As Introduced

128th General Assembly
Regular Session
2009-2010
H. J. R. No. 12


Representatives Williams, S., Goyal 

Cosponsors: Representatives Belcher, Bolon, Book, Boyd, Brown Speaker Budish  Representatives Carney, Celeste, Chandler, DeBose, DeGeeter, Dodd, Domenick, Driehaus, Dyer, Fende, Foley, Garland, Garrison, Gerberry, Hagan, Harris, Harwood, Heard, Koziura, Letson, Luckie, Lundy, Mallory, Moran, Murray, Newcomb, Okey, Otterman, Patten, Phillips, Pillich, Pryor, Sayre, Schneider, Skindell, Slesnick, Stewart, Sykes, Szollosi, Ujvagi, Weddington, Williams, B., Winburn, Yates, Yuko 



A JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing to amend Section 2p of Article VIII of the 1
Constitution of the State of Ohio to permit the 2
issuance of additional general obligation bonds to 3
fund research and development.4



       Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, 5
three-fifths of the members elected to each house concurring 6
herein, that there shall be submitted to the electors of the 7
state, in the manner prescribed by law at the special election to 8
be held on May 4, 2010, a proposal to amend Section 2p of Article 9
VIII of the Constitution of the State of Ohio to read as follows:10

2p.  (A) It is determined and confirmed that the 11
development purposes referred to in this division, and provisions 12
for them, are proper public purposes of the state and local 13
governmental entities and are necessary and appropriate means to 14
create and preserve jobs and enhance employment and educational 15
opportunities; to improve the quality of life and the general and 16
economic well-being of all the people and businesses in all areas 17
of this state, including economically disadvantaged businesses and 18
individuals; and to preserve and expand the public capital 19
infrastructure; all to better ensure the public health, safety, 20
and welfare. Those purposes are:21

       (1) Public infrastructure capital improvements, which shall 22
be limited to roads and bridges, waste water treatment systems, 23
water supply systems, solid waste disposal facilities, and storm 24
water and sanitary collection, storage, and treatment facilities, 25
including real property, interests in real property, facilities, 26
and equipment related to or incidental thereto, and shall include, 27
without limitation, the cost of acquisition, construction, 28
reconstruction, expansion, improvement, planning, and equipping;29

       (2) Research and development in support of Ohio industry, 30
commerce, and business (hereinafter referred to as "research and 31
development purposes"), which shall include, without limitation, 32
research and product innovation, development, and 33
commercialization through efforts by and collaboration among Ohio 34
business and industry, state and local public entities and 35
agencies, public and private education institutions, or research 36
organizations and institutions, all as may be further provided for 37
by state or local law, but excluding purposes provided for in 38
Section 15 of Article VIII, Ohio Constitution; and39

       (3) Development of sites and facilities in Ohio for and in 40
support of industry, commerce, distribution, and research and 41
development purposes.42

       (B) The General Assembly may provide by law, in accordance 43
with but subject to the limitations of this section, for the 44
issuance of general obligation bonds and other obligations of the 45
state for the purpose of financing or assisting in the financing 46
of the cost of projects implementing those purposes.47

       (1) Not more than one billion three hundred fifty million 48
dollars principal amount of state general obligations may be 49
issued under this section for public infrastructure capital 50
improvements. Not more than one hundred twenty million dollars 51
principal amount of those obligations may be issued in each of the 52
first five fiscal years of issuance and not more than one hundred 53
fifty million dollars principal amount of those obligations may be 54
issued in each of the next five fiscal years of issuance, plus in 55
each case the principal amount of those obligations that in any 56
prior fiscal year could have been but were not issued within those 57
fiscal year limits. No infrastructure obligations may be issued 58
pursuant to this division and division (C) of this section until 59
at least one billion one hundred ninety-nine million five hundred 60
thousand dollars aggregate principal amount of state 61
infrastructure obligations have been issued pursuant to Section 2m 62
of Article VIII, Ohio Constitution.63

       (2) Not more than one billion five hundred million dollars 64
principal amount of state general obligations may be issued under 65
this section for research and development purposes. Not more than 66
onefive hundred million dollars principal amount of those 67
obligations may be issued in each of the first three fiscal years 68
of issuancetotal from fiscal years 2006 through 2011, and not 69
more than fiftytwo hundred million dollars principal amount of 70
those obligations may be issued in any other fiscal year beginning 71
in fiscal year 2012 and thereafter, plus in each case the 72
principal amount of those obligations that in any prior fiscal 73
year could have been but were not issued.74

       (3) Not more than one hundred fifty million dollars principal 75
amount of state general obligations may be issued under this 76
section for development of sites and facilities for industry, 77
commerce, distribution, and research and development purposes. Not 78
more than thirty million dollars principal amount of those 79
obligations may be issued in each of the first three fiscal years 80
of issuance, and not more than fifteen million dollars principal 81
amount of those obligations may be issued in any other fiscal 82
year, plus in each case the principal amount of those obligations 83
that in any prior fiscal year could have been but were not issued.84

        (C) Each issue of state general obligations for public 85
infrastructure capital improvements or development of sites and 86
facilities shall mature in not more than thirty years from the 87
date of issuance, and each issue of state general obligations for 88
research and development purposes shall mature in not more than 89
twenty years from the date of issuance; or, if issued to retire or 90
refund other obligations, within that number of years from the 91
date the debt being retired or refunded was originally issued. If 92
state general obligations are issued as notes in anticipation of 93
the issuance of bonds, provision shall be made by law for the 94
establishment and maintenance, during the period in which the 95
notes are outstanding, of a special fund or funds into which shall 96
be paid, from the sources authorized for the payment of such 97
bonds, the amount that would have been sufficient, if bonds 98
maturing during the permitted period of years had been issued 99
without such prior issuance of notes, to pay the principal that 100
would have been payable on such bonds during such period. Such 101
fund or funds shall be used solely for the payment of principal of 102
such notes or bonds in anticipation of which such notes have been 103
issued. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section 2k or 104
2m of Article VIII, obligations issued under this section or 105
Section 2k or 2m to retire or refund obligations previously issued 106
under this section or Section 2k or 2m shall not be counted 107
against the fiscal year or total issuance limitations provided in 108
this section or Section 2k or 2m, as applicable.109

       The obligations issued under this division and division (B) 110
of this section are general obligations of the state. The full 111
faith and credit, revenue, and taxing power of the state shall be 112
pledged to the payment of the principal of and premium and 113
interest and other accreted amounts on outstanding obligations as 114
they become due (hereinafter called debt service), and bond 115
retirement fund provisions shall be made for payment of that debt 116
service. Provision shall be made by law for the sufficiency and 117
appropriation, for purposes of paying debt service, of excises, 118
taxes, and revenues so pledged or committed to debt service, and 119
for covenants to continue the levy, collection, and application of 120
sufficient excises, taxes, and revenues to the extent needed for 121
that purpose. Notwithstanding Section 22 of Article II, Ohio 122
Constitution, no further act of appropriation shall be necessary 123
for that purpose. The obligations and the provision for the 124
payment of debt service, and repayment by governmental entities of 125
any loans made under this section, are not subject to Sections 5, 126
6, and 11 of Article XII, Ohio Constitution. Moneys referred to in 127
Section 5a of Article XII, Ohio Constitution may not be pledged or 128
used for the payment of that debt service. Debt service on 129
obligations issued for research and development purposes and for 130
development of sites and facilities shall not be included in the 131
calculation of total debt service for purposes of division (A) of 132
Section 17 of Article VIII, Ohio Constitution.133

        (D)(1) The state may participate in any public infrastructure 134
capital improvement under this section with municipal 135
corporations, counties, townships, or other governmental entities 136
as designated by law, or any one or more of them. Such 137
participation may be by grants, loans, or contributions to them 138
for any such capital improvements. The entire proceeds of the 139
infrastructure obligations shall be used for public infrastructure 140
capital improvements of municipal corporations, counties, 141
townships, and other governmental entities, except to the extent 142
that the General Assembly provides by law that the state may 143
reasonably be compensated from such moneys for planning, financial 144
management, or administrative services performed in relation to 145
the issuance of infrastructure obligations.146

       (2) Implementation of the research and development purposes 147
includes supporting any and all related matters and activities, 148
including: attracting researchers and research teams by endowing 149
research chairs or otherwise; activities to develop and 150
commercialize products and processes; intellectual property 151
matters such as copyrights and patents; property interests, 152
including time sharing arrangements; and financial rights and 153
matters such as royalties, licensing, and other financial gain or 154
sharing resulting from research and development purposes. State 155
and local public moneys, including the proceeds of bonds, notes, 156
and other obligations, may be used to pay costs of or in support 157
of or related to these research and development purposes, 158
including, without limitation, capital formation, direct operating 159
costs, costs of research and facilities, including interests in 160
real property therefor, and support for public and private 161
institutions of higher education, research organizations or 162
institutions, and private sector entities. The exercise of these 163
powers by the state and state agencies, including state-supported 164
and state-assisted institutions of higher education, and local 165
public entities and agencies, may be jointly or in coordination 166
with each other, with researchers or research organizations and 167
institutions, with private institutions of higher education, with 168
individuals, or with private sector entities. State and local 169
public participation may be in such manner as the entity or agency 170
determines, including by any one or a combination of grants, loans 171
including loans to lenders or the purchase of loans, subsidies, 172
contributions, advances, or guarantees, or by direct investments 173
of or payment or reimbursement from available moneys, or by 174
providing staffing or other support, including computer or other 175
technology capacity, or equipment or facilities, including 176
interests in real property therefor, and either alone or jointly, 177
in collaborative or cooperative ventures, with other public 178
agencies and private sector entities including not for profit 179
entities. In addition to other state-level monetary participation 180
as referred to in this section or otherwise, state-supported and 181
state-assisted institutions of higher education may, as authorized 182
from time to time by the General Assembly, issue obligations to 183
pay costs of participating in and implementing research and 184
development purposes. In addition to the other obligations 185
authorized in or pursuant to this section, the General Assembly 186
also may authorize the state and state agencies and local public 187
entities and agencies, and corporations not for profit designated 188
by any of them as such agencies or instrumentalities, to issue 189
obligations to borrow and loan or otherwise provide moneys for 190
research and development purposes, including, but not limited to, 191
obligations for which moneys raised by taxation shall not be 192
obligated or pledged for the payment of debt service and which are 193
therefore not subject to Sections 5, 6, and 11 of Article XII, 194
Ohio Constitution.195

       (3) Development of sites and facilities for and in support of 196
industry, commerce, distribution, and research and development 197
purposes includes acquisition of real estate and interests in real 198
estate, site preparation including any necessary remediation and 199
cleanup, constructing and improving facilities, and providing 200
public infrastructure capital improvements and other 201
transportation and communications infrastructure improvements for 202
and in support of the use of those sites and facilities for those 203
purposes. State and local public moneys, including the proceeds of 204
bonds, notes, and other obligations, may be used to pay costs of 205
those purposes. The exercise of these powers by the state and 206
state agencies and local public entities and agencies, may be 207
jointly or in coordination with each other, and with individuals 208
or private sector business entities. State and local public 209
participation may be in such manner as the entity or agency 210
determines, including by any one or a combination of grants, loans 211
including loans to lenders or the purchase of loans, subsidies, 212
contributions, advances, or guarantees, or by direct investments 213
of or payment or reimbursement from available moneys. In addition 214
to other state-level monetary participation as referred to in this 215
section or otherwise, state-supported and state-assisted 216
institutions of higher education, and local public entities and 217
agencies may, as authorized from time to time by the General 218
Assembly, issue obligations to pay costs of participating in and 219
implementing the development of sites and facilities.220

       (E) Obligations issued under authority of this section for 221
research and development purposes and site and facility 222
development purposes, provisions for the payment of debt service 223
on them, the purposes and uses to which and the manner in which 224
the proceeds of those obligations or moneys from other sources are 225
to or may be applied, and other implementation of those 226
development purposes as referred to in this section, are not 227
subject to Sections 4 and 6 of Article VIII, Ohio Constitution. 228
Obligations issued under authority of this section, the transfer 229
thereof, and the interest, interest equivalent, and other income 230
and accreted amounts therefrom, including any profit made on the 231
sale, exchange, or other disposition thereof, shall at all times 232
be free from taxation within the state.233

       (F) This section shall otherwise be implemented in the manner 234
and to the extent provided by law by the General Assembly, 235
including provision for the procedure for incurring and issuing 236
obligations, separately or in combination with other obligations, 237
and refunding, retiring, and evidencing obligations; provision for 238
ensuring the accountability of all state funding provided for the 239
development purposes referred to in division (A) of this section; 240
provision for restricting or limiting the taking of private 241
property under Section 19 of Article I for disposition to private 242
sector entities for the purposes identified in divisions (A)(2) 243
and (3) of this section or restricting the disposition of that 244
property to private sector entities or individuals; and provision 245
for the implementation of the development purposes referred to in 246
division (A) of this section to benefit people and businesses 247
otherwise qualified for receipt of funding for the development 248
purposes referred to in division (A) of this section, including 249
economically disadvantaged businesses and individuals in all areas 250
of this state, including by the use to the extent practicable of 251
Ohio products, materials, services, and labor.252

       (G) The powers and authority granted or confirmed by and 253
under, and the determinations in, this section are independent of, 254
in addition to, and not in derogation of or a limitation on, 255
powers, authority, determinations, or confirmations under laws or 256
under other provisions of the Ohio Constitution including, without 257
limitation, Section 7 of Article I, Section 5 of Article VI, 258
Sections 2i, 2n, 2o, 13, and 15 of Article VIII, Article X, and 259
Section 3 of Article XVIII, and do not impair any previously 260
adopted provisions of the Ohio Constitution or any law previously 261
enacted by the General Assembly or by a local public agency.262

EFFECTIVE DATE AND REPEAL
263

       If adopted by a majority of the electors voting on this 264
proposal, the proposal shall take effect immediately, and existing 265
Section 2p of Article VIII of the Constitution of the State of 266
Ohio shall be repealed from that effective date.267