The Ohio Senate approved its version of the state budget last week. House Bill (HB) 110 includes language to maintain the Public Library Fund (PLF) at 1.7% of the General Revenue Fund (GRF). Since the House voted to not concur with the Senate version, HB 110 now heads to a Conference Committee to reconcile the differences.

The Conference Committee, which includes Sen. Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls), Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green), Sen. Vern Sykes (D-Akron), Rep. Scott Oelslager (R-North Canton), Rep. Phil Plummer (R-Dayton), and Rep. Erica Crawley (D-Columbus) met on June 17 and was presented with a new set of revenue estimates from the Office of Budget and Management (OBM) for the coming biennium. A transcript of this testimony is available on the OLC website.

Once the Conference Committee negotiates their final version of the bill, HB 110 will go back to both the House and Senate for approval. At that point, the House and Senate cannot make changes to the bill and must either adopt or reject what the committee has finalized. Once the House and Senate approve the final budget, it will go to Gov. DeWine for his signature and possible line-item vetoes. The budget bill must be signed by June 30 in order for the appropriations to take effect on July 1, the first day of the new state fiscal year.