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The Columbus Dispatch
From schools to ice
cream, how Ohio’s new budget affects you
By Jim Siegel
The state budget determines how to spend more than $65 billion over the
next two years, but it also does much more.
As usual, it is packed full of policy changes affecting nearly every
Ohioan in some way. This includes you, if you:
Worry about the plight of bouncy houses: Reduces the $105 annual fee
for inspections of inflatable amusement rides and adds two members of
the inflatable ride industry to the Advisory Council on Amusement Ride
Safety.
Find Jell-O shots just won’t do sometimes: Allows for the manufacture
of alcoholic ice cream that is between 0.5 percent and 6 percent
alcohol. Also charges a $1,000 fee for the new permit.
Think Ohio does too much testing: Eliminates the fourth- and
sixth-grade state achievement tests for social studies.
Have a sick animal: Allows the state to order the destruction of an
animal because of disease before it is appraised, rather than having to
wait.
Are ready to start paying college tuition: Four-year universities can
raise tuition by 6 percent, but only if they participate in a tuition
guarantee program that sets that rate for a student’s first four years.
Two-year colleges can raise tuition by $10 per credit hour, but not
until the 2018-19 school year.
Want to skirt oversight of public spending: Controlling Board approval
is now needed when a statewide official spends, in the aggregate, more
than $50,000 on advertising. This comes in response to state Treasurer
Josh Mandel, who spent almost $2 million on ads featuring himself, but
broke up the payments into less than $50,000 increments to avoid
oversight.
Know a good, young overseas soccer player: Students from a foreign
country who have F-1 visas and attend school in Ohio are allowed to
participate in athletics.
Own a farm: A revised calculation for determining taxable farmland
value means farmers will pay less property tax, while homeowners,
particularly in rural areas, likely will pay more.
Buy fireworks: The competition will not improve. A moratorium on new
fireworks manufacturers and wholesalers is extended to September 2018.
Again.
Don’t want to feel the burn: Prohibits a school district from requiring
written authorization from a health-care provider to administer
sunscreen to a student, but does allow a district to require parental
permission.
Care for someone with a disability: Requires a county board to
establish a waiting list if resources for home and community-based
services are insufficient and requires the state to adopt rules for how
people are added or removed from the list.
Don’t care for those college fees: Authorizes the state chancellor to
investigate all fees charged to students by universities and prohibit
those fees determined not in the best interest of students. If
rejected, a university can appeal to the state Controlling Board.
Except for “non-instructional program fees,” it generally prohibits
institutions from increasing in-state undergraduate, general and other
fees.
See dead people: Generally prohibits a person from failing to carry out
the final disposition of a dead human body within 30 days after taking
custody of it.
Oppose price fixing: Requires the Common Sense Initiative Office to
review the actions of regulatory and licensing boards for antitrust
implications.
Feel soybeans are underappreciated: Creates the Ohio Soybean Marketing
Program.
Pay workers’ compensation assessments: The budget director can take up
to 2 percent of the BWC budget (and other funds, including the EPA,
insurance and industrial commission) to help balance the budget.
Raise deer: Allows the state to assess civil penalties if captive deer
propagators fail to get a license.
Love them apples: Exempts certain apple syrup and apple butter
processors from governing standards and retail food establishment laws.
Worry about Ohio’s opioid crisis: Earmarks $2 million for the state
crime lab, $1.5 million for local crime labs, and $3 million for new
drug abuse response team grants.
Hate deadlines: Increases from 10 days to 30 days the time the state
auditor has to review evidence of misconduct by a local official.
Play the slots: Eliminates the Joint Committee on Gaming and Wagering,
which was designed to make recommendations relating to Ohio casino law.
Want your bed properly analyzed: No longer requires that the labs
utilized by the superintendent of industrial compliance conduct tests
of bedding and stuffed toys located in various sections of the state.
Want to party, small-town style: Decreases from 5,000 to 3,000 the
minimum population needed to establish a community entertainment
district, an area that includes various entertainment options and
allows businesses to get state liquor licenses quickly and at reduced
cost.
Cut hair: The state Board of Cosmetology and the state Barber Board are
merged, starting in January. Allows the board to increase a variety of
fees.
Fix teeth: Increases a variety of fees charged to dentists and dental
hygienists for licenses, permits and certificates.
Like longer names: Renames the Office of Small Business to the Office
of Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Worry about the opioid crisis (2): Requires the development of a web
site and mobile app to provide information regarding opioid addiction
treatment services.
Want government help with innovation: Eliminates the Local Government
Innovation Program. The Innovation Council has given out $38 million,
mostly grants for local innovation and efficiency programs.
Frown on nepotism: Clarifies that a county commissioner’s spouse or
child cannot be employed by the county developmental disabilities
board. Current law says “immediate family.”
Have a gifted child: Requires the Department of Education to study the
appropriate funding levels for gifted students and report findings in
May 2018.
Have a special-needs student: Now allows parents to apply for the Jon
Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program year-round, similar to the
Autism Scholarship.
Run a large e-school: Allows certain K-12 e-schools with more than
2,000 students to divide by grade levels into two or three separate
schools.
Want some art in your STEM: Currently there are science, technology,
engineering and mathematics schools, known as STEM. The budget allows
for arts to be included, creating STEAM.
Have children in school: Requires that state data collection include
victims of student violence that resulted in discipline.
Want more school info: Requires private schools to post on its website
the student enrollment count and its policy for background checks of
employees and volunteers.
Worry that lawmakers don’t appreciate FFA: The budget states the
General Assembly’s finding that the Ohio FFA Association (formerly
Future Farmers of America) is an integral part of instructional
programs in career-technical agricultural education.
Enjoy obscure budget data: The state budget office must now report
every six months information such as funds spending less than 50
percent of their appropriations and funds with more than 100 percent of
their appropriation.
Like those nuts a little too much: Students can no longer possess betel
nuts in schools. Apparently chewing the nut can create a buzz. The nuts
are more commonly chewed in other parts of the world.
Want schools to get more input: Requires that each school district
appoint a business advisory council that must meet at least quarterly.
Have a child eyeing college: Specifies that early college high school
programs prioritize students who are underrepresented in higher
education, economically disadvantaged, or have parents who did not earn
a degree.
Want a fancier diploma: Attaches a new OhioMeansJobs-Readiness seal to
high school diplomas and transcripts of students who satisfy certain
work-readiness requirements.
Have a special-needs child: Decreases the required ratio of full-time
staff for preschool special education classrooms. Current ratio is one
full-time staffer for six full-day children. New ratio is one for every
eight.
Want some early college credit: Sets higher standards for high school
students who want to participate in College Credit Plus. Requires a
student to either be “remediation-free” on a college entrance exam, or
be close and still have a GPA of 3.0 or above.
Want to work for the Department of Education ... for free: Authorizes
the department to use volunteers to accomplish any of its purposes.
(The budget hands the department several new tasks to perform.)
Like school innovation: Eliminates Gov. John Kasich’s Straight-A
program, which awarded more than $300 million to local schools since
2014 for projects aimed at improving student achievement or saving
money.
Plan to graduate from high school next year: Don’t sweat those
end-of-course exams. You can also graduate as long as you meet at least
two additional qualifications that include showing up for school 93
percent of the time your senior year, having a 2.5 GPA your senior
year, completing community service or a job credential, or scoring a 3
or higher on an AP course.
Party in the park: Revokes the license of a park or camp if the
licensing entity gets notice of three or more nuisance activities over
a six-month period.
Like the water rides: Subjects aquatic amusement rides to inspection
and licensing.
Want more higher education options: Establishes a process for two-year
institutions to offer specialized applied bachelor’s degrees.
Want cheaper college textbooks: Requires universities to report
annually on its efforts to reduce textbook costs. Also requires
universities to adopt a textbook selection policy for faculty to follow.
Want information on high school graduates: Requires universities to
report annually on the number of students that require remedial
classes, the cost of remediation and the causes for it.
Teach at a university: Requires universities to review and update
faculty tenure policies to ensure they promote excellence in
instruction, research, service and/or commercialization.
Work for a university: Allows employees to donate unused paid leave to
another employee to help handle a serious illness or care for a family
member.
Want to transfer credit: Prohibits universities from refusing to accept
college credit earned in Ohio in the past five years as a substitute
for comparable coursework. Also requires that the state explore a plan
to allow credits to transfer from a for-profit school to a state
institution.
Come to Ohio to fish and hunt: Increases the fees for non-resident
hunting and fishing licenses. For example, the hunting fee would go to
$174 by 2020, from the current $124.
Don’t think ignorance is bliss: Earmarks $5 million for Ohio State
University to establish a Leadership Institute aimed at helping elected
officials understand how government works and teaching civility.
Are on Medicaid: Ohio will seek a federal waiver requiring those on
Medicaid expansion to be employed, unless they are over 55, in school,
or have mental illness or drug addiction issues.
Work for a struggling university: Allows institutions to require
mandatory furloughs of employees, including faculty, to achieve
spending cuts when facing budget deficits.
Care about elder abuse: Expands the list of people required to report
suspected abuse or exploitation of certain older adults, and requires
county officials to notify law enforcement if the abuse has been
criminally exploited.
Like high-minded talk: The Constitutional Modernization Commission, a
group of lawmakers and others formed to recommend changes to the
founding document, was abolished.
Really like wine: Allows retailers to offer a personal consumer a 10
percent discount per bottle of wine when sold as a case of 6 to 12
bottles.
Want eyesores eliminated: Generally makes it easier for the owner of a
mobile-home park to remove an abandoned mobile home from the premises.
Worry about the opioid crisis (3): Creates a pilot program in Cuyahoga
County to use open nursing home beds for drug treatment.
Have a forgetful doctor: Allows a doctor who fails to complete
continuing medical education requirements to pay a $5,000 fine in lieu
of state disciplinary action. However, still no fine for making you sit
for an hour in the waiting room.
Care about mental health: Creates a medication-assisted treatment
program in drug courts operating in a number of counties. Caps the
total participants at 1,500, subject to available funding. Also sets up
a pilot mental health court program in Franklin and Warren counties.
Love some elk: Defines elk as a game quadruped animal, meaning the
state can regulate propagation, preservation and protection of it.
Worry about the opioid crisis (4): Redirects $35 million in local
government funding to various drug-crisis initiatives, including
helping cororners, addiction treatment and stabilization centers, and
continuum of care services.
Live in Hilliard: Earmarks $250,000 for the Grener Property
Recreational Facility in Hilliard.
Are a nurse: Eliminates the requirement that the executive director of
the state Board of Nursing be a registered nurse with at least five
years experience.
Plan to prescribe marijuana someday: Physicians no longer must tell
patients that the benefits of marijuana outweigh the risks.
Are a pharmacist: Your license can be good for up to 24 months, instead
of needing an annual renewal. However, the cost goes from $250 every
two years, up from $97 per year. Also, no more pocket identification
cards.
Plan to drive after drinking: Courts can order an offender to reimburse
law enforcement for the cost of administering blood-alcohol tests.
Want pizza delivered by a robot cooler on wheels: Permits
electric-powered “personal delivery devices” to use sidewalks. Requires
them to yield the right-of-way to humans, which is good manners.
Are out on parole: The penalty for violating community control cannot
exceed 90 days in prison for a fifth-degree felony and 180 days for a
fourth-degree felony.
Are getting a driver’s license: Driver’s education courses must include
the dangers of driving while taking drugs, prescription medication or
alcohol.
Plan to commit crime in one of the 10 most populous counties: Requires
that non-violent fifth degree felonies with a term of one year or less
to be served in a county jail or community alternative sentencing.
Earn between $10,000 and $10,500: You get an income tax cut of about
$78. The budget eliminates the bottom two income tax brackets, but
those making less than $10,000 already pay no state income tax. Those
making over $10,500 pay the same as they do now.
Are saving money for college or to help a disabled child: The maximum
income tax deductions to state college and disability funds doubles to
$4,000 starting in 2018.
Forgot to pay those taxes: A tax amnesty program will run from Jan. 1
to Feb. 15, including state and school district income taxes, among
others.
File taxes in multiple cities: The state now allows businesses to file
municipal income taxes with the state, which will charge cities 0.5
percent to process the returns before distributing the money.
Read this and other articles at the Columbus Dispatch
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