02/05/2025

House Bill 54

Lead Sponsors: Representative Brian Stewart

Status: Passed House (February 26), Senate hearings ongoing

Description: The Transportation Budget funds transportation-related programs and changes transportation-related policies.

ODOT will provide roughly 10% of its total budget to aid local governments with their projects, including $103 million dollars for county bridge and surface projects through the County Engineers Association. The proposal also includes $12.5 million in each year for roadwork development grants administered by the Department of Development. The purpose of the grants is to improve roadways and infrastructure to support business development. The budget also includes approximately $66 million in each fiscal year for public transportation and $15 million for the Ohio Workforce Mobility Partnership Program. The program provides grants to transit agencies to support workforce transit programs.

Other provisions in the bill include the following:

• Creates the Ohio Airport Improvement Program Fund to provide grants to airports that do not receive federal grants. The fund is supported by petroleum activities tax revenue attributable to aviation fuel sales. The budget appropriates $4.65 million for the program each fiscal year.
  • This provision fufills a CCAO Platform position
    
    
• Requires ODOT to notify the board of county commissioners or board of township of trustees when a chip seal or fog seal project is being competitively bid upon or ODOT is starting the project by force account. The notification must take at least 30 days in advance.
  
  
• Requires RTAs with a hub of six or more service lines to contract with local law enforcement entities to provide safety services. RTAs with transit police are exempted from this requirement.
  
  
• Makes an administrative move of Motor Fuel Tax revenue distributions to local governments from the operating budget to the transportation budget.