Voters across Ohio will decide Issue 2 on May 6. Some have already started voting early.
Here’s everything you need to know about the constitutional amendment before you head to the polls.
What is it?
Issue 2 is a constitutional amendment that will allow the state to issue up to $2.5 billion in bonds to pay for infrastructure projects over the next 10 years.
The state needs constitutional approval in order to go into large amounts of debt.
If approved, the money would go into the State Capital Improvement Program, a solution first established in 1987 to fund expensive projects.
The legislature’s nonpartisan analysis states SCIP funds can only be used on “roads and bridges, wastewater treatment systems, water supply systems, solid waste disposal facilities, and storm water and sanitary collection, storage, and treatment facilities, including related or incidental real property related to the project.
“The cost of acquisition, construction, reconstruction, expansion, improvement, planning, and equipping are also included.”
History
SCIP money has been around since 1987 and voters have extended the program three times since then.
Linda Bailiff, the director of Ohio Public Works Commission, said the program has led to the funding of 18,860 projects.
“Depending on the year, for every $1 of program funds another $2 and $3 is leveraged in other local, state and federal sources,” she told lawmakers late last year.
This issue, if approved, would be the biggest in state history. Lawmakers said the $2.5 billion in bonds was necessary because of inflation and its affect on the cost of projects.
How it works — a local example
The OPWC is divided into districts. There are 19 across the state.
Funds, if approved, would be divvied up among districts and regions on a per-capita basis. Districts would then analyze project proposals and determine how best to use bond proceeds.
District 16, for example, approves projects from the eight counties typically in November or December, said Ashland County Engineer Ed Meixner.
Before that meeting, Meixner said each county applies for funding for specific projects
— typically in September. Those counties review the projects with respective commissioners and pass a resolution.
The resolutions, Meixner said, are then forwarded to the district.
District 16 is managed by the Richland County Planning Commission, which evaluates and scores each project proposal before approving them. Once approved, they are submitted to OPWC, Meixner said.
Meixner, during an Ashland County commissioners meeting in March, urged voters to support the issue with a “yes” vote.
In Ashland County, he said, there have been 90 projects funded with SCIP grants or loans totaling $36,579,355. Projects varied from bridge and culvert repair to wastewater facility work.
Several villages — Bailey Lakes, Loudonville, Hayesville, Jeromesville, Perrysville and Polk — have benefitted from funding on projects over the years.
“It has been a very, very nice program,” Meixner said. “It’s been a blessing for the state of Ohio. I dare to say that those projects would not have been completed had it not been for this.”
Here’s the Issue 2 language voters will see on their primary election ballots:
This proposed amendment would:
1. Authorize the state to issue bonds or other obligations to finance or assist in financing public infrastructure capital improvements for local governments and other governmental entities. Capital improvement projects would be limited to roads and bridges, waste water treatment systems, water supply systems, solid waste disposal facilities, storm water and sanitary collection, storage, and treatment facilities.
2. Determine that such capital improvements are necessary to preserve and expand the public infrastructure, ensure public health, safety and welfare, create and preserve jobs, enhance employment opportunities, and improve the economic welfare of the people of Ohio.
3. Limit the total principal amount of the state general obligations issued under the amendment to no more than $2.5 billion over a ten-year period. Any principal amount that could have been issued in any prior fiscal year, but was not issued, may subsequently be issued.
4. Require that obligations issued under this amendment mature no later than thirty (30) years after their date of issuance, and that any obligation issued to retire or refund other obligations mature no later than the permitted maturity date for the obligations being retired or refunded.
5. Authorize the General Assembly to pass laws implementing this amendment, including laws establishing procedures for incurring and issuing obligations, and laws providing for the use of Ohio products, materials, services and labor to the extent possible.