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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2010 > June > 03
Thursday, June 3, 2010
House, Senate appear to agree on “green energy” tax breaks
House and Senate negotiators on Thursday, June 3, appeared to reach agreement on tax incentives aimed at attracting renewable energy projects such as wind farms and the jobs that come along with them to Ohio.
The House Ways and Means Committee voted 12-5 on a modified version of Senate Bill 232, sponsored by Sen. Chris Widener, R-Springfield, and approved last month by the Senate.
The full House and Senate were expected to approve the new version later Thursday and send it to Gov. Ted Strickland who is poised to sign the bill, said Amanda Wurst, Strickland’s spokeswoman.
“It’s a good jobs bill,” said Wurst.
Under the legislation, companies that qualify would pay annual fees based on how much energy their projects generate instead of property taxes, both real and tangible.
Widener said the legislation could produce as many as 1,000 jobs.
Revenue from the taxes goes to school districts and local governments and a coalition representing these groups objected to the bill.
One wind project is pending in Champaign County.
Widener and other backers say tax incentives are needed to help Ohio catch up with other states in attracting renewable energy projects. The fees in the bill are comparable to fees in neighboring states, said Widener.
Ohio now is last in the Midwest in the amount of renewable energy capacity the state has and in renewable energy facilities, Widener said. Also, the energy bill passed in 2008 requires that 12.5 percent of Ohio’s electric energy must be generated from renewable sources by 2025.
Ohio’s current effective tax rate for renewable energy technologies is up to eight times higher than neighboring states competing for the same projects, according to the American Wind Energy Association.
County approval would be required for companies to receive the tax breaks and counties could increase the per megawatt fee up to $9,000. Otherwise, the top per megawatt fee would be $8,000.
Highlights of the bill:
*It would apply to solar, hydroelectric, biomass, solid waste (noncombustive), biological methane, wood by-product, wind, geothermal and fuel cell alternative energy projects.
*It also would apply to clean coal, nuclear and cogeneration alternative energy projects.
*Solar projects would pay $7,000 per megawatt.
*All other projects would pay these fees based on percentage of full time employees from Ohio in construction and installation jobs: 75 percent, $6,000 per megawatt; 60-74 percent, $7,000 per megawatt and 50-59 percent, $8,000 per megawatt.
*For solar projects, at least 80 percent of construction and installation employees would have to be from Ohio; for other projects, at least 50 percent of the employees would have to come from the state.
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TweetHouse passes bill aimed at highlighting Kasich’s wealth
The already heated campaign for governor erupted on the House floor on Thursday, June 3, as Democrats pushed through a bill aimed at highlighting the wealth of Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich.
The vote in the Democratic-controlled House was 54-42. The Republican-controlled Senate appears unlikely to follow up, at least right away.
“It’s not something we’re taking up this week,” said Maggie Ostrowski, spokeswoman for Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland.
House Bill 504, patterned after a Florida law, would require a candidate for statewide nonjudicial office to file a financial disclosure statement identifying the candidate’s net worth, assets and liabilities in excess of $1,000.
Also, it would require that the statement be accompanied by the candidate’s most recent four federal tax returns or a sworn statement identifying all sources of income in excess of $1,000 for the past four years.
Rep. Mike Foley, D-Cleveland, a joint sponsor, said the bill was aimed at promoting transparency and helping voters know more about candidates. He and Rep. Bob Hagan, D-Youngstown, the other joint sponsor, made clear, however, that they had Kasich, a former U.S. House member from suburban Columbus, in mind.
Foley said one candidate for governor had worked for Lehman Brothers and made a $500,000 bonus.”
“It sure make it easy for me and Rep. Hagan to bring this forward,” said Foley.
Hagan asked “why is it that corporate America, including those working at Lehman Brothers, they use this money of ours as if it’s a Monopoly game?”
Rep. Dean Stebelton, R-Lancaster, called the legislation a “new low” for the Ohio House.
Rep. Robert Mecklenborg, a Hamilton County Republican, said the legislation would have a “chilling effect” that would keep people in the private sector from seeking office.
Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, said it showed that the sponsors don’t understand how the private sector works. Morgan said it it applied to statewide candidates, it also should apply to legislators.
Kasich in April permitted a handful of reporters to examine but not photocopy a summary of his 2008 federal income tax return. The information showed Kasich received a $432,000 bonus from Lehman Brothers in January 2008 for work done in 2007. It also showed that he and his wife Karen had taxable income of more than $1.1 million in 2008.
Rob Nichols, Kasich’s campaign spokesman, has said in an email that Kasich and his wife Karen already have disclosed more financial information than required by law.
“I doubt, however, that the 386,000 Ohioans who lost their jobs on Ted Strickland’s watch believe that this is the most pressing issue they face right now,” Nichols said.
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TweetTelecom bill clears House
Ohio lawmakers pushed through a bill to overhaul how telephone companies are regulated, despite opposition from consumer groups who say it’ll wipe out consumer protections and bring higher monthly bills.
The Ohio House voted 98-0 on Thursday, June 3, in favor of the bill, which is supported by the Ohio Telecommunications Association and the Communications Workers of America.
Landline customers with bundled services will no longer have protections, such as an automatic month of credit if their phone is out for more than 72 hours or guarantee that their service will be reconnected within 24 hours of paying a bill, said Marty Berkowitz, spokesman for the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel.
The bill also allows phone companies to hike basic service fees by up to $15 a year, he said.
The telecom industry pushed the bill as a much-needed modernization of regulations now that more and more Ohioans get their telephone service through wireless companies or cable TV providers.
In 2001, there were 7 million landline and 4.7 million wireless telephone lines. By 2008, landlines had dropped to 4.5 million, while wireless climbed to 9.1 million.
The bill goes back to the Ohio Senate for agreement on changes made by the House.
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TweetSenate votes to abolish inmate work program at Governor’s residence
The Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday, June 2, voted to abolish the inmate work program at the Governor’s residence.
The program was at the center of a controversy that resulted in the Senate refusing to confirm Cathy Collins-Taylor as director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
Senate Bill 260, sponsored by Sen. David Goodman, R-New Albany, now goes to the Democratic-controlled House where speedy action is considered unlikely.
After refusing to confirm Collins-Taylor last week, the Senate on Wednesday confirmed Tom Stickrath, Strickland’s new appointee at Public Safety.
Strickland already has suspended the inmate work program after learning last week of inmates consuming alcohol while in the program.
Goodman’s bill also is aimed at making sure “that the State Highway Patrol can conduct criminal investigations without needing clearance from the Director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety (ODPS), the Governor or their legal counsels,” a press release from his office said.
“This legislation started out with the simple goal of ensuring the safety of the residents of Bexley, the first family, residence employees, DRC employees and inmates,” Goodman said in the release. “However, as more information about the lack of oversight for the program became available and in light of the events of last week involving inmates consuming alcohol, I believe the most responsible step we can take is to end this program.”
The governor’s residence is located in suburban Bexley in Goodman’s Senate district.
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TweetCourt strikes down part of sex offender law
The Ohio Supreme Court struck down parts of a new, more restrictive sex offender registration law, saying parts of the Adam Walsh Act violate the separation-of-powers doctrine in the Ohio Constitution.
The court released its decision on Thursday, June 2.
In 2007, lawmakers repealed “Megan’s Law” and replaced it with the more restrictive Adam Walsh Act which imposed more restrictive registration and community notification requirements for sex offenders. The Adam Walsh law required the state attorney general to reclassify all sex offenders who had been previously classified under Megan’s Law.
Three offenders received notice from the attorney general’s office in November 2007 announcing that they would face stricter registration and notification rules than what they were given by judges under Megan’s Law. They filed lawsuits on constitutional grounds in the Sixth District Court of Appeals, which consolidated their cases into one.
In a 5-1 opinion, the Supreme Court said that the Adam Walsh Act’s provisions that tell the executive branch to re-do sex offender classifications established by the judicial branch was unconstitutional.
“The reclassification scheme vests the executive branch with authority to review judicial decisions, and it interfers with the judicial power by requiring the reopening of final judgments. It is well settled that a legislature cannot enact laws that revisit a final judgment,” wrote Justice Maureen O’Connor in the majority opinion.
Ohio has 19,364 registered sex offenders.
The court decision leaves in place the Adam Walsh registration and notification requirements for offenders classified on or after Jan. 1, 2008. It also reinstates the requirements imposed by judges in prior cases.
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