02/08/2025

House Bill 96

Status: Passed by House, 60-39 (April 9, 2025)

Description: CCAO’s top priorities for this budget cycle are bolstering Ohio’s child welfare system, reforming and fully funding the indigent defense system, supporting county jail construction and renovation, continuing the rollout of NG 9-1-1, and increasing access to child care. However, CCAO is monitoring many other areas in the budget to advance county interests. This page is split between the five priority areas and other budget items.

Priority Areas

Children Services

The bill increases the State Child Protection Allocation (SCPA) by $25 million in SFY 2026 and $30 million in SFY 2027. These funds go directly to county public children services agencies for placement costs of children in foster care.

The bill includes $19.75 million in SFY 2026 and $9.75 million in SFY 2027 to assist communities in starting child wellness campus. These are one-time funds and will be available regionally and to the major metro areas. The child wellness campuses would provide short-term treatment and care for multi-system youth at risk of custody relinquishment or in PCSA custody and unable to access timely, appropriate placements. The appropriation item to fund the wellness campuses includes $250,000 in each fiscal year to fund a feasibility study to identify Ohio communities with the capacity to sustainably operate a children's crisis care facility.

The budget bill also directs the Department of Children and Youth (DCY) to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to establish statewide rate cards for placement and care of children eligible for foster care maintenance payments. Providers would report to DCY the rates for various services provided, and counties would then pay those rates when placing.

Indigent Defense

The bill provides $218.4 million in SFY 2026 and $223.6 million in SFY 2027 for reimbursement for county indigent defense costs, a 15.4% increase in reimbursement funding from the current biennium. The table below, from the Ohio Public Defender (OPD), estimates potential reimbursement rate scenarios for this funding level.

The bill also requires the Auditor of State to conduct a performance audit of the indigent defense system to recommend system and delivery changes to increase the efficiency of the system. The audit's report must be issued to the General Assembly by August 1, 2026.

The bill caps reimbursement for appointed counsel costs at $75 per hour for general cases and $140 per hour for capital cases. CCAO and OPD oppose the cap since it disproportionately affects small, rural counties and provides negligible cost savings.

Finally, the budget contains new language that OPD believes will assist with maintaining a consistent reimbursement rate throughout the fiscal year. The language in HB 96 requires counties to submit an estimated indigent defense budget for the upcoming biennium by July 1, 2026. This information will allow OPD to submit a request for funding to cover projected indigent defense budgets from counties and provide them with an accurate projected cost of the overall system. There is no penalty for an inaccurate estimation or for failing to provide an estimate to OPD by the designated date.

County Jail Construction and Renovation

The bill reappropriates the $75 million for jail construction grants contained in the prior operating budget using the same funding formula utilized in that bill, but does not include any new funding for county jail projects.

The Governor's proposal included $154.9 million over the biennium for county jail projects derived from an excise tax on adult-use marijuana. CCAO will work to reinstate this funding in the Senate.

The budget requires the Department of Medicaid to submit an 1115 Waiver to allow for Medicaid coverage of a 30 day supply of medication, behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse treatments for the incarcerated population. The waiver has been a longstanding priority for CCAO and will lessen the financial impact of healthcare in county jails on the county’s general revenue fund budget.

Next Generation 9-1-1

The budget will complete construction of the state system and continue to provide operational funding. 

The budget repeals a  provision of law that would, beginning October 1, 2025, lower the Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) access fee from $0.40 to $0.25. The bill additionally increases the user fee from the current level of $0.40 per month to $0.60 per month. The increase in the monthly user fee will provide additional revenue to county 9-1-1 operations as they upgrade and operate the Next Generation System.

Child Care

Eligibility for publicly funded child care remains at 145% of the federal poverty level (FPL), which is current law. The Child Care Choice Voucher program will provide publicly funded child care to families up to 200% FPL through $100 million in each fiscal year.

The bill creates the Child Care Cred Program, which allows the cost of child care to be split between the employee, employer, and Department of Children and Youth. The program is funded at $10 million in SFY 2026. Under the program, costs would be split: 40% by the employee, 40% by the employer, and 20% by the Department of Children and Youth. The program is intended for families with an income of between 200% FPL and 400% FPL.

The bill also includes $3.2 million in SFY 2026 for the new Child Care Provider Recruitment and Mentorship Grant Program to help increase the number of licensed child care providers in Ohio and to assist recruited entities and individuals.

DCY is also implementing several federal child care requirements during this biennium, including:

• Capping parent co-pays at 7%;
• Paying providers by enrollment;
• Paying at the 50th percentile of the 2024 market rate; and
• Allowing families who are homeless to be eligible for publicly funded child care for twelve months.

Other Budget Items

Other budget items are presented either by state agency/department or by subject area, and are presented in alphabetical order, starting with budget provisions that do not pertain to any specific agency or department, followed by the statewide elected offices. If you have any questions about provisions listed below, please contact policy@ccao.org.

County Provisions

County Coroner Recodification as Appointed

The budget recodifies the county coroner as a position appointed by the board of county commissioners instead of a position elected by voters. Current officeholders can complete their terms (coroners were elected in November, so their terms will end on January 7, 2029).

Aside from the shift to appointed status, the bill does not make many changes to county coroner law. The appointments will last for the same duration as elected terms (four years, beginning on the first Monday of January) and there is no change to the coroner compensation schedule (they are included in a provision discussed below providing county elected officials, and others, a pay raise).

One change that was made concerns who becomes an acting county commissioner when two commissioners are absent due to sickness or injury. Under current law, the county coroner becomes an acting commissioner (while retaining their duties as coroner) in such a situation. The bill replaces the coroner with the county auditor for this purpose.

Elected Official Compensation

The bill includes a raise for members of the judiciary, county elected officials, township elected officials, and members of county boards of elections of 5% per year through 2029 and, each year afterwards, a raise equal to the lesser of 3% or the rate of inflation as defined by the consumer price index.

Due to the constitutional prohibition on in-term compensation increases, county elected officials will not be able to receive the increased salary until their next term begins (for auditors and the January 1 seat on the board of county commissioners, that will be in 2027, and for the other row officers it will be in 2029). Judges are allowed to accept raises mid-term and board of elections members are not elected so both can receive the increased compensation upon the budget’s effective date.

If a vacancy occurs in a row office position and it is filled after the budget’s effective date, that individual can receive the adjusted salary.

CCAO is working with the Attorney General’s office regarding the supplement that county sheriffs and some county prosecutors receive and if that is also subject to the prohibition on in-term compensation increases.

The bill also changes the compensation that a county engineer can receive for contracting to provide services for county with a vacant engineer from 100% of the compensation that the elected engineer in that county would receive to between 80% and 100% of that compensation as determined by the Board of County Commissioners.

This is a CCAO-supported change that was intended to be included in the county engineer contracting language in House Bill 315 at the end of the 135th General Assembly but was accidentally omitted.

County Elected Officials in Office

The bill requires that all county officers to appear in office at least once out of thirty consecutive days. If an officer fails to do so, their office is deemed vacant. Current law sets the time required for an office to be deemed vacant at 90 days and does not specifically require appearing in person at their primary office.

Commissioner Oversight of Bonuses

The bill limits the size of cash awards that county agencies can give to employees per calendar year for outstanding performance (a “bonus”) to 10% of their annual compensation. The board of county commissioners may, by written policy, authorize greater percentages.

County Budget Commission

The budget removes the county prosecutor from the county budget commission (CBC) and assigns the president of the board of county commissioners to serve on the commission.

The bill requires the CBC to, by August 15 of each year, review the fiscal data submitted by each local school district in the county. If the data shows an operating budget carry-over balance of greater than 30% of the district’s expenditures, the county budget commission is required to reduce the district’s property tax rates levied for current expenses by the amount that the submitted data shows the district’s carry-over exceeds 30% of the district’s expenditures. Any rollbacks apply only for the current tax year.

Attorney General

Law Enforcement Training

The budget provides $30 million in SFY 2026 and $35 million in SFY 2027 for law enforcement training through the GRF.

Prosecution of Offenses Perpetrated in DRC Facilities

The House bill allows the Attorney General to appoint a special prosecutor for the prosecution of offenses that occur in a facility operated by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Public Records Law Changes

The bill broadens exemptions to Public Records Law that, for the purposes of counties, include the following:

• Exempts and defines “specific investigatory work products” as information assembled by law enforcement officials in connection with probable or pending criminal proceedings.
  
  
• Exempts a record created using an assistive device or application when the record is used, maintained, and accessible only to the individual creating the record or causing the record to be created.
  
  
• Exempts personal notes of a public official or public employee, or attorney acting in official capacity on behalf of a public official or employee, which were created for reference and convenience and are used, maintained, and accessible only to the individual creating the record.

Findings for Recovery

The bill clarifies that the following are classified as “resolved findings of recovery” for purposes of the prohibition against contracting with a person against who there are unresolved findings of recovery by the state:

1. Debt has been discharged in a bankruptcy proceeding or is no longer owed based on a final, non-appealable court order.
   
   
2. Any other reason the Attorney General has deemed that constitutes good cause for resolving the finding for recovery.

Auditor of State

Indigent Defense Audit

As mentioned above, the bill appropriates $500,000 for the Auditor to conduct a performance audit of the indigent defense system and submit the report to the leadership of both caucuses of both chambers of the General Assembly by August 1, 2026.

Secretary of State

Help America Vote Act (HAVA)

The budget largely eliminates funding from the federal HAVA appropriation item. The appropriation item has previously totaled about $5 million per year. The decrease is due to a lack of funding from the federal government.

Treasurer of State

County Recorder Modernization

The bill allocates $1.75 million in SFY 2026 to assist county recorders in complying with digitization requirements. The funding is repurposed from the Torrens Law Assurance Fund, which the bill eliminates.

Investment Policies

The bill prohibits a number of investing authorities, including the investing authority of counties, from making an investment decision with the primary purpose of influencing environmental, social, personal, or ideological policy, unless expressly authorized by Ohio law. This is ban on the investment principal sometimes referred to as “ESG.” The bill does not outline an enforcement mechanism.

Department of Administrative Services

MARCS

The bill appropriates $10.5 million in each fiscal year to partially offset the MARCS subscriber fee paid by local governments.

Subcontractor Disqualification Prohibition

The bill prohibits public authorities (a broad term that includes counties) from, for subcontracts of construction managers at risk, integrated project contractors, and design build firms, disqualifying a bidder on the basis that the bidder has not complied with an affirmation action program or a diversity, equity, and inclusion program.

County policies to assist minority business enterprises in competitively bid contracts and set-aside programs for minority business enterprises or EDGE business enterprises are exempt from the above provision.

Madison County Land Conveyance

Authorizes the Department to convey DRC state-owned property in Madison County to Madison County via negotiated purchase agreement.

Department of Aging

Senior Community Services

These funds are used to provide community-based services to assist seniors to live independently in their own homes and communities as long as possible and flow through the local Area Agencies on Aging through a population-based formula. The bill provides $11.3 million each fiscal year for this purpose.

Healthy Aging Grants

These were one-time federal ARPA dollars, so this line item is zeroed out in the budget.

Department of Agriculture

Soil and Water Conservation Districts

The budget increases state funding for state to local match in soil and water conservation districts by 17% over the biennium. The budget also gives $10.5 million in SFY 2026 and SFY 2027 to the Soil and Water Conservation District’s Special Fund.

County and Independent Fair Support

The budget does not provide funding for county and independent fairs. Funding has intermittently been provided through prior operating budgets.

The budget does include a $500,000 earmark in SFY 2026 for the Mercer County Fairgrounds Grand Events Center.

H2Ohio Funding

The bill decreases H2Ohio funding for the Department of Agriculture, Department of Natural Resources, and the Department of Environmental Protection Agency to $149.9 million over the biennium, down from $229.5 million in the current biennium (a 34.7% decrease).

County Apiarists

The bill allows a board of county commissioners to, with approval of the Department of Agriculture, to hire more than one deputy apiarist.

Department of Behavioral Health

Funding for ADAMH boards

HB 96 proposes to change the funding structure for many funding streams that flow through ADAMH boards. Currently, ADAMH boards receive funding for several programs, each with specific criteria for how the funds will be spent. HB 96 proposes structuring this funding through six block grants designed to provide more flexibility to boards in their ability to spend the funds.

The six block grants are Prevention, Crisis Services, Mental Health, Substance Use Disorder, Recovery Supports, Criminal Justice Services. The Director of Behavioral Health shall adopt guidelines on the eligible uses of these block grants. The Director of Behavioral Health shall create a uniform reporting structure related to the expenditures, uses, and outcomes of the state block grants described in this section to ensure that thorough and accurate data is reported with a focus on transparency, accountability, process improvement, outcomes, and return on investment.

Prevention State Block Grant: HB 96 funds this grant at $3 million per year.

Crisis Services State Block Grant: This is funded out of the Crisis Services and Stabilization line item, which is funded at $17 million in SFY 2026 and $22 million in SFY 2027.

Mental Health State Block Grant: HB 96 funds this grant at $69.5 million per year. The bill also prohibits ADAMHS boards, when using Mental Health State Block Grant funds for certain mental health services, from refusing to contract with a hospital if it the hospital is in good standing with the Department of Behavioral Health and is willing to accept the board’s contract terms, provided the hospital is in the board’s service district.

Substance Use Disorder State Block Grant: HB 96 funds this grant at $9.5 million per year.

Recovery Supports State Block Grant: HB 96 funds this grant at $19.5 million per year. 

Criminal Justice Services State Block Grant: HB 96 funds this grant at $5.1 million in SFY 2026 and $5 million in SFY 2027 (a decrease from the Governor’s proposal of $6.3 million in each year).

ADAMH Board Community Plan Reporting

The bill requires the Department to include certain datapoints, such as performance indicators, number of individuals served, and expenditures, in the reporting that ADAMHS boards must submit regarding their community plans.

Behavioral Health Drug Reimbursement Program

The bill funds the program with $7.75 million per year.

988 Suicide and Crisis Response

The bill funds the 9-8-8 line at $20 million per year from the General Revenue Fund.

Data Sharing Agreements

The bill requires the Department, along with the Department of Medicaid and county ADAMHS boards to develop a three-way data sharing agreement where the three can exchange claims-level client data and information to ensure the ADAMHS boards can provide a complete continuum of care.

Office of Budget and Management

Medicaid Trigger Savings

The bill requires that OBM transfer any savings from the Medicaid expansion trigger language (see Department of Medicaid section below) be transferred to the Budget Stabilization Fund (the “Rainy Day Fund”) and/or Expanded Sales Tax Holiday Fund.

Targeted Addiction Assistance Fund

The bill creates the Targeted Addiction Assistance Fund and requires all money awarded to the state to address the effects of the opioid crisis to be deposited into it. This includes all funds provided to the Attorney General under settlement agreements.

Tangible Personal Property Tax Replacement Funds

The bill abolishes the state funds that are used to reimburse school districts and local governments for revenue lost due to the repeal of the tangible personal property tax and instead requires reimbursements to be paid out of the GRF. The remaining dollars in the two funds are either repurposed or deposited into the GRF.

Department of Children and Youth

Additional Child Welfare Investments

The following investments are flat funded in the House version of HB 96: multi-system youth funding, Kinship Permanency Incentive Program, Kinship Care Navigator Program, children services best practices funding, and family and children first councils.

Permissive Family and Children First Councils

The House includes a provision that would allow a board of county commissioners to decline to establish or maintain a county family and children first council if it determines the following conditions exist in the county:

1. Alternative programs and services exist to meet the needs of those served by a county FCFC;
2. A county FCFC is not or would not be sustainably funded;
3. The director of the county JFS agency, executive director of the PCSA, and county DD board, each recommend a county council not be established or maintained.

If a decision to eliminate the FCFC or not establish an FCFC is made, a board of commissioners may reconsider the decision at any time, but must reconsider it at least once within the first five years of the decision.

CCAO opposes this provision and will work to remove it in the Senate.

Benefits for Children in Custody

The House maintains language that requires a PCSA to determine, when a child comes into custody, if the child is eligible for or receives benefits administered by any of the following:

• US Social Security Administration
• US Department of Veterans Affairs
• Ohio Public Employee Retirement System
• Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund
• State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio
• School Employees Retirement System of Ohio
• Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System

If the child is eligible, the PCSA is not permitted to use those benefits to pay for or reimburse for any cost of care, including placement costs. Currently, some PCSAs do use such funds to pay for a portion of a child’s placement costs. Additionally, if PCSAs do not currently have this practice, it will require an administrative change to ensure the requirements of the statute are met.

Home Visiting

The bill includes an additional $7.6 million in SFY 2026 and $7.0 million in SFY 2027 to increase home visiting over the biennium.

Early Intervention

The bill makes an investment of $7 million in SFY 2026 and $9 million in SFY 2027 for DCY to subgrant or contract with county boards of developmental disabilities for the provision of early intervention evaluations, assessments, and service coordination.

The bill requires boards that accept these funds to maintain the level of local funding for early intervention at the same funding level as the prior fiscal year.

Group Home Requirements

DCY is required to adopt rules to establishment requirements regarding the following for group homes:

• Completion of background checks and criminal records checks for individuals who oversee or work within a group home using the Ohio Professional Registry.
  
  
• Training on behavioral intervention.
  
  
• The supervision of children, including establishing staff-to-children ratios.
  • The amendment also prohibits group homes from displacing children in order to meet ratio requirements.

The Department may revoke or suspend the certification of a group home if they fail to comply with the set requirements.

Department of Development

Grant Programs

The House added a continuation of the Brownfield Remediation Grant Program through $125 million in each fiscal year through a transfer of funds from the All Ohio Future Fund and a continuation of the Demolition and Site Revitalization Grant Program through $20 million in each fiscal year through a transfer of funds from the GRF.

Housing

The bill continues and expands the Welcome Home Ohio program by increasing the income eligibility thresholds, increasing the allowable usage of WHO funds and broadening the eligible properties. The bill appropriates $45.6 million in each fiscal year for the program. The funding in SFY 2026 is supported by a transfer from the newly-eliminated Local Government Tangible Personal Property Tax Replacement Fund.

The bill also establishes a grant program under the Department to award state funding to townships and municipalities that adopt pro-housing policies, and appropriates $2.5 million in each fiscal year for the grants. This is similar to provisions in a bill last General Assembly that CCAO worked with the sponsors of to include counties as eligible recipients. The bill was not changed before the General Assembly expired.

Broadband

The budget includes $793 million in federal funding for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. This is a one-time federal award. The House earmarks $20 million in SFY 2026 to support the U.S. Route 30 OARnet Broadband Expansion project to expand middle-mile broadband infrastructure along Route 30.

The budget also includes $50 million for grants to facilitate projects to replace broadband poles and broadband undergrounding projects.

The bill exempts broadband internet access service from regulation by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and prohibits state agencies, commissions, and political subdivisions from enacting, adopting, or enforcing any provisions that regulate or have the effect of regulating broadband internet access service. There is a clarifying provision that specifies that this prohibition does not restrict any authority to administer a state or federal grant program or block the application of consumer protection and fair competition laws.

Cybersecurity

The budget includes $7 million for local government cybersecurity grants in SFY 2026.

Ohio Housing Trust Fund Fees

The bill removes the requirement that the designated share of Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Trust Fund fees collected by the county recorder be transferred to the Ohio Housing Trust Fund and instead requires counties use the revenue from the fees for housing purposes as determined by the board of county commissioners.

LSC reported that the Housing Trust Fund collected approximately $49.9 million in FY 2023 and $44.6 million in FY 204 respectively. This revenue would stay locally under the house substitute bill and will be available to counties.

Workforce Reentry Pilot Program Grant

The House appropriates $1 million in each fiscal year for a workforce reentry pilot program in Meigs, Athens, Morgan, Noble, Monroe, and Washington counties for individuals who have completed behavioral health recovery programs.

Eastgate Regional Council of Governments Earmark

The bill provides a $210,000 earmark to the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments to support studying and construction of oil and natural gas pipelines within Ashtabula, Columbiana, Mahoning, and Trumbull counties.

Individual Energy Assistance Programs

The budget shifts administration and operation of five energy assistance programs to the Department of Job and Family Services. The programs transferred are those that are available to individuals or households. Similar programs that are available to commercial entities or community-level entities will remain in the Department of Development. The transition will occur in SFY 2027. The programs are:

• Low Income Energy Assistance
• Utility Community Assistance
• Home Energy Assistance Block Grant
• HEAP Weatherization
• Community Services Block Grant
• Home Weatherization Program

Department of Developmental Disabilities

County Board Waiver Match

The line items for county boards of developmental disabilities waiver match, which is the county’s nonfederal share of home and community based services, includes a 21% increase. This reflects the increase the department anticipates based on a variety of factors in service delivery.

Multi-System Youth

Multi-system youth funding for county boards of developmental disabilities is flat funded at $5 million per year.

Training Course Requirements

The bill requires that county DD board superintendents ensure that service-and-support administrators successfully complete required web-based training programs within 30 days of their hire.

Environmental Protection Agency

Cybersecurity

The budget includes $8 million for water system cybersecurity grants over the biennium, with $2 million available in SFY 2026 and $6 million available in SFY 2027.

Tire Fees and Soil and Water Conservation Districts

The House allows the $0.50 fee levied on each tire sold that is deposited into the Soil and Water Conservation District Assistance Fund to sunset on June 30, 2041.

Department of Job and Family Services

SNAP Income Maintenance (IM) Control

The bill increases administrative funding for counties in the ODJFS SNAP IM Control line item to $46 million per year. The allocation in the current biennium is $43.9 million per year.

Medicaid IM Control

The bill provides $44 million per fiscal year to counties for Medicaid administration. The $88.0 million over the biennium is a slight reduction from the $91.9 million over the current biennium.

Adult Protective Services

The bill provides $11.7 million in each fiscal year to the Adult Protective Services allocation, an increase of $2 million per fiscal year.  The county base allocation will remain at $80,000 per county and the additional funds will flow through the allocation formula based on previous allocations, the percentage of older adults in the county, and the percentage of county residents in poverty.

SNAP Changes

The bill would prohibit the state from using simplified (used today) or quarterly reporting for SNAP recipients. This language requires households to report changes in circumstances that may affect eligibility for continued receipt of benefits within 30 days. This change will result in increased administrative costs for county JFS agencies.

The bill also requires the Department to seek a waiver from the US Department of Agriculture to exclude sugar-sweetened beverages from being purchasable with SNAP allotments and, if the US Department of Agriculture does not approve the waiver, requires JFS to reapply annually until approved.

The amendment defines “sugar-sweetened beverage” as one made with carbonated water that is flavored, contains a food additive, and is sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners. It specifically excludes milk, milk products, milk substitutes, or beverages that contain greater than 50% vegetable or fruit juice by volume or contain less than five grams of added sugar.

Child Support Enforcement

The bill maintains $26.4 million per fiscal year in child support enforcement funds.

Benefit Bridge

The benefit bridge program continues to be funded in HB 96.

Last operating budget, the legislature included an employer benefit bridge program, run through the employers rather than JFS agencies. This program is not funded in HB 96.

Information Sharing

The bill requires the Department, along with the Department of Medicaid and county departments of job and family services, to provide the Executive Director of the Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee (JMOC) and the JMOC staff access to view information and systems used for determining public assistance benefit eligibility. The viewable information and systems must also include billing, payments, and provider tracking.

The bill also requires that the JMOC executive director and staff receive training to ensure how to properly understand and interpret the information. The bill does not assign responsibility for providing the training.

Department of Health

Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs

The House expands eligibility for the Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs by increasing the maximum age of participants to from 25 to 26 years old and increases the appropriation for the program by $500,000 in SFY 2026.

The House maintains the county assessments line item for this program at $24 million per fiscal year.

Lead Abatement Funding

The provides $250,000 per year for lead abatement grants to local governments for projects that include lead hazard control and housing rehabilitation initiatives.

Judiciary

Clerk of Courts Requirements

The budget requires clerks of courts to make all criminal and probate dockets available online and to adopt a procedure to determine and implement the best means and methods for storing, maintaining, and retrieving all papers delivered to the clerk.

Computerization Fund Fees

The bill reduces the fees that the clerk of courts is allowed to charge for the benefit of the computerization fund. Each fee is reduced by half (some filing fees from $6 to $3, other filing fees from $20 to $10, and fees for other services from $1 to $0.50).

Ohio Courts Technology Initiative

The bill adds clerks of the courts of common pleas (elected and appointed) as eligible applicants for the Ohio Courts Technology Initiative grant program.

Department of Medicaid

Multi-System Youth Custody Relinquishment Funding

The budget reduces funding for the multi-system youth custody relinquishment program by $7.5 million, bringing funding for the program to $20 million in each year. This funding is used to prevent custody relinquishment and to obtain services that meet the state’s multi-system youth action plan.

Medicaid Expansion

The budget includes a provision that requires ODM to immediately discontinue medical assistance for the Medicaid expansion population if the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for that group is set below 90%. In the event this occurs, the Department must establish a phased transition plan to assist individuals who would no longer be eligible for Medicaid acquire private insurance or charity care for medical assistance.

Work Requirements

The last state operating budget required ODM to submit a waiver to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services for a work requirement for the expansion population. HB 96 includes language allowing ODM to transfer money to counties via JFS to implement a work requirement if one is established. Counties would submit allowable expenses, and ODM would make rules around these dollars.

The House requires the Department to conduct a study on the feasibility, legality, and potential cost savings of establishing a waiver component that establishes work requirements for Medicaid recipients and includes additional workforce development requirements.

Reentry Waiver

The House requires the Department to seek a waiver to provide mental health, behavioral health, and substance use disorder services to Medicaid-eligible inmates who are within 90 days of release from a prison or jail. Additionally requires the sought waiver to provide for a 30-day supply of prescription medication, including injection-administered medication, upon the individual’s release.

The Department must reapply within four years if the waiver is not granted. When the Department receives approval for the waiver, it must fully implement it within one year.

Medicaid Enrollment for Children

The House eliminates a provision of current law that requires the Department seek approval from the federal government to provide continuous enrollment for Medicaid-eligible children from birth to age three.

Doula Coverage

The bill limits Medicaid coverage of doula services to only the six counties with the most the most infant deaths.

Information Sharing

The bill requires the Department, along with the Department of Job and Family Services and county departments of job and family services, to provide the Executive Director of the Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee (JMOC) and the JMOC staff access to view information and systems used for determining public assistance benefit eligibility. The viewable information and systems must also include billing, payments, and provider tracking.

The bill also requires that the JMOC executive director and staff receive training to ensure how to properly understand and interpret the information. The bill does not assign responsibility for providing the training.

Data Sharing Agreements

The House requires the Department, along with the Department of Behavioral Health and county ADAMHS boards to develop a three-way data sharing agreement where the three can exchange claims-level client data and information to ensure the ADAMHS boards can provide a complete continuum of care.

Change in Circumstances Eligibility Verification

The bill requires the Department or its designee, within 30 days of the bills effective date, to begin using third-party data sources to conduct eligibility change in circumstances checks for all Medicaid recipients quarterly and to disenroll individuals found no longer eligible.

Department of Natural Resources

H2Ohio Purposes

The bill prohibits H2Ohio funding from being used to purchase land or conservation easements.

Ohio Public Defender

OPD Legal Training Earmark

The bill creates an earmark of up to $50,000 in each fiscal year for the Ohio Public Defender to provide legal training programs at no cost for private appointed counsel and for state and county public defenders who contract with OPD to provide indigent defense services.

Department of Public Safety

Towed Vehicle Recovery Fee

The bill requires crime victims whose motor vehicles were towed by order of law enforcement to pay the costs of towing and storage to retrieve their vehicle. Under current law, the general provisions of Marsy’s Law (R.C. 2930.11) prohibit charging fees to crime victims for the recovery of property.

State Highway Patrol Operating Expenses

The budget increases the fee on statewide motor vehicle registrations and renewals by $5 for both noncommercial vehicles (from $11 to $16) and nonapproprtioned commercial vehicles (from $30 to $35). All revenue from the $5 increase is dedicated to the Ohio State Highway Patrol for operating expenses.

Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

Felony Cost Reimbursement

The bill earmarks $250,000 in each fiscal year for reimbursements to counties for the costs incurred in the prosecution of felonies that occur on the grounds of correctional institutions operated by the Department. These funds would be available for offenses not prosecuted by the Attorney General under the AG’s new permissive authority to directly prosecute such offenses (see Attorney General section above).

Reentry Housing Siting Limitations

The bill prohibits DRC from licensing a halfway house, reentry center, or community residential center if it would be located within 500 feet of a school or child care center.

Department of Taxation

Local Government Fund

The bill increases the share of state GRF tax revenue distributed through the Local Government fund to 1.75%. LSC estimates this will increase the LGF by $15 million in SFY 2026 and $16 million in SFY 2027.

The bill also eliminates the authority for townships and counties to utilize traffic cameras to issue citations and correspondingly eliminates language authorizing LGF penalties for townships and counties that utilize cameras for that purpose.

Sales Tax, General

The bill does not include any new sales tax exemptions.

Sales Tax Refunds

The bill eliminates interest on refunds of county sales and use tax and extends the maximum recovery time from three years to six years.

County Cigarette Tax

The bill expands the authority for a county to levy a cigarette tax to benefit an arts and cultural district to Summit County.

Income Tax

The bill does not include any changes to the state’s income tax brackets.

Adult Use Marijuana Excise Tax

The bill allocates 80% of the revenue from the 10% adult-use marijuana excise tax to the GRF and 20% to the Host Community Fund for payments to municipalities and townships that have dispensaries. The bill sunsets the Host Community Fund after SFY 2030.

Fairfield County Lodging Tax Extension Authority

The bill authorizes the Fairfield County Board of County Commissioners to renew a special lodging tax levied for a municipal educational and cultural facility for up to 15 additional years at a time. Under current law, the special lodging tax expires in 2028 and there is no authorization to extend it.

Department of Transportation

Airport Improvement Program and Airport Grants

The bill creates the Ohio Airport Improvement Program to finance airport improvements for publicly owned, public-use airports and dedicates a portion the petroleum activity tax revenue to support the program. The bill appropriates $4.65 million each fiscal year for the program.

The creation of this program was originally included in HB 54 (the Transportation Budget) but was removed in the Senate when the decision was made to move all General Revenue Fund spending to the operating budget.

The House also earmarked $5 million for matching funds for airports that received federal funding through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Regional Transportation Improvement Projects

The omnibus amendment broadens the definition of qualified regional transportation improvement projects (RTIPs) to include those that have completed a feasibility study as opposed to current law which only includes those that were created prior to October 3, 2023, and broadens the authority to form a transportation financing district (TFD) to all qualifying RTIPs.

Current law allows counties, along with townships and municipalities (depending on the makeup of the RTIP), to declare improvements within the area exempt from property taxation.

Drones For First Responders Pilot Program

The House earmarks $4 million for a pilot program to assist municipalities with acquiring unmanned aerial systems for first responders. Counties are not included as eligible applicants.

Local Government Provisions

Provisions in this section pertain directly to local governments and not to a state department or agency.

Community College Property Tax Authority

The bill allows the board of trustees of a state community college to propose a property tax levy for operating purposes. The levy can only be placed in the county that the college’s main campus is located, funds from the levy must be used to support operations in that county, and the college must charge a lower tuition rate to students who reside in that county.

Community Reinvestment Areas

The bill allows local governments to extend the terms of CRA exemptions to a total of 30 years for existing buildings expected to be the site of a megaproject or owned/occupied by a megaproject supplier.

Damaged or Destroyed Manufactured Home Tax Waivers

The bill allows manufactured home park operators to provide county auditors with a notice (which must include photographic evidence) that a manufactured home has been damaged or destroyed to initiate a refund or waiver of taxes on the home in question.

Property Tax Challenges

The bill requires disclosure when a third-party filing property tax valuation complaints and counter-complaints is acting on behalf of the legislative authority of a political subdivision or the mayor of a municipality.

Political Subdivision Communications

The bill includes charter counties and municipalities to the same prohibitions that other political subdivisions have regarding the use of public funds in support of certain communications or staff time for certain activities. These prohibitions are in R.C. 9.03 and, among others, prohibit the use of public funds in support of candidates, political parties, illegal discrimination, levy or bond issues, and illegal activities.

Local Fiscal Emergency Receivership

The amendment creates a procedure for creating a receivership for counties, municipalities, and townships that are in fiscal emergency and gives the court of claims jurisdiction to appoint a receiver when one is required.

For counties, a receivership can only be created if the financial supervisor put in place for the county or the board of county commissioners requests the Attorney General for a receivership. Further, the board may only ask if both of the following conditions are met:

1. The county has been in a state of fiscal emergency for a continuous period of ten years OR at least twice in a period of ten years and the combined fiscal emergency is at least five years.
2. The county has demonstrated at least one of the following:
   1. Failure to comply with budgetary and spending processes
   2. Failure to ensure that appropriations comply with the financial plan in accordance with R.C. 118.13.
   3. Continued to assume debt without the approval of the financial planning and supervision commission
   4. Has undertaken administrative or legislative action that is not in accordance with the terms of its financial plan or, when applicable, was done without the permission of the commission.

Video Public Records

Allows county prosecutors to assess charges for preparing video public records in the same manner as state and local law enforcement.

Prohibits any of these entities from charging a fee for preparing a video record when the requester is a victim under Marsy’s Law (or their legal counsel or insurer).

Eminent Domain

Removes the creation of recreational trails from the allowable public uses for the purposes of eminent domain.

Nonemergency Patient Transportation

Allows counties with a population of under 60,000 (instead of 40,000 as under current law) to operate a nonemergency medical transportation service.

Park District Board of Commissioners Appointing Authority

For the board of park commissioners for a park district that was a township park district created before 1892 and converted to a park district on or before January 1, 1989, the appointing authority for the board is changed from the county probate judge to the county board of commissioners and makes other changes. CCAO is not immediately aware of which park districts this applies to.

Abandoned Manufactured Home Removal

The bill requires county auditors to waive all unpaid manufactured home taxes charged against a home that is destroyed within one year of the title’s transfer to a manufactured home park operator.

Local Option Election Costs

The bill requires the petitioner of a local option election for alcohol sales to pay the entire cost of the election if it is held on a day other than the day of a primary election, general election, or special election involving a question, issue, office nomination, or office election. Under current law, these election costs are generally paid by the township or municipality the petitioner is located in.

Battery-Charged Fence Regulations

The bill prohibits counties and other political subdivisions from adopting or enforcing regulations that prohibit the installation of battery-charged fences (generally, electric security fences) if the fence meets certain standards. Permits and/or fees may still be imposed on the installation or use of such fences and prohibitions can be placed on fences that do meet the specifications in the bill.

Public Library Board of Trustees

The bill reduces the terms of office for members of the board of trustees of library districts appointed after the bill’s effective date. The trustees appointed by the court of common pleas will have their terms shortened to two, three, and four years (down from current law’s two, four, and six years) and the trustees appointed by the board of commissioners will have their terms shortened to one, two, three, and four years (down from current law’s one, three, five, and seven years).

Providing Menstrual Products in Public Buildings

The bill prohibits government entities from placing menstrual products in men’s restrooms in public buildings.

Village Dissolution Evaluation Criteria

The bill adds the provision of electricity services to the list of services that a village must provide at least five of to avoid qualifying for an automatic ballot questions regarding dissolution.

Referendum on Township Zoning of Megaprojects

The bill exempts township zoning decisions related to property involved in a megaproject from referendum and allows them to take effect immediately.