Week in Review 05-07-2021

FY20-21 BUDGET

The Office of Budget and Management (OBM) reported a half billion dollar-plus miss on income tax collections in April but said it expects to make that up in May, which now includes the deadline for income tax filing after the pandemic prompted another delay. The state’s largest revenue source, the sales tax, continued its strong performance with double-digit bumps over projections in both the auto and non-auto categories.

EDUCATION

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) last week recognized Ohio students entering military service with the Annual All-Ohio United States Armed Forces Career Commitment Celebration. In a new video, State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria and Maj. Gen. Deborah Ashenhurst, director of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services, joined Gov. Mike DeWine to recognize and congratulate students who have committed to military service, including active duty, Reserve and National Guard.

Richard Cordray is heading back to federal service, joining the Biden administration as chief operating officer of Federal Student Aid at the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE). A former state treasurer and attorney general, Cordray was Ohio Democrats’ 2018 nominee for governor. Before launching that bid, he was the inaugural enforcement director and later head of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

During a meeting of the State Board of Education Budget Committee Monday, members heard a presentation from Aaron Rausch, director of the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) Office of Budget and School Funding, about the education changes made in biennial budget bill HB110 (Oelslager), as well as an enumeration of ODE line items for schools. Rausch said the biggest education changes come from the inclusion of HB1 (Callender-Sweeney), the “fair school funding” overhaul of the state’s school funding system, in the version of the budget passed by the House.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) Board of Directors has unanimously approved a recommendation from OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute that membership dues be collected beginning with the 2021-22 school year. The new policy requires each high school to contribute $50 per OHSAA-sanctioned sport in which the school participates. This is the first time in the organization’s 114-year history that membership dues will be collected. Ute and his staff presented the new fee proposal in April.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY/STATEHOUSE

The House Wednesday sent broadband expansion bill HB2 (Carfagna-Stewart) to Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature after overwhelmingly accepting the Senate amendments to the bill as well as the emergency clause, though funding for the bill is still being worked out through the biennial budget bill process. The House also passed pandemic relief measures SB108 (S. Huffman-Romanchuk) and SB109 (Manning-Rulli), after the latter was amended in House Finance Committee to include an additional $250 million.