Leadership

Interns Available for Your Export Project

The Ohio Development Services Agency is searching for companies that are interested in exporting products into international markets. The Ohio Export Internship Program matches businesses with highly-motivated college students who have taken export-focused coursework.

This year, 50 students from 12 different Ohio universities have been selected to participate in the program. The Ohio Development Services Agency offers participating small to medium-sized businesses a 50% reimbursement for the wages of the intern.

The deadline for companies to apply is March 1, 2017. The summer internship runs from May 16 through August 11, 2017. Ohio companies can apply here. The program is a partnership among the Ohio Development Services Agency, The Ohio State University and Youngstown State University.  2/13/2017

State Budget Bill Arrives

A little more than week after the governor’s budget roll out and press conference, the State Operating Budget Bill was officially introduced as HB 49. The bill, which funds state government for two years and proposes numerous and significant policy changes, clocked in at 3,512 pages.

Administration officials continued to testify at the House Finance Committee this week on a variety of the proposals, including the always controversial primary and secondary education funding portions of the bill, as well as tax proposals that include lowering personal income tax, increasing the sales tax and centralizing municipal income tax collections.

• Testimony of Timothy Keen, Director, Office of Budget & Management, on education funding
• Testimony of Paulo DeMaria, Superintendent of Public Instruction, on education funding
• Testimony of John Carey, Chancellor, Department of Higher Education, on education funding
• Testimony of Joe Testa, Ohio Tax Commissioner, on tax proposals

Testimony and hearings will continue through June. The legislature and governor have a deadline of June 30 to pass and sign the bill.  2/9/2017

Kasich Produces His Final Biennial Budget

On Monday, Governor Kasich unveiled his final biennial budget. His FY18-19 budget proposes to spend $71.5 billion in FY18, a 4.4% increase from FY17, and $72.8 billion in FY19, a 1.8%  increase from FY18.  Budget director Tim Keen called it the “most difficult” budget he’s ever put together due to “significant uncertainties we have faced.”

The governor seeks an aggregate increase of $3.1 billion over the two years in sales and other taxes to pay for a 17% cut in revenues generated by the personal income tax.

In K-12 education, Kasich plans to increase funding by nearly $200 million over the two years, or about 1% per year. School districts will see small increases or be flat-funded. District breakdowns will be available later.  Districts that have lost more than 5% of their student population from 2011 to 2016 would see less funding.

Kasich would freeze tuition and other fees at Ohio’s public colleges and universities for two years.

The governor’s budget proposal will be put into bill form and introduced by a House member (the chairman of the House Finance Committee). The Finance Committee began hearings this week with testimony from administration officials.  1/30/2017

General Assembly Introduces Priority Bills

The House and Senate this week introduced their top ten priority bills for the 132^nd General Assembly. These will be the first of probably 1,000 bills introduced over the next two years. Only a small percentage will be enacted as law.

The House, which had previously announced its top priority as dating violence, introduced House Bill 1 to authorize the issuance of dating violence protection orders and to provide access to domestic violence shelters for victims of dating violence. Here are more House priorities.

The Senate’s priority bills include Senate Bill 1, which deals with the ongoing opioid epidemic.

Other priority bills of interest include House Bill 2 which deals with employment; Senate Bill 2, which deals with EPA issues, including a long sought after beneficial slag amendment; Senate Bill 3 covers workforce development issues; and Senate Bill 6 concerns bridge infrastructure.

Committee hearings are tentatively scheduled to begin in earnest next week. We’ll keep you posted here and in OMA policy committee meetings on the bills of interest to manufacturers. 2/2/2017

Senate Seats Committees

Senate President Larry Obhof (R-Medina) this week announced the chamber’s committee structure and assignments, combining a handful of panels to achieve a net reduction of three standing committees from the last legislative session.

For the most part, committee chairs from the 131st General Assembly retained their posts, while Sen. Bill Beagle (R-Tipp City) was named chair of the Public Utilities Committee and Sen. John Eklund (R-Chardon) was named chair of the Ways & Means Committee.

See the committee structure and assignments.  1/31/2017

Speaker Rosenberger Announces Committee Membership

Speaker Cliff Rosenberger this week announced the make-up of the House committees, the result of months of jockeying by members to sit on favorite committees.

Manufacturers will be particularly interested in the Finance, Ways and Means, Civil Justice, Economic Development, Commerce and Labor, Education and Career Readiness, Energy and Natural Resources, Health, Higher Education and Workforce Development, Insurance, Public Utililties, and Transportation and Public Safety committees.

Lots of places for manufacturing engagement in the Ohio House of Representatives!  1/31/2017

A Chief Innovation Officer for the State

In his biennial budget proposal, Governor Kasich seeks a new position in state government, a chief innovation officer. The position would oversee a new Ohio Institute of Technology. This office would seek to align research from private and public entities with the state’s business interests in engineering, aerospace, robotics and the biomedical industry. It would receive a budget of $750,000 a year.  1/31/2017

AG Visits OMA

Attorney General Mike DeWine visited the OMA this week to discuss policy matters of importance to Ohio business.

Here he is pictured reading a plaque honoring the memory of Jim McGregor, a long-time OMA director, OMA past chairman, and friend of the general.  2/2/2017

Business Coalition to President: Thanks for Focus on Infrastructure

The OMA joined the National Association of Manufacturers and a broad business coalition in a letter to President Trump thanking him for his support for infrastructure investment.

The letter stated: “An infrastructure initiative led by your administration is a generational opportunity to end the cycle of uncertainty that has plagued America’s infrastructure network and usher in a new era of stability and improvements we so desperately need.

“However, this will take leadership and bold, innovative solutions. It is critical that your infrastructure plan not only encourages greater participation from the private sector in infrastructure projects and reduces needless red tape, but also provides real revenue for the Highway Trust Fund that will help the users and beneficiaries of America’s transportation and freight network. Private financing, while important and needed, cannot replace the role of public funding and federal leadership.”  2/1/2017

Schneider Downs Publishes Manufacturers’ Economic Survey Results

The manufacturing group of OMA Connections Partner, Schneider Downs, recently published results of its 2016 manufacturers’ economic survey.

The survey was fielded prior to the November presidential election and found: “… 72% (of respondents) indicating that a Hillary Clinton victory would have a negative impact on their business, while 53% responded that a Trump victory would have a positive impact.”

Here is a summary of the results with insights from the Schneider Down professional staff.  1/30/2017