Gov. Kasich to speak at Capital Conference
Each year since 2011, the Ohio School Boards Association has invited Gov. John R. Kasich to address Capital Conference attendees. This is the first year schedules have aligned, allowing him to attend.
Gov. Kasich will speak at 2:15 p.m. Monday, Nov. 13, in the Union Station Ballroom prior to the Annual Business Meeting of the OSBA Delegate Assembly.
All conference attendees are invited to hear Gov. Kasich’s remarks.
House Ways and Means Committee
The committee heard proponent testimony House Bill (HB) 343. This legislation would require local governments that contest property values to formally pass an authorizing resolution for each complaint and to notify the property owners.
The committee also heard proponent testimony on HB 371. This bill would exempt from property taxation the increased value of land that is subdivided for residential development until construction begins.
House Education and Career Readiness Committee
The committee heard proponent testimony on HB 318. This bill defines the qualifications and duties of school resource officers.
The committee also heard proponent testimony on HB 360. This legislation would enact the Ohio Anti-Bullying and Hazing Act to address school discipline, bullying and hazing policies at public schools and public colleges.
The final bill before the committee was HB 338 regarding school bus driver medical examinations. The committee heard proponent testimony on this legislation.
House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee
The committee heard proponent and interested-party testimony on HB 87. This bill addresses money returned to the state as a result of a community school audit.
The committee also held a hearing on HB 312 dealing with the use of credit cards and debit cards by political subdivisions. There were no witnesses present to testify on the bill. The committee made the following changes before passing the bill.
• Removed the criminal consequences referenced in the section of the bill related to the requirement of an employee to provide an itemized receipt when he or she returns the credit card.
• Removed language that would have required the compliance officer (a position created by the bill) to oversee credit card use and instead references a duty to perform a quarterly review of the number of cards and accounts issued, the number of active cards, the cards’ expiration dates and credit limits.
• Added language to allow a superintendent to serve as a compliance officer and continue carrying a credit card. Under this scenario, the treasurer would need to review the transaction detail monthly.
• Revised the reward reporting language to require a district to file an annual report detailing all the rewards resulting from credit card use. The auditor of state is to adopt rules for the reporting.
• Changed the language regarding a policy on the reissuing of credit cards to include the procedures for credit card issuance, reissuance and cancellation and a process for reporting lost or stolen cards.
The final bill before the committee was HB 342 which would prohibit local tax-related proposals from appearing on an August special election ballot. The committee heard testimony from proponents of the bill.