Ohio lawmakers approve nearly $700M in federal infrastructure money for highways, public

COLUMBUS, Ohio — State lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation approving nearly $700 million in federal transportation funding given to Ohio under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed earlier this year.

House Bill 338, which passed both the Ohio Senate and House by wide margins, also authorizes the state’s transportation director to award contracts of up to $1.5 billion in design/build contracts to renovate the functionally obsolete Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati. It further allows Ohio to enter into agreements with other states to enforce penalties for toll violations by out-of-state drivers, among other things.

Under the bill, the Ohio Department of Transportation would get $672,598,581 in federal highway construction money authorized under the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure law, signed by President Joe Biden last year. ODOT would also get an additional $18.3 million from the feds for public transportation under the legislation.

One of the few lawmakers to vote against the measure was state Sen. Niraj Antani, a Dayton-area Republican. He urged his colleagues to vote no as a way to help federal officials “curtail their addiction to this tax-and-spend culture that has caused runaway inflation.”

The $1.5 billion authorized for the Brent Spence bridge comes as ODOT wants to hire a management team for Ohio and Kentucky’s $2.8 billion plan to renovate the nearly 60-year-old bridge over the Ohio River. The project would build a new bridge alongside it and widen nearby highways. Ohio and Kentucky officials said they would apply for federal funding for the bridge by early next week, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier.

HB338 states that ODOT Director Jack Marchbanks could seek to award design/build contracts that exceed $1.5 billion, but only if he first gets permission from the Ohio Controlling Board, a panel composed chiefly of state legislators that approves spending requests from state agencies.

The bill, if signed by Gov. Mike DeWine, would allow Ohio to enter into agreements with other states to help collect tolls owed by out-of-state residents by refusing applications or transfers of motor vehicle registration until the tolls get paid.

For example, under the bill, Ohio could enter into an agreement with Indiana that if any Indiana residents don’t pay tolls while driving on the Ohio Turnpike, the state of Indiana could refuse to let those residents apply for or transfer their vehicle registration until they pay the turnpike. The same would be true for Ohio residents who owe tolls in Indiana under this hypothetical situation.

“It is sometimes difficult to enforce toll violations committed by out-of-state drivers if those drivers ignore the toll invoices and there is no additional enforcement mechanism in place,” according to an analysis of HB338 by the non-partisan Legislative Service Commission. “Agreements between states to enforce toll violations committed by their residents in another state may potentially reduce those violations.”

The legislation would allow current and former military members to obtain a commercial driver’s license without needing to pass a knowledge test.

HB338 would make it easier for regional transit authorities in Ohio to borrow money by issuing bonds. The bill would permit any RTA in the state to issue revenue bonds backed by the proceeds of the RTA’s own sales tax. Currently, RTAs in Ohio can only secure bonds with fees, charges, or any county sales-tax revenue given to the RTA.

The legislation gives more leeway for Columbus’ public-transportation system, the Central Ohio Transit Authority, regarding things like acquiring property, spending sales-tax revenue, and building infrastructure even though it’s not considered a “transit facility.”

The bill further permits state officials to continue spending money in 2023 on projects previously approved by the legislature. Such permission is needed because the budget law that contains the money expires this year. Reappropriations under HB338 include:

• $1 million to provide grants to Jewish community organizations for emergency security upgrades
• $750,000 for grants to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Emergency Repair Program
• $500,000 for the Ohio Commission for the U.S. Semiquincentennial, which is making plans to recognize the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence in 2026.
• $350,000 to support the Bradfield Community Center in Lima
• $15,000 to support the Lorain Pier Planning Project

Also included is the initial language of the bill, which would allow a motorcycle safety and education program to offer a final skills exam that is different from the state’s exam, provided the private exam meets or exceeds state requirements. It would create new fees to establish a motorcycle safety program and certify instructors.