OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 629 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 629’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsor: Rep. Edwards
Effective date:
Jeff Grim, Research Analyst CORRECTED VERSION
Paul Luzzi, Attorney
SUMMARY
Appropriations
One Time Strategic Community Investments Fund
 Appropriates $717 million to the Office of Budget and Management to fund projects from
the One Time Strategic Community Investments Fund.
Capital appropriations and reappropriations
 Makes capital appropriations totaling $3.51 billion for the FY 2025-2026 biennium, and
authorizes about $2.93 billion in new debt.
 Makes capital reappropriations totaling $1.98 billion for the FY 2025-2026 biennium.
Public Works Commission Law changes
 Revises several provisions of the Public Works Commission Law, including:
 Sets a defined distribution percentage for allocating district public works integrating
committees funds to political subdivisions under the State Capital Improvement
Program, rather than a graduated percentage depending on the funding year;
 Eliminates a requirement that the Director of the Public Works Commission (PWC)
encourage the development of multidistrict projects by district public works
integrating committees; and
 Corrects a hyperlink in the text related to the bill’s fiscal note.
June 17, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
 Eliminates a requirement that the PWC Director establish policies related to the need
for long-term control through a lease of real property that is the subject of a Clean
Ohio natural resource-related grant application.
State employee pay modification authority
 Authorizes the Director of Administrative Services to temporarily modify pay ranges in
current law to achieve pay parity between state employees who are not subject to the
Public Employees’ Collective Bargaining Law and those paid in accordance with a
collective bargaining agreement that is effective on or after March 1, 2024.
 Limits any modification to the pay period that includes July 1, 2024, through the pay
period that includes June 30, 2025.
 Requires the DAS Director to report any modification to the Controlling Board.
Emergency clause
 Declares an emergency.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Appropriations
One Time Strategic Community Investments Fund
(Sections 200.20 and 200.30)
The bill appropriates $717 million to the Office of Budget and Management to fund
projects from the One Time Strategic Community Investments Fund, which was created in 2023
in H.B. 33 of the 135th General Assembly, the main appropriations act.* The bill funds projects
across communities in the state.
Capital appropriations and reappropriations
The bill appropriates $3.51 billion in capital appropriations, including about $2.98 billion
in new debt. The bill also reappropriates about $1.98 billion in capital funding.
Public Works Commission
Funding allocation − district public works integrating committee
(R.C. 164.05, 164.08, and 164.14)
The bill modifies how district public works integrating committees allocate funds to
political subdivisions under the State Capital Improvement Program (SCIP) by setting a defined
percentage of the committee’s annual allocation for the list of specified purposes. Current law
establishes a graduated percentage depending on the funding year. For example, current law
might authorize a committee to issue between 0 and 22% of its annual allocation to entities
* Section 513.10, H.B. 33, 135th General Assembly.
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seeking interest-free or low-interest loans, depending on the funding year. Under the bill, the
limit is 10%, no matter which funding year. SCIP is used to finance local infrastructure capital
improvement projects.
Other Public Works Commission Law revisions
(R.C. 164.01, 164.05, 164.051, 164.06, 164.21, and 164.26)
The bill makes the following changes in the Public Works Commission Law:
1. Eliminates a requirement that the Director of the Public Works Commission (PWC)
encourage the development of multidistrict projects by district public works integrating
committees, but retains the requirement for multisubdivision projects;
2. Removes specific evaluation metrics and replaces them with a more general requirement
that the PWC Director develop a standardized methodology for evaluating local capital
needs that committees must consider when addressing a project;
3. Updates a type of assistance under SCIP from “local debt support and credit
enhancements” to remove references to credit enhancements, but retains the definition
and makes no changes to the types of support available; and
4. Eliminates a requirement that the PWC Director establish policies related to the need for
long-term control through a lease of real property that is the subject of a Clean Ohio
natural resource-related grant application.
State employee pay modification authority
(Section 701.10)
The bill allows the Director of Administrative Services, in consultation with the Director
of Budget and Management, to modify state employee pay schedules in continuing law to the
extent necessary to achieve pay parity between the following groups of employees:
 State employees who are part of the state job classification plan (and paid in accordance
with the statutory schedules) and who are not “public employees” under the Public
Employees’ Collective Bargaining Law† (PECBL); and
 State employees who are paid in accordance with collective bargaining agreements
entered into in accordance with the PECBL that are effective on or after March 1, 2024.
If the DAS Director modifies the pay ranges, the modification applies only to the time
period beginning with the pay period that includes July 1, 2024, and ending with the pay period
that includes June 30, 2025. The DAS Director must report any modification to the Controlling
Board. If the DAS Director modifies the pay ranges, any reference to the pay ranges is to the
modified pay ranges for that time period.
Each state appointing authority may pay increased employee compensation required by
a modification by the Director from current operating appropriations. If a modification takes
† R.C. Chapter 4117.
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effect after the pay period that includes July 1, 2024, an appointing authority must make a
supplemental payment that covers the difference between the amount paid during that pay
period and the amount of the modification. The supplemental payment must cover any pay
period between the pay period that includes July 1, 2024, and the pay period that includes the
effective date of the modification.
Between June 24 and July 5, 2024, members of the Ohio Civil Service Employees
Association (OCSEA) will vote on whether to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement for
state employees represented by the OCSEA. The current contract was extended until July 11,
2024.‡
Emergency clause
(Section 813.10)
The bill is declared to be an emergency measure, necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, and will go into immediate effect.
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 06-17-24
ANHB0629IN-CORRECTED-135/ts
‡See OCSEA e-newsletter June 12, 2024, which may be accessed by selecting the “NEWS” link on the
OCSEA website: ocsea.org.
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Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 164.01, 164.05, 164.051, 164.06, 164.08, 164.14, 164.26, 307.80, 423.120, H.B, 101.01