Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, | 7 |
three-fifths of the members elected to each house concurring | 8 |
herein, that there shall be submitted to the electors of the | 9 |
state, in the manner prescribed by law at the general election to | 10 |
be held on November 4, 2008, a proposal to enact Section 2q of | 11 |
Article VIII of the Constitution of the State of Ohio to read as | 12 |
follows: | 13 |
2q. (A) It is determined and confirmed that the | 14 |
environmental and related conservation, preservation, and | 15 |
revitalization purposes referred to in divisions (A)(1) and (2) of | 16 |
this section, and provisions for them, are proper public purposes | 17 |
of the state and local governmental entities and are necessary and | 18 |
appropriate means to improve the quality of life and the general | 19 |
and economic well-being of the people of this state; to better | 20 |
ensure the public health, safety, and welfare; to protect water | 21 |
and other natural resources; to provide for the conservation and | 22 |
preservation of natural and open areas and farmlands, including by | 23 |
making urban areas more desirable or suitable for development and | 24 |
revitalization; to control, prevent, minimize, clean up, or | 25 |
remediate certain contamination of or pollution from lands in the | 26 |
state and water contamination or pollution; to provide for safe | 27 |
and productive urban land use or reuse; to enhance the | 28 |
availability, public use, and enjoyment of natural areas and | 29 |
resources; and to create and preserve jobs and enhance employment | 30 |
opportunities. Those purposes are: | 31 |
(1) Conservation purposes, meaning conservation and | 32 |
preservation of natural areas, open spaces, and farmlands and | 33 |
other lands devoted to agriculture, including by acquiring land or | 34 |
interests therein; provision of state and local park and | 35 |
recreation facilities, and other actions that permit and enhance | 36 |
the availability, public use, and enjoyment of natural areas and | 37 |
open spaces in Ohio; and land, forest, water, and other natural | 38 |
resource management projects; | 39 |
(2) Revitalization purposes, meaning providing for and | 40 |
enabling the environmentally safe and productive development and | 41 |
use or reuse of publicly and privately owned lands, including | 42 |
those within urban areas, by the remediation or clean up, or | 43 |
planning and assessment for remediation or clean up, of | 44 |
contamination, or addressing, by clearance, land acquisition or | 45 |
assembly, infrastructure, or otherwise, that or other property | 46 |
conditions or circumstances that may be deleterious to the public | 47 |
health and safety and the environment and water and other natural | 48 |
resources, or that preclude or inhibit environmentally sound or | 49 |
economic use or reuse of the property. | 50 |
(1) Not more than two hundred million dollars principal | 55 |
amount of obligations issued under this section for conservation | 56 |
purposes may be outstanding in accordance with their terms at any | 57 |
one time. Not more than fifty million dollars principal amount of | 58 |
those obligations, plus the principal amount of those obligations | 59 |
that in any prior fiscal year could have been but were not issued | 60 |
within the fifty-million-dollar fiscal year limit, may be issued | 61 |
in any fiscal year. Those obligations shall be general
obligations | 62 |
of the state and the full faith and credit, revenue,
and taxing | 63 |
power of the state shall be pledged to the payment of
debt service | 64 |
on them as it becomes due, all as provided in this
section. | 65 |
(2) Not more than two hundred million dollars principal | 66 |
amount of obligations issued under this section for revitalization | 67 |
purposes may be outstanding in accordance with their terms at any | 68 |
one time. Not more than fifty million dollars principal amount of | 69 |
those obligations, plus the principal amount of those obligations | 70 |
that in any prior fiscal year could have been but were not issued | 71 |
within the fifty-million-dollar fiscal year limit, may be issued | 72 |
in any fiscal year. Those obligations shall not be general | 73 |
obligations of the state and the full faith and credit, revenue, | 74 |
and taxing power of the state shall not be pledged to the payment | 75 |
of debt service on them. Those obligations shall be secured by a | 76 |
pledge of all or such portion of designated revenues and receipts | 77 |
of the state as the General Assembly authorizes, including | 78 |
receipts from designated taxes or excises, other state revenues | 79 |
from sources other than state taxes or excises, such as from state | 80 |
enterprise activities, and payments for or related to those | 81 |
revitalization purposes made by or on behalf of local governmental | 82 |
entities, responsible parties, or others. The general assembly | 83 |
shall provide by law for prohibitions or restrictions on the | 84 |
granting or lending of proceeds of obligations issued under | 85 |
division (B)(2) of this section to parties to pay costs of cleanup | 86 |
or remediation of contamination for which they are determined to | 87 |
be responsible. | 88 |
(C) For purposes of the full and timely payment of debt | 89 |
service on state obligations authorized by this section, | 90 |
appropriate provision shall be made or authorized by law for bond | 91 |
retirement funds, for the sufficiency and appropriation of state | 92 |
excises, taxes, and revenues pledged to the debt service on the | 93 |
respective obligations, for which purpose, notwithstanding Section | 94 |
22 of Article II of the Ohio Constitution, no further act of | 95 |
appropriation shall be necessary, and for covenants to continue | 96 |
the levy, collection, and application of sufficient state excises, | 97 |
taxes, and revenues to the extent needed for those purposes. | 98 |
Moneys referred to in Section 5a of Article XII of the Ohio | 99 |
Constitution may not be pledged or used for the payment of debt | 100 |
service on those obligations. | 101 |
(D)(1) Divisions (B) and (C) of this section shall be | 105 |
implemented in the manner and to the extent provided by the | 106 |
General Assembly by law, including provision for procedures for | 107 |
incurring, refunding, retiring, and evidencing state obligations | 108 |
issued pursuant to this section. Each state obligation issued | 109 |
pursuant to this section shall mature no later than the | 110 |
thirty-first day of December of the twenty-fifth calendar year | 111 |
after its issuance, except that obligations issued to refund or | 112 |
retire other obligations shall mature not later than the | 113 |
thirty-first day of December of the twenty-fifth calendar year | 114 |
after the year in which the original obligation to pay was issued | 115 |
or entered into. | 116 |
(2) In the case of the issuance of state obligations under | 117 |
this section as bond anticipation notes, provision shall be made | 118 |
by law or in the bond or note proceedings for the establishment, | 119 |
and the maintenance during the period the notes are outstanding, | 120 |
of special funds into which there shall be paid, from the sources | 121 |
authorized for payment of the particular bonds anticipated, the | 122 |
amount that would have been sufficient to pay the principal that | 123 |
would have been payable on those bonds during that period if bonds | 124 |
maturing serially in each year over the maximum period of maturity | 125 |
referred to in division (D)(1) of this section had been issued | 126 |
without the prior issuance of the notes. Those special funds and | 127 |
investment income on them shall be used solely for the payment of | 128 |
principal of those notes or of the bonds anticipated. | 129 |
(E) In addition to projects undertaken by the state, the | 130 |
state may participate or assist, by grants, loans, loan | 131 |
guarantees, or contributions, in the financing of projects for | 132 |
purposes referred to in this section that are undertaken by local | 133 |
governmental entities or by others, including, but not limited to, | 134 |
not-for-profit organizations, at the direction or authorization of | 135 |
local governmental entities. Obligations of the state issued
under | 136 |
this section and the provisions for payment of debt service
on | 137 |
them, including any payments by local governmental entities,
are | 138 |
not subject to Sections 6 and 11 of Article XII of the Ohio | 139 |
Constitution. Those obligations, and obligations of local | 140 |
governmental entities issued for the public purposes referred to | 141 |
in this section, and provisions for payment of debt service on | 142 |
them, and the purposes and uses to which the proceeds of those | 143 |
state or local obligations, or moneys from other sources, are to | 144 |
be or may be applied, are not subject to Sections 4 and 6 of | 145 |
Article VIII of the
Ohio Constitution. | 146 |
(F) The powers and authority granted or confirmed by and | 147 |
under this section, and the determinations and confirmations in | 148 |
this section, are independent of, in addition to, and not in | 149 |
derogation of or a limitation on, powers, authority, | 150 |
determinations, or confirmations under laws, charters, ordinances, | 151 |
or resolutions, or by or under other provisions of the Ohio | 152 |
Constitution including, without limitation, Section 36 of Article | 153 |
II, Sections 2i, 2l, 2m, 2o, and 13 of Article VIII, and Articles | 154 |
X
and XVIII, and do not impair any previously adopted provision of | 155 |
the Ohio Constitution or any law previously enacted by the General | 156 |
Assembly. | 157 |
(G) Obligations issued under this section, their transfer, | 158 |
and the interest, interest equivalent, and other income or | 159 |
accreted amounts on them, including any profit made on their sale, | 160 |
exchange, or other disposition, shall at all times be free from | 161 |
taxation within the state. | 162 |