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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2009 > April > 22
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Legislation introduced to ban red light cameras
State Rep. Courtney Combs, R- Hamilton, introduced legislation on Wednesday, April 22, that would prohibit the use of red light cameras by Ohio State Highway Patrol, counties and townships.
“The companies with contracts to install and maintain the red light cameras in Ohio are making millions off Ohio citizens and on top of that the money is being taken out of state,” Combs said. “It is time to put a stop to the invasion of our privacy and having big brother looking over our shoulders.”
One of the largest red light camera companies in the country is based in Arizona and operates cameras in 22 states, including Ohio.
Several local communities use red light cameras including Dayton, West Carrollton and Trotwood. However, the legislation wouldn’t apply to home rule cities such as Dayton.
“Some jurisdictions have even gone as far as shortening the yellow light times on intersections that have red light cameras,” Combs said in a statement. “This is a money grab. And while some say it is too late to put the technology genie back in the bottle, using the technology just because it is available does not make it right. Is the next move having cameras catching jaywalkers crossing the middle of the street?”
The bill will be referred to a committee next week for further discussion.
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Tweet16-year-olds could donate blood
A bill to allow 16-year-olds to donate blood with parental consent passed the Ohio Senate on Wednesday, April 22, by a unanimous vote.
Currently, 17- and 18-year-olds can donate blood without parental consent but those 16 and under may not donate blood at all.
Mike Farley, lobbyist for the American Red Cross-Central Ohio, said high school students now account for 10 percent of all blood donations. Less than five percent of Americans donate blood but 85 percent will need a blood product at some point before they reach age 75, he said.
Farley expects the law change will result in an additional 10,000 donated units per year.
The bill now moves to the Ohio House for consideration.
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TweetOhio Senate jokes around with ‘retardation’ bill
Within the clubby, button-down confines of the Ohio Senate, there is a hint of hazing for freshmen senators when their first bill is up for a floor vote. No matter how worthy the legislation is, senators vote no.
Then they all laugh, say ‘just kidding’ and vote on it again.
Sen. Jimmy Stewart, R-Athens, on Wednesday, April 22, made a heart-felt speech about how the words “retard” and “retarded” are commonly used to belittle and insult people and then asked his colleagues to vote Yes on his bill that would remove the words “mental retardation” from the titles of state and county agencies that serve 122,000 Ohioans with developmental disabilities.
The joke was played and then Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, was in the uncomfortable position of explaining the tradition to a Senate packed with people who didn’t get what was so funny about voting No on a bill to stop using the words “mental retardation.”
The bill eventually passed on a unanimous vote and now moves to the House for consideration.
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TweetStrickland orders more spending cuts
Gov. Ted Strickland on Wednesday, April 22, ordered state employees to take more steps toward reducing spending, including holding off on purchases, renegotiating contracts, limiting travel and taking a lower mileage reimbursement rate.
Strickland issued an executive order, saying state agencies should strive to reduce spending on contract service and supplies by 30 percent in the next two years. State agency directors are instructed to personally review any purchase orders of $1,000 or more.
“…even after reducing the state workforce by more than 3,500 employees and undertaking nearly $2 billion in spending cuts and reductions, the national recession continues to impact the state budget,” Strickland said in a written release.
Personal income and sales tax revenues - the horse power behind the state budget - have been falling below projections. In March, personal income tax and sales tax receipts were each 10.2 percent less than expected.
Lawmakers are currently debating a proposed two-year, $53.9 billion state operating budget for fiscal years 2010 and 2011. The budget bill must be adopted by June 30 because the new fiscal year starts July 1.
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TweetBrunner proposes end to most special elections
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner on Wednesday, April 22, proposed moving most special elections to primary and general election days as part of a plan to save taxpayers an estimated $2.7 million to $5.4 million a year.
The proposal was part of what Brunner, a Democrat who’s running for the U.S. Senate next year, called a “cost-effective blueprint” for improving Ohio’s elections. She sent the plan to Gov. Ted Strickland and the legislature and urged speedy action in order to make the changes in time for next year’s statewide elections.
The full report is on the secretary of state’s Web site.
Ohio now permits special elections, which can be costly, in February and August, said Brunner, the state’s top elections official. Also to save money, she proposed using mail voting for vacancy-in-office special elections such as when an elected official dies or resigns.
Other Brunner proposals:
*Focus on voter ID, not the voter’s address, for verification of identity for voting. Allow either an official photo ID or two non-photo IDs, showing the voter’s name, for voting purposes
*Create an annual vote-by-mail ballot request form so voters don’t have to make the requests before every election.
*Expand the number of in-person early voting locations in counties from one to four and decrease the period for in-person early voting from 35 to 20 days before a general election. End early voting no earlier than 5 p.m. on the Sunday before Election Day.
*Complete a new voter registration matching process for the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Social Security Administration and provide counties with a way to access relevant nonmatches. Specify that a nonmatch alone can’t disenfranchise a voter.
*Limit the reasons voters are required to cast provisional ballots and increase the instances in which such ballots are counted. Allow any ballot cast anywhere in a county to be remade and counted if cast by an eligible voter.
The recommendations grew out of two conferences Brunner held after last year’s election and meetings with local elections officials and others, Brunner said.
State Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, who’s running for secretary of state next year, said he would consider Brunner’s proposals along with Senate Bill 8, an election overhaul plan sponsored by Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, and recommendations from the Brennan Center for Justice.
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