Governor Signs State Budget, Vetoes Seven Items
Gov. John Kasich has signed House Bill 153, the FY12-13 budget, vetoing seven items. They include a transfer of funds from the Facilities Establishment Fund for mental health (although he notes mental heath funding does not change); restrictions placed on repurchase of a privatized prison; an earmark for Hattie Larlham Community Living;requirements on the Lottery Commission regarding reporting on tickets and advertising the percent of education funding provided by the Lottery; some of the changes to the School Facilities Commission program which are "beneficial to select districts" while having "adverse impacts on others"; removing duplicative language regarding the study of health care pooling; and removing a voluntary body mass index (BMI) screening program in Ohio schools enacted in 2010.
Ohio Estate Tax Repealed
Ohio’s estate tax will end January 1, 2013. It was repealed through provisions of the recently signed biennial state budget passed by the Ohio General Assembly and signed by Governor John Kasich. The elimination of the “death tax” will preserve farms and businesses as they are passed from one generation to the next while retaining jobs and taxes in local communities. According to the Department of Taxation, Ohio currently taxes estate wealth above $338,333 at a rate of 6 percent, and wealth above $500,000 at 7 percent.
House Bill 229 Provides for Regulatory Revisions
House Bill 229 was recently passed by both the Ohio House and Senate and is awaiting Governor Kasich’s signature. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jim Buchy (R – Greenville), is a revision of the laws governing agriculture. These laws govern concentrated animal feeding facilities, seed, livestock feeds, the Ohio grape industries, animal diseases, livestock dealers and brokers, animal cruelty, amusement ride safety, and retail food establishments. Additionally, the bill changes the names of several divisions and creates a new division in the Department of Agriculture and correspondingly renames one fund.
Changes include the following:
- Change the name of certain department divisions in order to more accurately represent the purpose for which they were created.
- Make technical changes dealing with the application for license for a small livestock dealer and clarifying livestock exhibition language.
- Allow a nonprofit organization to be classified as a "food-safety risk level one vendor" if sales occur inside a building.
- Clarify that proof of financial responsibility is required for reissuance of suspended auctioneer licenses regardless of the reason of the suspension.
- Clarify that an ORC Sec. 119 administrative hearing must be offered to any party subjected to a stop sale order for feed or seed law violations.
- Clarify that "inflatable devices" are amusement rides.
- Change the commercial feed definition to allow the sale of certain animal supplements.
- Create a chief of livestock environment permitting.
- Change to the public notification protocol in regard to livestock environmental permitting.
- Add "alkaline hydrolysis" as a method of mortality disposal for animals under 941.14 provisions which currently allow burial, rendering, burning and composting.
- Enable the grape industry to provide local producers with grape plants, grape vines, equipment, and material to assist in the production of grapes and grape products.
- Clarify the proper techniques for the tail docking of equine and provide for the proactive tail docking of equine to prevent injury.
OABA expressed support for this legislation through a letter to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Dave Hall.
Legislation Approved to Clarify Animals at Large Liability
House Bill 22 sponsored by Rep. Danny Bubp (R – West Union) was recently signed into law. The legislation clarifies the difference between civil and criminal penalties associated with the failure by livestock owners to keep their animals from running at large.