On March 14, the Ohio House Ways and Means Committee will hold a third hearing on HB 1. In addition to public testimony in opposition to the legislation, the Legislative Service Commission is also scheduled to make a presentation on HB 920, tax reduction factors. While some of our local government partners are planning to provide opposition testimony during tomorrow’s hearing, many others including OLC will be providing testimony in future hearings. As of today, OLC has had multiple meetings with members of House leadership and the bill’s sponsor to convey our concerns with the legislation. OLC is also continuing to work with other impacted local government organizations and will continue to provide additional updates on the bill to OLC members. Background information on HB 1 is available at libraryfunding.olc.org.

Even though it is vitally important to let legislators know about the impact this proposal will have on public libraries, it is also important to understand that this proposal is a starting point for having these discussions. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon) understands that the current bill as introduced, is not the end goal. Attempts to simplify the tax code are a massive undertaking and not easily achieved. We look forward to working with members of the Ohio House as the legislative process moves forward and protecting state and local funding for Ohio’s public libraries.