January 27, 2012
Boose- Hackett bill raises county competitive bidding limit
This week, State Representatives Terry Boose (R-Norwalk) and Bob Hackett (R-London) jointly
sponsored HB 430 which would raise the county competitive bidding limit from $25,000 to
$50,000. Representatives Boose and Hackett previously served respectively as Huron and
Madison County Commissioners.
CCAO’s legislative platform calls for an increase in the competitive bidding limit, as well as other
changes intended to simplify purchasing procedures and save counties money. Other provisions
of HB 430 would:

Raises the emergency purchases threshold
under which competitive bidding is not
required from $50,000 to $100,000.

Requires annual adjustment of the
competitive bidding threshold by the Ohio
Department of Commerce based on
changes to the consumer price index.
Rep. Bob Hackett
Rep. Terry Boose

Permits commissioners to waive the mandatory use of bid bonds on purchases subject
to competitive bidding.

Eliminates annual requirement that commissioners adopt a resolution and publish notice
of the intention to sell unneeded personal property over the internet once the initial
program has been established.

Eliminates annual adoption of a resolution waiving the certification of availability of funds
requirement for small dollar purchases.
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
Permits counties to waive certain requirements for public improvement projects if the
estimated cost is less than $250,000.
Cosponsors of the bill include Representatives Cheryl Grossman (R-Grove City), Andrew
Brenner (R- Powell), Peter Beck (R-Mason), Lou Blessing (R-Cincinnati), John Adams (RSidney), Mike Henne (R-Clayton), Randy Gardner (R-Bowling Green), Joe Uecker (R-Miami
Township), Gerald Stebelton (R-Lancaster), Ross McGregor (R-Springfield), Courtney Combs
(R-Hamilton), Terry Blair (R-Centerville), Brian Hill (R-Zanesville), and Andy Thompson (RMarietta).
To review this legislation please click here. For more information about this proposal please
contact CCAO staffer Brad Cole at [email protected]
Election $ distributed to counties pursuant to HB 319
Recently the Secretary of State’s office sent funds to counties pursuant to HB 319 for costs
related to Congressional redistricting. Attached to the Statehouse Report is a copy of the memo
sent to boards of elections and county auditors as well as a listing of dollars each county
received.
Section 4 of HB 319 provided $2.75 million to be used in a method prescribed by the Secretary
of State to implement the redistricting act “which includes remapping and reprecincting counties,
and reprogramming database systems and voting machines.” These funds were allocated to
counties on a per registered voter basis.
The Ohio Association of Elections Officials along with CCAO lobbied to secure this funding. A
decade ago $500,000 was appropriated to counties for this expense.
Questions have arisen as to where these funds should be deposited within the county budget,
given the broad enabling language. CCAO staff contends that the dollars should be placed in
the county general fund and then appropriated for these specific elections expenses, if the
board of elections’ budget did not already include money for these expenses. If the board of
county commissioners already appropriated funds to the board of elections to cover these
duties, then it would seem logical for the state dollars to remain in the county general fund.
CCAO will continue to communicate with the Ohio Association of Elections Officials and other
parties relative to how the funds should be deposited. In addition, CCAO encourages county
commissioners, county auditors, and boards of elections to communicate with one another on
this matter.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact CCAO Staffer Cheryl Subler at
[email protected].
CCAO offers support for SB 207, county teleconference/
videoconference bill
This week, CCAO Senior Policy Analyst Josh Hahn offered support testimony on
behalf of CCAO before the Senate State & Local Government & Veteran Affairs
Committee on Senate Bill 207. SB 207, sponsored by Senator Dave Burke (R-
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Marysville) would authorize a joint board of county commissioners to conduct proceedings
regarding existing joint county ditches via teleconference or video conference.
Hahn’s testimony was well received by committee members, with Senators Bill Seitz (RCincinnati) and Peggy Lehner (R-) even asking the Association to work to make the proposed
language uniformly applicable to all similar open meetings and hearings. CCAO will be working
with Senator Burke’s office, House companion bill sponsor Rep. Rex Damschroder (R-Fremont),
and stakeholders to do so.
To review the Senate Bill 207, please click here. For more information on this measure, please
contact CCAO Senior Policy Analyst Josh Hahn at [email protected].
CCAO works to advance workers’ compensation platform
with legislative leaders; sees progress.
Last week, legislative leaders announced workers’ compensation as a top priority for the House
Republican caucus (see January 20, 2012 edition of Statehouse.) As the caucus explores
issues like employer participation in risk-management, safety and wellness initiatives, CCAO is
urging consideration of law changes that will improve counties’ abilities to emphasize workplace
safety, increase a quick return to work and reduce costs.
CCAO has BWC sign-off on two legislative changes – one which would explicitly provide both
direct and indirect cost allocation for expenses the county incurs in administering the county’s
workers’ compensation program, in addition to counties’ current ability to cost allocate premium;
and one which would ensure CCAO’s active participation on the nominating committee for the
BWC Board of Directors by allowing the association to be represented by a designee should the
president be unavailable to attend.
In addition, CCAO is continuing dialogue with BWC on other policy provisions, including:

Authorizing a group retrospective rating sponsoring association to manage the group
members’ finances relating to assessments and refunds;

Allowing self-insured employers to purchase aggregate stop-loss coverage for claims in
order to help manage financial risk;

Ensuring claims arising during training for emergency management volunteers are not
charged to the local jurisdiction; and

To allow political subdivisions to collaborate on the BWC’s new Wellness Grant
Program.
For more information on the status of these initiatives, or to share feedback from your county’s
perspective, please contact policy analyst Laura Abu-Absi at [email protected].
Statehouse Etcetera

Casino Monies- Two (Cleveland and Toledo) casinos scheduled to open sometime in
late March or early April have been delayed by the Ohio Casino Control Commission
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due to the Commission’s continuing efforts to thoroughly investigate the owners and
operators of these proposed facilities before they issue an operating license to each
casino operator.
As a reminder, the payments to all 88 counties from casino revenues are to be made
quarterly on the 13th day of the following months: April, July, October and January of
each year. Thus, the absolute earliest that any county could see any money would be
July 13, and the first payments of any size are likely to take until October given the
delays thus far. Also, please keep in mind that the roll-out of the casinos once they open
will be gradual, meaning that the operators will gradually open all the slot machines and
the gaming tables to gamblers. Therefore, early tax receipts will be far less than what
counties will see next year and succeeding years as operations are ramped up.
In addition, HB 386, which establishes the state as the agent of the county for purposes
of making distributions to schools and municipalities as called for under the casino ballot
issue, is currently scheduled for a House floor vote next week. To review HB 386, click
here.
For more information on this issue, please contact CCAO Managing Director of
Research Brad Cole or Senior Policy Analyst John Leutz at [email protected] and
[email protected], respectively.

Kearney reins helm of Senate Democrats- Senate Democrats announced Tuesday
they have elected Sen. Eric Kearney of Cincinnati to serve as the caucus' new leader.
He will replace Sen. Minority Leader Capri Cafaro, who said she stepped down from the
top job to spend more time on issues related to her district. The transition also brings a
new leadership team that includes Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Youngstown as assistant
minority leader, Sen. Nina Turner of Cleveland as minority whip and Sen. Edna Brown of
Toledo as assistant minority whip
New Legislation of Interest
HB 430
COUNTY BID THRESHOLDS (Boose, T., Hackett, B.) To increase the county competitive bidding
and other procurement thresholds, to make other changes to the county competitive bidding law,
and to eliminate the annual adoption of certain resolutions. Am. & En. 307.12, 307.86, 307.861,
307.88, and 5705.41 and 307.863
Upcoming Legislative
Committee Calendar
Tuesday, January 31
House State Government & Elections, (Chr. Huffman, M., 466-9624), Rm. 017, 10:00 am
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HB 386 GAMBLING LAWS (Blessing, L.) To make changes to the law regarding video lottery terminals,
casino gaming, and horse racing, to make an appropriation, and to declare an emergency. --7th
Hearing-All testimony-Possible amendments & vote
Senate Agriculture, Environment & Natural Resources, (Chr. Hite, C., 466-8150), North Hearing Rm.,
10:45 am
HB 276 AGRICULTURAL ZONING (Buchy, J., Gentile, L.) To include the production from certain
feedstocks of biodiesel, biomass energy, electric or heat energy, and biologically derived
methane gas in the definition of "agriculture" for purposes of the laws governing county zoning,
township zoning, and current agricultural use valuation. --2nd Hearing-All testimony-Possible vote
SB 130 DOG BREEDING (Hughes, J., Cates, G.) To establish licensing requirements and standards of
care for certain dog breeding kennels, dog retailers and animal rescues for dogs. --2nd HearingAll testimony-Possible vote
House Session, (Chr. Batchelder, B., 466-3357), House Chamber, 11:00 am
Senate Session, (Chr. Niehaus, T., 466-4900), Senate Chamber, 1:30 pm
House Judiciary & Ethics, (Chr. Bubp, D., 644-6034), Rm. 122, 3:00 pm
HB 197 CLERK FINANCES (Slesnick, S.) To require that all moneys collected by the clerk of a municipal
or county court be paid to the appropriate person, fund, or entity on or before the twentieth day of
each month, to permit a municipal or county court to collect unpaid court costs, fees, or fines from
an obligor's state income tax refund, to require the Auditor of State to create and maintain a chart
detailing the distribution of court costs, fees, and fines collected by municipal and county court
clerks, to create the Committee on Court Costs, and to ensure that neither the Registrar nor any
deputy registrar accepts any application for the issuance or renewal of a driver's license,
commercial driver's license, or temporary instruction permit, or for the registration or transfer of
registration of a motor vehicle of a person who fails to pay court costs imposed for offenses by a
municipal mayor's, or county court. --6th Hearing-All testimony-Possible amendments & vote
Senate Judiciary, (Chr. Wagoner, M., 466-8060), North Hearing Rm, 3:15 pm
SB 268 DNA SAMPLES (Eklund, J.) To provide for the taking of a DNA sample from a person who is
charged with a felony but not arrested for the offense or whose DNA sample related to a felony
offense was not taken when required. --4th Hearing-All testimony-Possible amendments & vote
HB 247 COURT COSTS (Butler, J.) To authorize a court to cancel claims for uncollectible amounts due
the court, to authorize a sentencing court to waive, suspend, or modify payment of the costs of
prosecution, to define "case" in connection with the imposition of costs in a criminal case, and to
abolish the Felony Sentence Appeal Cost Oversight Committee. --2nd Hearing-All testimony
Wednesday, February 1
Senate Session, (Chr. Niehaus, T., 466-4900), Senate Chamber, 1:30 pm
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