Capital budget debate begins; important opportunity for jail funding advocacy

This week marked the start of the public phase of the state capital appropriations bill debate. The state capital bill process occurs every other year, typically in even-numbered years. Traditionally completed in early spring, this year’s capital appropriations process was delayed several months but is likely to be completed in a matter of days or weeks.

Kicking off the process this week was State Office of Budget and Management Director Kim Murnieks, who provided overview testimony (accessible here) of the capital appropriations bill to both the House and Senate Finance Committees. The proposal as outlined called for $3.3 billion in total appropriations, with $2.7 billion in GRF-backed debt funding and nearly $600 million coming from non-GRF backed bonds and other sources. Much of these funds are dedicated to state-owned assets. Two placeholder bills, House Bill 687 and Senate Bill 343 were both introduced this week, but contain no official budgetary language.

While the broad framework of the capital budget has been established, certain provisions are still being negotiated between the House, Senate and administration. The size of the community project fund as well as utilizing surplus GRF funds in place of bonded debt are both being discussed.

Another key topic that remains under discussion is CCAO’s request for continued state support for county jail facilities. During her committee testimony, Director Murnieks shared that no funds for county jails were currently in the capital bill, but that this issue is of high importance to Governor DeWine and is currently being discussed with the General Assembly. It is possible that funding would be included as negotiations continue.

CCAO encourages members to continue to share the importance of capital jail funding with state lawmakers in the coming days. The capital budget may be completed as soon as next week, so it is important to talk to your lawmakers now and emphasize the importance of including funds for county jails in the bill. You can access CCAO’s one-pager on this request to help guide your conversation.

CCAO Capital Jail Funding Request One-Pager

The CCAO policy team will keep members informed on the latest developments with the capital bill.

• The name of the taxing authority;
• Whether the proposed tax is an additional levy, a renewal, replacement, or substitution of an existing tax, or a renewal or replacement of an existing tax with an increase or a decrease;
• The purpose of the tax;
• The term of years of the tax or if the tax is for a continuing period of time;
• The date of the election at which the question of the tax will appear on the ballot;
• The tax year in which the tax will first be levied and the calendar year in which the tax will first be collected;
• The rate of the proposed tax in the first year it will be levied and, if the tax is a renewal, replacement, or substitution levy, the rate of the existing tax in the last year it will be levied, both expressed in mills for each one dollar in tax valuation;
• The amount of taxes that the auditor estimates will be charged against the recipient's property and attributable to the proposed tax in the first year the tax is levied, and, if the proposed tax is a renewal, replacement, or substitution levy, the amount of taxes the auditor estimates will be charged against the recipient's property and attributable to the existing levy in the last year the existing tax is levied.