New Ohio House Speaker:
Over the last few weeks, a new Speaker of the Ohio House was elected after Speaker Larry Householder was indicted on federal bribery charges. State Representative Bob Cupp was installed as Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives on July 30th with a promise for transparency. Speaker Cupp has been elected to both the Ohio House and Senate and previously served as a Supreme Court Justice. While the remainder of the House leadership team remained the same, we’re expecting an announcement in the coming weeks about some committee changes, including chairmanship changes.
Speaker Cupp stated among the first legislative orders of business is a review of the energy law (HB 6) which is at the center of the allegations against Householder. While several bills have been introduced to repeal the law, many feel the bill should be replaced vs. repealed. Timing of the bill will be dependent on talks between the Governor, Ohio House and Ohio Senate.
ACEC Ohio is advocating for the business liability protections in HB 606 and signed onto a coalition letter in early August asking Speaker Cupp to move the bill. (see HB 606 letter) The House is due back in September and it is our understanding HB 606 is a priority for passage.
State of the Budget:
ACEC Ohio continues to monitor the budget situation in Ohio, as presented by the OBM Director in her monthly report, July total GRF receipts totaled $4.1 billion and were $270.2 million (7.1%) above estimate. Tax revenues were $184.6 million (8.2%) above estimate. Construction funding in the first 6 months of the year shows spending is 5.0% higher than the same time in 2019. (see OBM Monthly Report) While these numbers are encouraging for an economic rebound, OBM Director Kimberly Murnieks cautions that the June & July numbers appear to reflect a bit of a pent-up desire to spend by Ohioans due to being sheltered at home for three months.
With traffic volumes still down, the motor fuel user fee revenues have not reached the 30% decline originally estimated by the Ohio Department of Transportation. The difference is commercial truck traffic increased while passenger traffic decreased and still has not rebounded. The May and June user fee revenues provided by ODOT are below:
May actual was a 27% reduction:
|
Original Budget |
30% Reduction |
|
27% Reduction |
|
$165,162,037 |
$ 115,344,316 |
$ 120,568,287 |
|
|
$ Value Change: |
$ (49,817,721) |
$ (44,593,750) |
|
|
Variance (Addt'l $ Reduction): |
|
$ 5,223,971 |
|
June actual was a 10% reduction:
|
Original Budget |
30% Reduction |
|
10% Reduction |
|
$143,090,613 |
$ 95,511,883 |
$ 128,781,552 |
|
|
$ Value Change: |
$ (47,578,730) |
$ (14,309,061) |
|
|
Variance (Addt'l $ Reduction): |
|
$ 33,269,669 |
|
Quarter 2 Private Industry Report:
A must read, ACEC just released the Q2 2020 Private Industry Brief outlining 5 Macrotrends, key indicators, consumer behavior and the economic outlook by market sector.
We anticipate the state will continue to closely monitor the number of new COVID 19 cases as schools open, high school sports resume, and cooler weather sets in, and make adjustments to policy’s and regulations as necessary. As always, we will keep you advised of pertinent updates relative to COVID 19, as well as keep you up to date on the state’s economy and motor fuel user fee revenues.
Please feel free to contact me with questions,
~Beth