News

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — After rare unanimous agreement in both the Ohio House and Senate, one of the state’s four budgets is headed to Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature. The $11 billion, two-year transportation budget was approved in plenty of time to make the deadline of the end of this month.

The Senate made a few changes to the House version: requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote with a deputy registrar at a Bureau of Motor Vehicles branch, and eliminating a step that advocates have said would bring Ohio closer to passenger rail expansion.

The Senate re-added the proof of citizenship provision, changing the House’s compromise that banned BMV employees from offering registration forms to people who are ineligible. The inclusion of the issue has frustrated Democrats in both chambers.

“What I do not think should be included in the transportation budget is any sort of mandates directed towards the clerks at the Ohio BMV on how they should or should not assist people in the voting registration process,” said Sen. Kent Smith (D-Euclid), who noted that BMV issues both Real ID that requires that proof and driver’s licenses that do not. “I would advocate for its own legislation and a full vetting process by the Ohio General Assembly, so in the process of issuing driver’s licenses, we are not also canceling people’s voter registrations.”

But Smith joined the rest of the Senate in voting for the transportation budget, which also eliminates the authority of counties or townships to run traffic camera programs, but not cities.The Senate also eliminated a provision allowing Ohio to rejoin the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission through a proposed $25,000 per year appropriation. The state dropped out of the MIPRC under Republican former Gov. John Kasich after he turned down $400 million in federal grants for an Amtrak line running from Cleveland to Cincinnati. Two potential state-sponsored projects through Amtrak—one connecting Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati, called the 3C&D, and another connecting Cleveland to Detroit through Toledo—are early in the consideration process.

The transportation budget must be signed by March 31.