"pretty good that the amount of money that will be spent through this MBR will be limited."
"And I also made it clear to them that any effort at runaway spending is unacceptable and will be dealt with," Mr. Kasich said.
House Republicans dealt with most proposed Democratic amendments to the bill with tabling motions. Among the failed amendments were proposals on the turnpike lease, the State Highway Patrol's jurisdiction over private prisons, oil and gas leasing requirements to protect landowners, and more money for the Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.
Republicans did adopt three Democratic amendments. Rep. Sandra Williams (D-Cleveland) won support for language regarding unclaimed funds processing. Rep. Mark Okey (D-Carrollton) was successful with an amendment that removes an expansion of sovereign immunity for the Department of Transportation. Rep. John Barnes (D-Cleveland) amended the bill to create a "SellOhio global initiative fund."
The main MBR bill passed 61-33, with Democratic Reps. Barnes, Williams, Bill Patmon (D-Cleveland) and Rep. Connie Pillich (D-Montgomery) joining Republicans in support.
Development: Members voted 91-5 to send to the Senate a proposal designed to reorganize the Department of Development now that the state's employment expansion programs have been transferred to the non-profit, private JobsOhio entity.
Joint co-sponsor Rep. Mike Dovilla (R-Berea) said the legislation would make the state's economic development operations more efficient and help attract investment and job creation to Ohio.
Rep. Christina Hagan (R-Uniontown), who co-sponsored the measure, said it would continue the administration's efforts to streamline state government. She noted the size of DOD's workforce has already been downsized by about 40% since January of last year.
"Ohioans are already receiving better service due to these changes," she said.
In addition to renaming DOD the Development Services Agency, the bill would: allow the development director to expedite approval of tax credits; create TourismOhio, a pilot program to provide a dedicated funding source for tourism marketing; and increase financing for minority-owned businesses, according to the Republican caucus.
Republicans agreed to an amendment from Rep. Tom Letson (D-Warren), who said it would address the retroactive fashion for approving of tax credits to prevent companies that had completed projects years earlier from seeking tax credits for them.
Rep. Denise Driehaus (D-Cincinnati) voiced concern over the proposed dissolution of the advisory council that vets proposed incentive packages.
As a member of the panel, Rep. Driehaus said the membership's wide-ranging experience has helped to ensure the state is getting the best value for tax credits and loans it offers to private companies.
Rep. Hagan reassured Rep. Driehaus that the proposal outlines extensive process for approval of state assistance, which includes signoff by the Controlling Board.
Rep. Debbie Phillips (D-Athens) said she believed much of the bill was "generally benign," but expressed concern over proposed changes to the Third Frontier Commission. She voted against the measure, along with Rep. Tracy Heard (D-Columbus), Rep. Dan Ramos (D-Lorain), Rep. Mike Foley (D-Cleveland), and Rep. Robert Hagan (D-Youngstown).
Tax MBR: The House voted 91-4 to pass a bill containing many of Gov. Kasich's more limited tax policy proposals over to the Senate for consideration.
Sponsor Rep. Peter Beck (R-Mason) said the measure contained 30 tax-related items that were originally contained in the governor's MBR. "This bill is a mechanism to make Ohio more business-friendly."
The chamber spent more time debating an amendment from Rep. Foley than discussing the bill.
The Democrat sought to include a perennial proposal to create a commission to annually review the state's tax expenditures.
Rep. Foley said much of the roughly $7 billion in tax expenditures probably advance economic development in the state. "But there are some that are pretty silly," he added, pointing to sales tax exemptions for outboard motors, racecars, and private jets. "I don't think we need to be giving exemptions to rich people who own private jets."
Rep. Terry Boose (R-Norwalk) called the amendment "an excellent idea," saying members of both parties probably agree that are some tax exemptions that should be eliminated.
"But we might not agree on which ones they are," he added. Rep. Boose said he believed the amendment "needs to be vetted a little bit more."
Rep. Letson noted the legislature has considered the tax expenditure review proposal for years. "This is almost vetted to death."
The amendment was tabled along party lines.
Local Government MBR: Members voted 88-8 to advance the local government MBR, which Rep. Terrence Blair (R-Washington Twp.) said would help political subdivisions operate more efficiently.
He pointed to the expansion of options for local governments to consider when they enter fiscal watch or fiscal emergency, such as shared services.
While the bill makes it permissible for agencies and local governments to share services, lawmakers need to pursue more far-reaching measures to encourage inter-governmental cooperation, Rep. Blair said. "We need to make some bigger steps but they are small steps at first."
Rep. Ron Gerberry (R-Austintown) voiced frustration with Gov. Kasich asking the legislature to pass such complex and far-reaching policy changes on a very short timeframe.
"The governor has got to recognize that there are three branches of government and he does not run this House," he said.
"It was unfair to throw this at Bill Batchelder," he said. "We should not be on this floor passing these bills with massive policy changes ... We're good, but we're not that good."
