There’s a bipartisan proposal at the Statehouse that has nearly unanimous support; a public works program that allows the state of Ohio to issue bonds for local infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges. And lawmakers also agree that time is growing short to get it passed so it can come before voters in the spring.
This would be a renewal of the State Capital Improvements Program that expires in July. It would be created by either House Joint Resolution 8 or Senate Joint Resolution 4, though both increase the bonding authority from $2 billion to $2.5 billion over ten years. It must approved by voters as a constitutional amendment.
“This is too important and too beneficial of a program to let lapse," said Rep. Dan Troy (D-Willowick), one of the sponsors of the House version. "This is one of the best ideas that the state of Ohio has ever come up with."
Troy is one of the original sponsors of the public works plan in 1987. He's joined on HJR 8 by another sponsor of that resolution, Rep. Scott Oelslager (R-North Canton).
"We need to get this onto the ballot in the spring so that the next round of SCIP project selection is funded. If we don't have that right now, then they'll have a round where they don't have the funding to back it up," said Sen. Brian Chavez (R-Marietta), one of the sponsors of the Senate version. "We need to get the wheels uh moving right now so that we don't have any hiccups or pauses in the funding schedule of the SCIP program."
It's estimated the state will need to cover about $15 million in election costs, since the May 2025 vote is not scheduled as a statewide election.
The House and Senate have both approved their resolutions. Only five state lawmakers voted "no" - four representatives and one senator.
But only one of the resolutions will move forward to the spring ballot, and it's unclear whether it will be the House version passed on Wednesday or the Senate version approved last month. If one isn’t passed by the other chamber, the process would have to start over next year, and the ballot deadline is mid-January.
