fallen deputies.

HB 652 FUEL TESTING   (Healy)   To require the Department of Agriculture to establish a motor fuel quality testing program under which county auditors may conduct such testing.   Full Text

CONTINUED

Rep. Healy explained the permissive program, worked out by the Ohio Petroleum Council, County Auditors Association of Ohio and other interest groups, meets the goals set forth in the bill while maintaining fairness to both business and consumer interests. He said the measure would extend county auditor duties, empowered now only to test for weights and measures, to establish a fuel quality testing program. Even though permissive, Mr. Healy said that judging from the initial response from county auditors, the program would likely be implemented in nearly all counties.

Rep. Healy said the main purpose of the measure is to create uniformity among standards for fuel quality. The bill, he reported, specifically establishes guidelines with which county auditors can construct their own fuel quality testing programs with each program adhering to the uniform guidelines established by the Department of Agriculture. Each testing program would be locally funded and implemented.

The program would test in three areas of fuel quality: fuel octane, water to gasoline ratio and sediment content. The sponsor said the bill includes a "simple but effective" penalty scale for violators of the regulations. First-time offenders would be given a warning with second offenses (within a two year period of the warning). A second offense would bring a $250 fine with subsequent offenses increasing by a multiple of two.

Noting that Ohio is only one of four states remaining - along with Alaska, Pennsylvania and Nebraska - without such a fuel quality testing program, Rep. Healy said it is crucial that Ohioans feel confident that the product they are purchasing is of the quality advertised on the pump.

HB 627 FARM MACHINERY   (Carmichael)   To require farm machinery that is designated by its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater than 25 miles per hour to display a speed identification symbol and a slow-moving vehicle emblem when operated on a road or highway and to further address the operation of farm machinery on roads and highways.   Full Text

CONTINUED

Agribusiness operators appeared in support of the measure. Ted Mallard, sales manager and owner of American Equipment Service in Wilmington, educated committee members on the design and safety built into farm machines capable of traveling at higher speeds than conventional farm equipment. He said that in order for such equipment to go fast safely, there are three main areas of vehicle engineering that must be addressed - brakes, steering and suspension. He said all the major manufacturers, including Agco, Case, New Holland, JCB and John Deere, are making higher speed equipment that is changing the industry.

Wooster farmer Roger Baker told the committee of his 1999 accident when he was traveling on a roadway at 25 mph and was hit from behind by a semi tractor pulling a tanker going 58 mph. He said the accident was caused by speed differentiation. Mr. Baker said he now owns a JCB Fastrac capable of going 40 mph. He said he now feels safer on roadways as speed differentials with the general public has been greatly reduced. He said at lower speeds, more chances were taken by motorists and considerable road rage was directed at slow moving farm tractors.

Mr. Baker also said the full suspension and the four-wheel antilock braking systems give drivers full control at the higher speeds.

SCR 26 NATIONAL ROAD   (Armbruster)   To designate 2006 as the Year of the Historic National Road.   Full Text

CONTINUED

Michael Rupert of the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, testified on the benefits of participating in the national road project. He said numerous events have been held to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of the National Road this year.

HB 680 DRIVING PRIVILEGES   (Evans, C.)   To permit a person who is issued a ticket for operating a motor vehicle other than a commercial motor vehicle with an expired driver's or commercial driver's license to be issued a seven-day field driving permit.   Full Text

CONTINUED

Rep. Evans said the current law prohibiting a person cited for an expired license to even drive home or to or from work for seven days is harassment and not a deterrent. He said the bill does not relieve the cited person from associated penalties. He added the law permits judges to issue work driving privileges to DUI offenders, therefore, he believed that giving a person who has merely forgotten to renew his or her license a right to drive home and to and from work is an acceptable option. Rep. Evans noted that a couple of law enforcement officials have told him that having to enforce this provision of the law if uncomfortable and on some occasions when the cited person is indeed stranded, they have quickly left the area so that they will not encounter the cited person should he or she decide to drive home illegally. In response to a question posed by Rep. Law, the sponsor said provisions of the bill did not differentiate between a person whose license had expired the day before or 20 years earlier.

EDUCATION

HB 565 CURRICULUM REQUIREMENTS   (Setzer)   To establish the Ohio Core curriculum, to restructure admission requirements and remedial courses in state universities, and to implement other initiatives to enhance secondary and post-secondary education in Ohio.   Full Text

CONTINUED (See separate story)

HB 671 SCHOOL TREASURERS   (Webster)   To revise the laws on the employment of school district and educational service center treasurers.   Full Text

REPORTED-AMENDED (No testimony)

Prior to unanimously reporting the measure, the committee accepted an amendment that sponsor Rep. Webster said would prevent a school treasurer from "getting caught negatively" during contract negotiations.

JUVENILE & FAMILY LAW

HB 630 EDUCATION COSTS   (Core)   To require the Department of Education, rather than the juvenile court, to determine the school district responsible for paying the cost of educating a child placed by the court in the custody of a government agency or a person other than the child's parent.   Full Text

CONTINUED

Rep. Core said in sponsor testimony the bill responds to a problem that arose in his district when a judge ordered a local school system to pay the Department of Youth Services for educating a juvenile whose mother had been a resident for only three days. The juvenile had never been a student in the district. "This legislation would have courts' orders prescribe that the school district that pays the cost of educating the juvenile would be the district determined by the Ohio Department of Education," Rep. Core said. "This would allow the 'paying' district to be changed whenever appropriate, without clogging up the courts." He said the bill would be reintroduced next session.

ELECTIONS & ETHICS

HJR 14 TERM LIMITS   (Yates)   To eliminate the term limits and restrictions on returning to office that apply to members of the General Assembly and to members of Congress.   Full Text

SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD

HB 592 VOTING RECORDS   (Cassell)   To provide that any information on a voter verified paper audit trail identifying the time at which a ballot was cast is not a public record and must be redacted if the paper audit trail is made available to the public.   Full Text

CONTINUED

Rep. Cassell said in sponsor testimony that current law treats voter verified paper audit trials (VVPAT) from touch-screen electronic machines as public records. Each VVPAT, which serves as the official ballot in recounts, contains the time at which a voter cast the ballot and the serial number of the machine used. Rep. Cassell said it is theoretically possible to use such information to determine how an individual voted. The bill is intended to preserve the privacy and integrity of the process by specifying that the time a ballot was cast is not a public record and must be redacted if the VVPAT is released. The measure also would specify that information identifying a particular machine also is not a public record.

HB 638 PARTY AFFILIATION   (Trakas)   To revise the law regarding party designation on a ballot for certain candidates nominated by petition.   Full Text

CONTINUED

Rep. Trakas characterized the proposal as a "truth in voter labels" law. It would permit independent candidates from the Libertarian, Green or similar groups to select a ballot designation, so long as they also had used it on nominating petitions. "We're all partisans on this committee, so what are we afraid of?" Mr. Trakas said in sponsor testimony. The bill would prohibit a candidate from mimicking the name of any major, intermediate, or minor political party. Rep. Trakas said such a change would better inform the voting public. The initial presentation drew an endorsement from at least one Democrat. "I like the idea," Rep. Driehaus said.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & ENVIRONMENT

HB 583 MERCURY DEVICES   (Peterson)   To prohibit the purchase of mercury or mercury-added measuring devices by schools, to prohibit the sale and distribution of mercury-containing thermometers, mercury-added novelties, and mercury-containing thermostats, to establish certain exceptions from the prohibitions, and to establish other requirements concerning mercury and certain mercury-containing products.   Full Text

REPORTED-AMENDED

The amendment clarifies that the bill applies to instruments rather than prescription drugs that may contain traces of mercury.

FINANCE & APPROPRIATIONS

HB 699 CAPITAL APPROPRIATIONS   (Calvert)   To make capital and other appropriations and to provide authorization and conditions for the operation of state programs.   Full Text

CONTINUED

Gary Suhadolnik, executive director of the Ohio Turnpike Commission, testified in opposition to provisions that would limit restructure the panel's oversight and give the legislature and governor more influence over operational decisions. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, December 5, 2006)

The Taft Administration sought the changes after the commission declined to embrace an Office of Budget and Management plan that the agency said could avert the need for toll increases. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, October 17, 2006)

"The commission is dismayed that these changes are being proposed in the waning days of the General Assembly and the last month of the Taft administration, when little or no time is being made available to properly debate and consider their merit," he said. "Moreover, these changes are not germane to the state's capital budget and do not belong in such legislation."

Among other issues, Mr. Suhadolnik said the changes, including a "legally problematic" supermajority requirement for commission decisions, would shift control of the panel to a single individual - the governor.

Mary Sullivan, the OTC bond counsel since 1993, said litigation could ensue over the proposals as they relate to a Trust Agreement between the commission and bondholders. "Certainly the bondholders did not anticipate that the decisions of the Turnpike Commission would be subjected to the will of the governor," she said. "The possibility exists that the bondholders could view these amendments as violations of the terms of their contract and ask a court for relief from them."

Prior to the testimony, Chairman Calvert distributed to the committee a memorandum from Governor Bob Taft stating that the administration's own bond counsel had reviewed the plan and did not believe it would impact the turnpike's current bond rating.

Mr. Suhadolnik said otherwise, maintaining the proposal is "likely to cause the decline of the Ohio Turnpike Commission's AA bond rating, among the best of any toll road in the country."

The director also question the extent and various aspects of the OBM proposal given the commission's plan would result in a truck driver that traverses the entire 241-mile would pay $33.50 in tolls versus $31 under the current rate. He noted that under the former permanent toll rates, the same journey would have cost $42.45.

After Mr. Suhadolnik said he has received more feedback on needed capital improvements than tolls, Rep. Wagoner disputed his assertion that the proposed toll increase was not a matter of concern during the elections.

"The issue of turnpike tolls was very prominent" on the campaign trail, the lawmaker said.

Rep. Coley observed of the turf battle ensuing between the governor and the OTC, "I feel like I'm kind of watching a domestic relations dispute from the back yard and I'm just a tourist in it."

SB 251 BEST RX   (Spada)   To modify the Ohio's Best Rx program.   Full Text

CONTINUED (No testimony)

HB 694 POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS   (DeWine)   To limit solicitations of and political contributions by owners and certain family members of owners of businesses that are seeking or that have been awarded public contracts.   Full Text

CONTINUED

Republican attorney William Todd spoke in support of the bill, which he likened to "good government reform for the state of Ohio."

It addresses "the issue we always hear about as pay-to-play" by changing areas of contracting law that are "sadly in need of an update and overhaul," he said. "The provisions in this proposal will go a long way to address" the "perception or reality" of ties between contributions and state contracts."

HB 695 STEM SCHOOL SYSTEM   (Calvert)   To establish the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics School System.   Full Text

CONTINUED-AMENDED (See separate story)

HB 468 BEST RX PROGRAM   (Hagan)   To modify the Ohio's Best Rx Program.   Full Text

CONTINUED (No testimony)

HEALTH

SB 126 COUNTY HOSPITALS   (Wachtmann)   To modify the laws governing county hospitals   Full Text

CONTINUED (No testimony)

SB 246 ACUPUNCTURE   (Schuring)   To permit a chiropractor who obtains a certificate to practice acupuncture from the State Chiropractic Board to practice acupuncture and to authorize a chiropractor to supervise the performance of acupuncture by acupuncturists registered by the State Medical Board of Ohio.   Full Text

CONTINUED

Carrie Craddock, board member of the Ohio Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, testified in opposition to the measure, saying the training requirements are insufficient.

Chiropractors, who support the bill, say they do not need to learn the "folklore" behind oriental medicine, she said. "Yet this folklore is the foundation of how to determine the correct treatment for a patient."

Ms. Craddock also requested lawmakers remove the requisite physician referral and supervision of acupuncturists.

Registered acupuncturist Thomas Turpen also testified as an opponent, calling the proposed 300 hours of acupuncture training "laughable."

"Rather than preserving public safety, the public will then be unsuspecting guinea pigs as these novices essentially experiment on patients in order to gain that clinical experience."

Chiropractors supporting the bill have been misrepresenting training required by the World Health Organization, acupuncture student Cathy Petrasky said, noting chiropractors with 300 hours of training could "perforate your skin."

"The person that cuts my hair was required to take 1,800 hours worth of training to obtain a license so that she could cut my hair. She is not allowed to perforate my skin."

HB 516 MEDICAL BOARD COMPLAINTS   (Fessler)   To require the State Medical Board, not later than two years after the complaint is filed, to make a decision regarding the disposition of a complaint alleging that a physician's failure to meet minimal standards of care resulted in a patient's death and to require the attorney general to monitor and enforce this requirement.   Full Text

SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD

HB 239 ABORTION PROHIBITION   (Schneider)   To prohibit the use of public funds or facilities for nontherapeutic abortions, proscribe public employees acting in the scope of their employment from performing or inducing a nontherapeutic abortion, and to declare that it is the public policy of the state to prefer childbirth over abortion to the extent that is constitutionally permissible.   Full Text

REPORTED-AMENDED-SUBSTITUTE (See separate story)

THE HOUSE ADJOURNED UNTIL 1:00 P.M. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2006 (FULL SESSION)

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2006

Alan Miller, President  |  Scott Miller, Vice President  |  Kent Cahlander, Editor  |  John Chalfant, Marcus Roth, Staff Writers

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