Latest news with #Bill2
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Child care measures pass Ohio House committee
Children at day care.(Getty Images) An Ohio House committee approved two different bills targeting help for child care in the state, though members of the committee expressed concerns about state funding on the topic. Ohio House Bill 2, proposed legislation that creates a cost-sharing model for child care, passed the House Children and Human Services Committee on Tuesday, moving the measure for possible full House vote. The language of the bill is the same as language included in the House version of the budget, passed last month. That budget proposal is still awaiting final approval, as the Senate works on its own draft before the two chambers come together to reconcile their drafts and create a final draft to send to the governor by the end of June. House Bill 2 would cap child care assistance at 400% of the federal poverty level. The cost-sharing model in the bill would split the cost between the employer, employee, and the state, after an employer applies for the financial assistance. The state would put in 20% of the cost, and the employer and employee would each pay 40%, according to the bill. Child care providers are not required to be a part of Step Up to Quality, the state's child care and early learning provider rating system, under the bill. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The bill was passed 12 to 1, with only state Rep. Sarah Fowler Arthur, R-Ashtabula, voting against it. 'I do still have some significant concerns with the fact we incentivized, through Step Up to Quality, a number of providers to not be providers for the last period of time,' she told the committee. She added that she stood against the bill 'because I have concerns about the state subsidizing child care going forward.' Fellow Republican state Rep. Tracy Richardson, of Marysville, voted in favor of the bill, but looked to the future of the measure and the language in the budget for needed changes. 'I will support the bill, but I want to publicly state that I believe that our finance committee may have some work to do on this bill, maybe look at perhaps some potential reduction in overall funding,' Richardson said. She said the same thing about a second bill passed by the committee on Tuesday, a bill which would appropriate $10.25 million each for the next two years for grants aimed at expanding 'child care capacity' and establishing an employer-based child care learning lab, among other resources for grant applicants. Ohio House Bill 41 would require the Ohio Department of Children and Youth to oversee a grant program 'to assist employers in retrofitting or equipping their onsite or near-site child care facilities, in building new child care facilities, or in partnering with child care providers, government entities, nonprofit organizations or others on initiatives to create child care capacity within their communities to support the workforce,' according to an analysis of the bill by the Legislative Service Commission. 'I see this being a potential, really strong pilot program, providing dollars necessary for those facilities that matter, particularly in areas where we are most impoverished,' Richardson told the committee before voting in favor of the bill. 'I do think, fiscally, our finance committee should take a closer look at the overall appropriation.' Fowler Arthur voted against the bill, along with Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, but neither made statements as to why they were voting against the second child care measure. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The good, the bad, and the ugly on Ohio's long overdue energy legislation
An electricity meter. (Stock photo from Getty Images.) This year, new legislation in the Ohio Statehouse could finally see the end to some of the worst aspects of 2019's House Bill 6 — which David Roberts of Vox called 'the worst energy bill of the 21st century.' That is great news — but it would come at a high cost. Instead of bailing out coal and nuclear plants, Ohioans could find themselves living next to large gas plants, pushed through a fast-track approval process without local approval, supplied with gas from fracking our parks. Read on to learn the good, the bad, and the ugly about Ohio Senate Bill 2 and Ohio House Bill 15. Among the good things SB 2 and HB 15 would do is phase out the bailouts of two Ohio Valley Electric Coalition (OVEC) coal plants jointly owned by several Ohio utilities – one of which is in Indiana. Ohioans have paid upward of $670 million in coal bailouts since HB 6. The coal bailouts would end at the expiration of each utility's 'electric security plan' — plans that allow utilities to attach extra charges, or 'riders,' to customer bills — over the next five years. Then the electric security plans themselves would also be eliminated. Instead, utilities would have to work with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to set a standard service offer – the going rate for electricity – based only on markets, without extra riders or fees. Utilities would have to work with PUCO annually to ensure the rate is in line with changing market conditions. Some other good things in the current version of these two bills include: A community energy pilot program in HB 15 that would allow small scale energy projects – 10 MW or 20 MW – to be built on distressed land that people could subscribe to for their electricity use. An energy efficiency loan program for schools in SB 2 – a good program that should also include loans for solar panels, which it originally had. If that's where SB 2 and HB 15 stopped, there would be plenty to support. However, both bills also contain some terrible provisions that should be changed or removed for the sake of Ohio's communities and our environment. These provisions revolve around an accelerated review process at the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB), which approves the siting of major energy facilities such as large electric generation plants, transmission lines, and pipelines. The current OPSB process takes months and sometimes years. It involves public information sessions, applications that run thousands of pages, public hearings, months of written public comments, an agency investigation, and an adjudicatory hearing to establish the facts. SB 2 would shorten this process to just 120 days – four months. Even worse, both bills would shorten the process to only 45 days – just six weeks – for two types of applications: An electric generation plant, electric transmission line, or gas pipeline in a Priority Investment Area A major utility facility – defined as 50 MW or more – on property owned by the applicant. In the first case, local governments would nominate brownfields or former coal mines in their communities to be Priority Investment Areas — so at least there would be local buy-in. In the second case, there is no local involvement. The only party that identifies the location for a 50 MW or larger energy generation plant is the 'applicant' who owns the property. Nothing in either bill specifies who the applicant could be — but presumably a large energy user such as a data center. Data centers are what is driving this. These large buildings house rows and rows of computer servers that must be kept running and kept cool. Each data center uses hundreds of megawatts of electricity — equal to a small city — to power things like cloud computing, AI, or cryptocurrency. There are 176 data centers in Ohio. Of those, 108 are in Central Ohio — and of those, many are in residential areas. I should know — there's an Amazon data center campus across the street from my house, and three others within five miles — all surrounded by homes and businesses. SB 2 and HB 15 would allow the owners of these data centers to get approval in 45 days to build a large electricity generation plant on property they own with no local approval. How would the electricity be generated? Through fracked gas plants, Senate President Rob McColley and House Speaker Matt Huffman recently told the Ohio Oil and Gas Association. In Ohio, the setback requirement for wind turbines is 1/4 mile from the nearest property line — too much for data center land in an urban or suburban area. A solar project big enough to create enough electricity would also be too large. The main alternative is gas. Senate Bill 52 from 2021 allows local governments to ban solar and wind projects, but not oil and gas — and at least 24 Ohio counties have done so. Already applications for three gas plants to power data centers 'behind the meter' have been filed with the power siting board, with more being prepared. 'We think there will be new gas powered generation all over the state of Ohio,' Huffman told the oil and gas association. If SB 2 and HB 15 pass as currently written, some of those gas plants will end up in residential areas. Where will the gas to supply these plants come from? From fracking our state parks, wildlife areas, and public lands, Huffman told the oil and gas association. And they want the frack pads to be located not just outside the parks as they are now, but actually IN our state parks and public lands. 'I want to be aggressive about that in the House of Representatives,' Huffman said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SB 2 and HB 15 would go a long way to cleaning up the travesty of HB 6 — but at what cost? The accelerated review process for approving major energy facilities — such as a 100 MW gas plant — must be lengthened. Nine months is not too long to review such a complicated project. If Republicans absolutely refuse to lengthen the review process, then local officials must be given veto power over gas plants in their counties and townships — just as they have for solar and wind projects. Finally, fracking in, around, and under our beloved state parks, wildlife areas, and public lands must stop. The vast majority of Ohioans are opposed. The last four nominations to frack our parks and wildlife areas received 923 comments. Only one comment out of 923 was in favor. That's 1/10th of one percent – 99.9% of comments were opposed. We can't build fracked gas plants to power AI and crypto on the backs of our communities and our public lands that are supposed to be protected. Ohio must work toward a sane energy policy that welcomes clean renewable energy that sustains rather than destroys people and planet. Cathy Cowan Becker is board president for Save Ohio Parks. She lives in Hilliard, Ohio. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House GOP unveils state budget plan with fewer tax breaks than Braun's plan. How it differs
Indiana House Republicans unveiled their state budget proposal Friday, one that's mostly in alignment with the proposal floated by new Gov. Mike Braun. Still, it nixes some tax cuts Braun proposed, such as an end to a tax on tips, and dedicates less money for state-funded pre-K. Under the House proposal, Hoosiers would see some tax cuts, the restrictions removed on private school vouchers, and more investments for work-based learning, all as in Braun's proposal. House budget writer Jeff Thompson, a Republican representative from Lizton, says he considers this proposal "really close in alignment" with Braun's. "He's done a wonderful job in setting the framework for opportunity for Hoosiers and keeping a balanced budget, and so we'll continue discussions with him and the Senate," he told reporters Friday. "I think we've done a lot of things that's in his proposed budget. We've made some tweaks, of course, consulting with him, and look forward to working with him in the future." Recap: Gov. Mike Braun proposes universal school choice, tax relief in first state budget There remain some large unanswered questions, mostly having to do with Medicaid and the waitlists the cost crisis created ― questions that can't be resolved until lawmakers negotiate the final terms of a Senate Bill 2, the priority bill that could end up reducing Medicaid expenses. The House budget increases K-12 tuition funding by about 2% each year, for an increase of $560 million over the biennium ― roughly the same as Braun's. The two proposals contain the same $160 million-per-year allotment for school textbooks, but the House's proposal is to roll that money into the into the foundation of the tuition funding formula itself. Both proposals also would make school choice universal, meaning any family of any income could use vouchers. Families of four with an annual income of $220,000 currently qualify. The Legislative Services Agency estimates this change would cost the state about $90 million a year, but those estimates are assuming the new users of the vouchers were already attending private school. In other words, the estimates are high-end. One main difference between the House and Braun's proposals: Braun wanted to spend $362 million to eliminate the waitlist for child care vouchers ― a waitlist the Family and Social Services Administration re-implemented in December for those who qualify for money from the Child Care Development Fund and On My Way Pre-K program. The House proposes only allocating $155 million to keep families already receiving the benefit on the program, but does not eliminate the waitlist. Braun proposed providing roughly $700 million in tax relief for Hoosiers through a long list of tax credits and tax holidays. House Republicans are only keeping two of them: a tax credit for capital investments in rural areas, and a tax credit for employers who provide "upskilling" training for their workforce. Braun's pitches that didn't make the cut include ending the tax on tips, phasing out retirement income taxes and implementing sales tax holidays for back-to-school and outdoor recreation items. Thompson reiterated negotiations are ongoing on both the tax breaks included in the state budget, as well as property tax relief, which is more likely to impact local governments' bottom lines. "We're looking at those in terms of how we do new taxes in general," he said. "Property taxes is a big discussion, and it's an ongoing discussion with the Senate, of course. Where we're going to land that, we're not sure at this point." House Republicans added their own twist to relief for seniors, though: doubling the income tax deduction for low-income seniors from $500 to $1,000. Already the individual income tax rate will decrease from 2.95% in 2026 to 2.9% in 2027, as was scheduled by lawmakers in a previous session. One of Braun's main goals was to find 5% in cuts across all state agencies. The House budget ends up appropriating nearly $900 million more over the biennium than Braun's proposal ― about 2% more ― and most of that is for two big agencies: the Department of Child Services and the Department of Corrections. For these two agencies, Braun's proposal was based on some out-of-date spending figures, Thompson said. "We're working with them to find those places," he said, referring to agencies that might not be able to cut 5%. "Other spots, we may well end up cutting more than 5%." The House Committee on Ways and Means will debate this budget amendment Monday. Senate Republicans will still need to unveil their version of the budget before the end of the legislative session, so this latest proposal is far from a done deal. Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@ or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana House Republicans' budget aligns with Gov. Mike Braun, almost
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Child care cost-sharing model brought back to the Ohio General Assembly
Child care worker Marci Then helps her daughter, Mila, 4, put away toys. (File photo by Elaine S. Povich/Stateline.) Ohio lawmakers are trying again with measures to attack the child care crisis that advocates are warning continue to hurt the state's families and economy, including with a bill that spreads the cost of child care out among employers, employees, and the state. State Rep. Mark Johnson, R-Chillicothe, reintroduced a bill he said came 'late in the game' last year, giving it an uphill battle to passage as the Republican supermajority sought to close up the General Assembly term with other priorities. But Johnson's bill is now Ohio House Bill 2, and has been introduced very early in the new General Assembly, with its first hearing in the House Children and Human Services Committee held on Tuesday. This bill, and its companion bill led in the Ohio Senate by state Sen. Michele Reynolds, R-Canal Winchester, looks to direct $10 million to a 'Child CareCred Program' within the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, to be distributed 'on a first-come, first-served basis,' according to Johnson. The bill models its child care program after Ohio's TechCred program, which incentivizes employers to enroll employees in skill-building programs and connect them with credential providers in exchange for reimbursement. The child care program would create an application process for employers who identify needs within their employees for child care assistance. A program that engages the employer, the employee, and the state is Johnson's way to address what he and child advocates say is a crisis that only hurts Ohio's economy more the longer it goes on. The average cost for child care has gone up on a yearly basis, and a 2024 report from found 1 in 5 American households are paying $36,000 annually on care for their children. 'This financial strain has forced many parents, especially mothers, to reduce their working hours, or leave their jobs entirely to manage child care responsibilities,' Johnson said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX In some areas of the state, workforce participation rates are as low as 50%, according to Johnson, who said that while there are other reasons for a low participation rate, child care is a major reason parents are unable to work or are choosing to leave their jobs. 'If we want to remain known as a business-friendly state, we need to address the child care crisis,' the representative told the House committee on Tuesday. Johnson mentioned the proposal by Gov. Mike DeWine in his proposed executive budget, released on Monday, to increase eligibility for publicly funded child care from 145% to 200% of the federal poverty level. But Johnson said that by just increasing the eligibility level 'we are rewarding employers who pay meager wages.' The Children and Human Services Committee chair, state Rep. Andrea White, R-Kettering, is no stranger to pushing the legislature to address the child care issue, having successfully championed a wide-ranging bill in the last General Assembly that directs different state agencies to study processes and programs on everything from infant mortality to child care programs such as Head Start. Though she's still hoping to see the funding that was left out of her bill come in the new operating budget, White isn't done addressing aspects of child care and child welfare. On Tuesday, White and fellow Republican state Rep. Sharon Ray, R-Wadsworth, introduced House Bill 7. The legislation seeks to 'increase the number of stable, safe family foster homes and long-term kinship care options by providing publicly funded child care for children in the foster care system in these placements,' White told the committee. Ray said that about 14,300 children are in foster care in the state, with 4,000 of those placed with a relative or family friend in kinship care. 'Across the board we have a need for more foster families, whether very young children or teens,' Ray said. 'Let's take the objections off the table by removing the things that get in the way for current and potential foster and kinship parents, so that more loving, caring families can say yes to our children.' Both bills will see further hearings to allow supporters and opponents to give their opinions of the bills before they are voted on by the committee, and if approved, moved forward to votes of the full House. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
