H.B.
230
126th General Assembly
(As Introduced)
·
Prohibits discrimination based on military status with
respect to the Civil Rights Commission Laws and various other
anti-discrimination laws regarding employment and work related issues, housing
and real estate acquisition, health care, and insurance.
·
Establishes a voluntary, state-sponsored "Patriot
Discount Card" program to provide special benefits for military personnel.
·
Exempts from Ohio income taxes the compensation
received by members of the Ohio Organized Militia for active duty related to
preparing for, or responding to, acts of terrorism.
·
Expressly includes as a taxpayer who may receive an
Ohio income tax filing extension a member of the Ohio National Guard or a
reserve component of the United States Armed Forces called to active duty or other
duty under Operation Iraqi Freedom.
·
Creates the Military Family Relief Fund to grant money
to the family members of eligible military personnel called to active duty on
or after September 11, 2001, and provides that the money for the fund is to
come from an income tax check-off program and voluntary taxpayer contributions,
matching state funds, and other donations.
·
Provides for college tuition and fee waivers and
reductions for the spouse or the qualified former spouse of a member of the
United States Armed Services killed in the line of duty while serving in a
combat zone after May 7, 1975, and makes an appropriation to reimburse the
affected institutions for the waivers and reductions.
·
Provides a $100,000 death benefit to active duty
members of the Ohio National Guard, rather than $20,000 as under current law.
·
Requires the Adjutant General to reimburse active duty
members of the Ohio National Guard for premiums they pay for federal
servicemembers' group life insurance.
·
Authorizes state agencies to make their interactive
video teleconference facilities available at cost to the immediate families of
persons deployed on active duty.
·
Requires the Attorney General to appoint a staff member
of the Consumer Protection Division to expedite certain cases or issues raised
by a person, or the person's immediate family, who is deployed on active duty.
·
Eliminates a sales and use tax exemption for investment
metal bullion and investment coin.
·
Eliminates the re-employment forfeiture imposed on
public retirement system retirants who return earlier than two months after
retirement to public employment to fill a staffing need caused by an employee
being called to active duty.
·
Declares an emergency.
Overview.. 4
Protection against discrimination because
of military service
Civil Rights Commission Laws. 5
Unlawful discriminatory practice. 6
Civil Rights Commission duties under
the bill 11
Civil Rights Laws affect on other
laws. 12
Employment and work-related
discrimination. 12
Health insuring corporation contracts
with physicians. 12
Hiring and treatment of employees
under state or political subdivision
purchase contracts. 13
Hiring and treatment of employees
under public building or works contracts. 13
Affirmative action programs regarding
public building and works contracts; equal consideration of minority business
enterprises. 13
Hiring hall agreements. 14
Public employee union
anti-discrimination pledge. 14
Housing and real estate acquisition
discrimination. 14
Affirmative marketing plans as
condition to issuance of housing general obligations 14
Reporting of mortgage loan
information. 15
Denial of municipal housing to
elderly or low- to moderate-income persons. 15
Crime of interference with fair
housing rights. 15
Display of notice about illegal
discrimination regarding real estate
transactions. 15
Real estate transaction agency
agreements. 16
Insurance and health care. 16
Health insurance and care. 16
Insurance agent consumer fee. 16
Benefits granted because of military service
Patriot Discount Card. 17
Program creation. 17
Card issuance. 17
Benefits. 17
Prohibition regarding use. 18
Income tax benefits. 18
Deduction of military pay from Ohio
adjusted gross income. 18
Ohio income tax filing extension. 18
Military Family Relief Fund. 18
Creation and purpose. 19
Sources of money. 19
Tuition waiver. 20
Current law.. 20
The bill 21
Ohio National Guard death benefit 21
Benefit 21
Life insurance premium reimbursement 22
Interactive video teleconference
facilities. 23
Expedition of consumer protection and
other cases or issues. 23
OTHER provisions
Subjecting investment metal bullion
and investment coin purchases to sales
and use tax. 24
Re-employment forfeiture not
applicable when filling job of person on
active duty. 25
Income tax refund contribution system
changes. 25
Effective date. 26
The bill proposes
to enact provisions that protect individuals in the military service from
discrimination and that provide such individuals special benefits. The provisions protecting against
discrimination focus on the Civil Rights Commission Laws and various other laws
regarding employment and work-related discrimination, and discrimination
regarding housing and real estate acquisition, health care, and insurance. The special benefits include the Patriot
Discount Card program, income tax benefits, military family relief, tuition
waivers for spouses of deceased military personnel in certain cases, death
benefits, reimbursement for life insurance premiums, use of interactive video
teleconferencing, and expedited consumer protection aid. The bill also eliminates the sales and use
tax exclusion on investment metal bullion and investment coin, thereby making
those sales taxable. Finally, the bill
makes changes to the law governing the public retirement systems to remove the
re-employment penalty that results in a temporary loss of benefits if a
retirant is employed by a public employer or police or fire department or as a
teacher within two months of retirement to fill a staffing need caused by an
employee being called to active duty.
Current law
generally protects individuals from discrimination based on a factor such as an
individual's race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, ancestry, or
disability.
The bill amends the laws governing the Civil Rights Commission duties with
respect to unlawful discriminatory practices and other discrimination to add
military status to the factors that cannot be used to discriminate. The bill also amends certain other laws to add
military status to the factors that cannot be used to discriminate regarding
employment and work-related situations, housing and real estate acquisition,
and insurance and health care.
In explaining the
bill's provisions, this analysis does not recite the existing list of
prohibited discriminatory factors in each law to which military status is being
added; those existing factors are unaffected by the bill and should be
understood as being present along with the added factor of military status.
The Ohio Civil
Rights Commission has the duty to prevent any person from engaging in unlawful
discriminatory practices. Such
practices cover a wide range of areas in which discrimination may occur,
including public places of accommodation, housing, real estate, employment, and
credit practices. In addition to
informal means of preventing unlawful discriminatory practices, which include
conference, conciliation, and persuasion, the Commission may take formal action
based on the filing, by any person, of a charge that another person is engaging
in or has engaged in an unlawful discriminatory practice. The formal process can include
investigation, hearing, and eventually issuance of various orders, including
cease and desist orders and orders to pay actual damages and reasonable
attorney fees. Commission orders may be
reviewed as well as enforced by a court.
In addition to its
duties to stop unlawful discriminatory practices, the Commission has other
duties, including surveying the existence and effect of discrimination on civil
rights in Ohio, preparing educational plans designed to eliminate prejudice,
receiving reports regarding affirmative housing accommodation programs,
studying problems of discrimination, and issuing publications and research and
investigation results aimed at reducing or eliminating discrimination.
The following are
situations relating to the Commission and its duties in which the bill adds
military status to the prohibited discriminatory factors.
(R.C. 4112.01, 4112.02, and 4112.021)
Employment. Under the bill, it is an unlawful
discriminatory practice:
·
For any employer, because of military status, to
discharge without just cause, refuse to hire, or otherwise discriminate against
a person regarding employment;
·
For any employment agency or personnel placement
service, because of military status, to (1) refuse or fail to accept, register,
classify properly, or refer for employment, or otherwise discriminate against
any person, or (2) comply with requests from employers asking for employee
applicants in violation of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission Laws;
·
For any labor organization to limit or classify its
membership on the basis of military status;
·
For any labor organization to discriminate against,
limit the employment opportunities of, or otherwise adversely affect the
employment status, wages, hours, and conditions of any person based on military
status;
·
For any employer, labor organization, or joint
labor-management committee controlling apprentice training programs to
discriminate against a person because of military status in admission to, or
employment in, any apprentice training program;
·
Except when approved by the Commission in advance for a
bona fide occupational qualification, for any employer, employment agency,
personnel placement service, or labor organization, prior to employment or
admission to: (1) elicit or attempt to
elicit the military status of an applicant for employment or membership, (2)
make or keep a record of the military status of an applicant for employment or
membership, (3) use an employment, personnel, or membership form seeking to
elicit information regarding military status, (4) print or publish or cause to
be printed or published any notice or advertisement relating to employment or
membership indicating any preference, limitation, specification, or
discrimination based on military status, (5) announce or follow a policy of
denying or limiting employment or membership opportunities for any group
because of military status, or (6) use to recruit or hire persons any
employment agency, personnel placement service, training school or center,
labor organization, or any other employee-referring source known to
discriminate against persons because of military status;
·
For any person seeking employment to publish or cause
to be published any advertisement that specifies or in any manner indicates
that person's military status or expresses a limitation or preference as to the
military status of any prospective employer.
Public
accommodations. The bill
provides that it is an unlawful discriminatory practice:
·
For any proprietor or employee, keeper, or manager of a
place of public accommodation to deny any person, except for reasons applicable
alike to all persons regardless of military status, the full enjoyment of the
accommodations, advantages, facilities, or privileges of the place of
accommodation.
Housing
accommodations and real estate.
Under the bill, it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for any person
to do the following:
·
Refuse to sell, transfer, assign, rent, lease,
sublease, or finance housing accommodations, refuse to negotiate for the sale
or rental of housing accommodations, or otherwise deny or make unavailable
housing accommodations because of military status;
·
Represent to any person that housing accommodations are
not available for inspection, sale, or rental, when in fact they are available,
because of military status;
·
Discriminate against any person in the making or
purchasing of loans or the provision of other financial assistance for the
acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair, or maintenance of housing
accommodations, or any person in the making or purchasing of loans or the
provision of other financial assistance that is secured by residential real
estate, because of military status;
·
Discriminate against any person in the terms or
conditions of selling, transferring, assigning, renting, leasing, or subleasing
any housing accommodations or in furnishing facilities, services, or privileges
in connection with the ownership, occupancy, or use of any housing
accommodations, including the sale of fire, extended coverage, or homeowners
insurance, because of military status;
·
Discriminate against any person in the terms or
conditions of any loan, whether or not secured by mortgage or otherwise, for
the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair, or maintenance of
housing accommodations because of military status;
·
Print, publish, or circulate any statement or
advertisement, or make or cause to be made any statement or advertisement,
relating to the sale, transfer, assignment, rental, lease, sublease, or
acquisition of any housing accommodations, or relating to the loan of money,
whether or not secured by mortgage or otherwise, for the acquisition,
construction, rehabilitation, repair, or maintenance of housing accommodations,
that indicates any preference, limitation, specification, or discrimination
based on military status, or an intention to make any such preference,
limitation, specification, or discrimination;
·
Make any inquiry, elicit any information, make or keep
any record, or use any form of application containing questions or entries
concerning military status in connection with the sale or lease of any housing
accommodations or the loan of any money, whether or not secured by mortgage or
otherwise, for the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair, or
maintenance of housing accommodations;
·
Include in any transfer, rental, or lease of housing
accommodations any restrictive covenant, or honor or exercise, or attempt to
honor or exercise, any restrictive covenant limiting the transfer, rental,
lease, or other use of any housing accommodations because of military status,
or including any limitation based upon affiliation with or approval by any
person, directly or indirectly, employing military status;
·
Induce or solicit, or attempt to induce or solicit, a
housing accommodations listing, sale, or transaction by representing that a
change has occurred or may occur with respect to the military status
composition of the block, neighborhood, or other area in which the housing
accommodations are located, or induce or solicit, or attempt to induce or
solicit, a housing accommodations listing, sale, or transaction by representing
that the presence or anticipated presence of persons of any military status in
the block, neighborhood, or other area will or may have results including the
following: (1) the lowering of property
values, (2) a change in the military status composition of the block,
neighborhood, or other area, (3) an increase in criminal or antisocial behavior
in the block, neighborhood, or other area, or (4) a decline in the quality of
the schools serving the block, neighborhood, or other area;
·
Deny any person access to or membership or
participation in any multiple-listing service, real estate brokers'
organization, or other service, organization, or facility relating to the
business of selling or renting housing accommodations, or discriminate against
any person in the terms or conditions of that access, membership, or
participation, on account of military status;
·
Discourage or attempt to discourage the purchase by a
prospective purchaser of housing accommodations, by representing that any
block, neighborhood, or other area has undergone or might undergo a change with
respect to its military status composition;
·
Refuse to sell, transfer, assign, rent, lease,
sublease, or finance, or otherwise deny or withhold, a burial lot from any
person because of the military status of any prospective owner or user of the
lot;
·
Discriminate against any person in the selling,
brokering, or appraising of real property because of military status.
Creditor
practices. The bill
provides that it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for any creditor to do
any of the following:
·
Discriminate against any applicant for credit in the
granting, withholding, extending, or renewing of credit, or in the fixing of
the rates, terms, or conditions of any form of credit, on the basis of military
status;
·
Use or make any inquiry as to military status for the
purpose of limiting or specifying those persons to whom credit will be granted,
except with respect to any inquiry, elicitation of information, record, or form
of application required of a particular creditor by any instrumentality or
agency of the federal government;
·
Refuse to consider the sources of income of an
applicant for credit, or disregard or ignore the income of an applicant, in
whole or in part, on the basis of military status;
·
Impose any special requirements or conditions,
including, but not limited to, a requirement for co-obligors or reapplication,
upon any applicant or class of applicants on the basis of military status in
circumstances where similar requirements or conditions are not imposed on other
applicants similarly situated;
·
Fail or refuse on the basis of military status to
maintain, upon the request of the individual, a separate account for each
individual to whom credit is extended;
·
Fail or refuse on the basis of military status to
maintain records on any account established after November 1, 1976, to furnish
information on the accounts to credit reporting agencies in a manner that
clearly designates the contractual liability for repayment as indicated on the
application for the account, and, if more than one individual is contractually
liable for repayment, to maintain records and furnish information in the name
of each individual.
Credit
reporting agency practices.
Under the bill, it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for any credit
reporting agency to do any of the following:
·
Fail or refuse on the basis of military status to
maintain, upon the request of the individual, a separate file on each
individual about whom information is assembled or evaluated;
·
Fail or refuse on the basis of military status to
clearly note, maintain, and report any information furnished it from a creditor
regarding repayment liability.
(R.C. 4112.04 and
4112.05)
Discrimination
surveys. The Commission
must make periodic surveys of the existence and effect of discrimination
because of military status on the enjoyment of civil rights by persons in Ohio.
Comprehensive
educational program. The
Commission must prepare a comprehensive educational program, in cooperation
with the Department of Education, for Ohio residents and the students in Ohio
public schools designed to eliminate prejudice on the basis of military status
in the state and to emphasize the origin of prejudice against military status,
its harmful effects, and its incompatibility with American principles of
equality and fair play;
Affirmative
action employment and housing accommodation program reports. The Commission must also receive progress
reports from state agencies, instrumentalities, institutions, boards,
commissions, and other entities or any political subdivisions and their
agencies, instrumentalities, institutions, boards, commissions, and other
entities regarding affirmative action programs for the employment of persons
against whom discrimination has occurred because of military status, or
regarding any affirmative housing accommodations programs developed to
eliminate or reduce an imbalance of persons of military status. All state and local governmental entities
that have undertaken affirmative action programs pursuant to a conciliation
agreement with the Commission, an executive order of the Governor, any federal
statute or rule, or an executive order of the President of the United States
must file progress reports with the Commission annually on or before the first
day of November. The Commission must
analyze and evaluate the progress reports and report its findings annually to
the General Assembly on or before the thirtieth day of January of the year
immediately following the receipt of the reports.
Study of
discrimination problems.
The Commission may study the problems of discrimination in all fields of
human relationships when based on military status, or may empower local or
statewide advisory agencies and conciliation councils it creates to do so.
Publications,
investigations, and research about discrimination. The Commission may issue any publications
and the results of investigations and research that in its judgment will tend
to promote good will and minimize or eliminate discrimination because of
military status.
Commission
hearings. When the
Commission conducts a hearing on alleged unlawful discriminatory practice, the
Commission, its members, or the hearing examiner are not bound by the Rules of
Evidence, but in ascertaining the practices followed by the respondent, must
take into account all reliable, probative, and substantial statistical or other
evidence produced at the hearing that may tend to prove the existence of a
predetermined pattern of employment or membership, provided that nothing in the
Civil Rights Commission Laws governing its hearings authorizes or requires any
person to observe the proportion that persons of military status bear to the
total population or in accordance with any criterion other than the individual
qualifications of the applicant.
(R.C. 4112.08)
The bill provides
that nothing contained in the Civil Rights Commission Laws may be construed to
repeal any of the provisions of any Ohio law relating to discrimination based
on military status, except that any person filing such a charge of
discrimination under the Civil Rights Commission Laws based on military status
is barred from instituting a civil action in any court with jurisdiction for
any legal or equitable relief that will effectuate the individual's rights.
The following are
situations that are employment and work-related in which the bill adds military
status to the factors that cannot be used to discriminate or that can be used
to include an individual in a protected or covered class for participation in a
special program, or for special benefit or protection.
(R.C. 124.93)
The bill prohibits
health insuring corporations that enter into or renew a contract with the
Department of Administrative Services (DAS) to provide health care for state
employees from refusing to contract with a physician to provide that health
care based on the physician's military status.
(R.C. 125.111)
Every contract, for
or on behalf of the state or its political subdivisions for any purchase must
contain provisions under which the contractor agrees: (1) that when hiring employees to perform work under the contract
or any subcontract, the contractor or subcontractor must not discriminate
against any citizen of Ohio because of military status if the person is
qualified and available to do the work under the contract, and (2) that a
contractor, subcontractor, or person acting on their behalf must not
discriminate against, intimidate, or retaliate against any employee hired to
perform work under the contract based on military status.
(R.C. 153.59)
Every state,
township, county, or municipal contract to construct, alter, or repair any
public building or public work must contain provisions by which the contractor
agrees: (1) that when hiring employees
to perform work under the contract or any subcontract, the contractor,
subcontractor, or a person acting on their behalf must not discriminate against
any citizen of Ohio based on military status if the person is qualified and
available to perform the work under the contract or subcontract to which the
employment relates, and (2) that a contractor, subcontractor, or person acting
on their behalf must not discriminate against, or intimidate, any employee
hired to perform work under the contract based on the employee's military
status.
(R.C. 153.59)
DAS must ensure
that no capital money appropriated by the General Assembly for any purpose can
be expended unless the project for which the money is appropriated provides for
an affirmative action program for the employment and effective utilization of
disadvantaged persons whose disadvantage may arise from military status. DAS must also ensure, when awarding
contracts for capital improvement projects, that equal consideration be given
to contractors, subcontractors, or joint venturers who qualify as a minority
business enterprise. Under the bill, a
minority business enterprise may be one that is owned or controlled by one or
more persons who are Ohio residents and who are disadvantaged because of
military status.
(R.C. 153.591)
Any provision of a
hiring hall contract or agreement that obligates a contractor to hire, if
available, only employees referred to the contractor by a labor organization
are void as against public policy and unenforceable with respect to employment
under any public works contract unless at the date of execution of the contract
or agreement, or within 30 days, the labor organization has in effect
procedures for referring qualified employees regardless of military status.
(R.C. 4117.19)
As part of its
annual report filed with the State Employment Relations Board, each employee
organization certified or recognized to represent public employees must include
a pledge, in a form prescribed by the Board, that the organization complies
with the laws of the state and accepts members without regard to military
status.
The following are
situations relating to housing and real estate acquisition in which the bill
adds military status to the factors that cannot be used to discriminate or that
can be used to include an individual in a protected or covered class for
participation in a special program, or for special benefit or protection.
(R.C. 176.04)
No municipal
corporation, county, or township is permitted to issue general obligations to
provide or assist in providing housing unless it has, among other requirements,
submitted to the housing advisory board serving it, a plan for affirmative
marketing to persons who are members of groups that may be disadvantaged
because of military status.
(R.C. 176.06)
Each municipal
corporation, county, and township must compile and make available to the public
for inspection or copying for a period of five years the number and total
dollar amount of mortgage loans that were originated, for which completed
applications were received and applicants rejected, and that were purchased by
that municipal corporation, county, or township during each fiscal year. The information must be itemized to clearly
and conspicuously disclose, among other things, the number and dollar amount of
mortgage loans involving mortgagors and mortgage applicants grouped according
to military status.
(R.C. 717.01)
A municipal
corporation may construct or rehabilitate, equip, maintain, operate, and lease
facilities for housing elderly and low- or moderate-income persons. No municipal corporation, with respect to
those housing accommodations, may deny them to or withhold them from an elderly
or low- or moderate-income person based on military status. If such a denial or withholding occurs, the
elderly or low- or moderate-income person may file a charge with the Civil
Rights Commission.
(R.C. 2927.03)
No person is
permitted by force or threat of force to willfully injure, intimidate, or
interfere with, or attempt to injure, intimidate, or interfere with (1) any person
obtaining or providing housing because of military status, (2) any person
participating in the process of obtaining or providing housing who is not
engaging in discrimination based on military status, or (3) any person aiding
or encouraging others to participate in the process of obtaining or providing
housing who is not engaging in discrimination based on military status or who
is participating in the exercise of free speech or peaceful assembly regarding
denial of the opportunity to participate in the process of obtaining or
providing housing.
(R.C. 4735.16)
Every real estate
broker's office must prominently display in the same immediate area as licenses
are displayed a statement that it is illegal to discriminate against any person
because of military status in the sale or rental of housing or residential
lots, in advertising the sale or rental of housing, in the financing of
housing, or in the provision of real estate brokering services.
(R.C. 4735.55)
Each written real
estate transaction agency agreement must contain, among other things, a
statement that it is illegal under federal and state law to refuse to sell,
transfer, assign, rent, lease, sublease, or finance housing accommodations,
refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of housing accommodations, or deny
or otherwise make unavailable housing accommodations because of military
status, or to so discriminate in advertising the sale or rental of housing, in
the financing of housing, or in the provision of real estate brokerage
services.
The following are
situations relating to insurance and health care in which the bill adds
military status to the factors that cannot be used to discriminate.
(R.C. 1751.18)
Unless otherwise
required by state or federal law, a health insuring corporation, or health care
facility or provider through which a health insuring corporation has made
arrangements to provide health care services, may not discriminate against any
individual regarding enrollment, disenrollment, or the quality of health care
services rendered based on the individual's military status.
(R.C. 3905.55)
An insurance agent
may charge a consumer fee if, among other requirements, the agent, in charging
the fee, does not discriminate based on military status.
The bill provides a
number of benefits to individuals in military service and to their families.
(R.C. 5902.20)
The Director of the
Governor's Office of Veterans Affairs must establish a Patriot Discount Card
program and provide a Patriot Discount Card to any Ohio resident who applies to
the director for a card and who is deployed on active duty. The Governor's Office of Veterans Affairs
must bear all costs of the program.
Before issuing a
card to an applicant, the director must establish the individual's identity and
must ascertain that the individual is eligible. Cards must contain the signature of the cardholder and any other
information the director considers necessary to carry out the purposes of the
card program. Any card that the
director issues is not transferable to any other person, but may be used by a
member of the cardholder's immediate family in accordance with rules that must
be adopted regarding the card. An
individual who loses a card may obtain another card from the director upon providing
the same information to the director as was required for the issuance of the
original card.
The director must
adopt rules under the Ohio Administrative Procedure Act to prevent the issuance
of cards to individuals who are not eligible and to provide for proper use of a
card by immediate family members of a cardholder while military duties require
the cardholder to be outside of the state.
The director must
devise programs to provide benefits of any kind to cardholders and encourage
support and participation in the programs by all persons and governmental
entities. Cardholders are entitled to
any benefits granted to them by persons or governmental entities, state laws,
or ordinances or resolutions of political subdivisions. The bill, however, does not require any
person or governmental entity to provide benefits to any cardholder.
No individual is permitted to use a
card except to obtain for the cardholder or the cardholder's immediate family
member a benefit to which the cardholder or immediate family member is entitled
under the conditions of the offer.
(R.C. 5747.01;
Section 3)
Ohio's income tax
is calculated using a taxpayer's "Ohio adjusted gross income," which
is based on a taxpayer's federal adjusted gross income with a few adjustments
provided in Ohio's income tax law. The
bill adds an additional adjustment that permits a taxpayer to deduct, to the
extent not otherwise allowable as a deduction or exclusion in computing federal
or Ohio adjusted gross income, the amount the taxpayer received during the
taxable year as compensation for serving as a member of the Ohio Organized
Militia engaged in active duty related to preparing for, or responding to, acts
of terrorism. The bill makes this adjustment applicable to
taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2005.
(R.C. 5747.026;
Section 3)
Under current law,
a taxpayer who is eligible for an extension under the Internal Revenue Code for
payment of federal income taxes will receive an extension of time to file any
Ohio return, report, or other tax document and an extension of time in which to
pay Ohio income taxes and school district income taxes. The bill specifies that this includes a
member of the Ohio National Guard or a member of a reserve component of the
United States Armed Forces called to active duty or other duty under Operation
Iraqi Freedom. The bill makes this
provision applicable to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2005.
(R.C. 5747.03,
5747.113, and 5902.26)
The bill creates in
the state treasury the Military Family Relief Fund to be used to grant money to
the family members of eligible military personnel called to active duty on or
after September 11, 2001. The Director of the Governor's Office of
Veteran Affairs must make the grants, upon application and in accordance with
rules the director must adopt under the Ohio Administrative Procedure Act. Those rules must establish (1) forms and
procedures by which individuals may apply for fund money, (2) criteria for
reviewing, evaluating, and ranking applications, (3) criteria for determining
the amounts awarded, and (4) any other rules necessary to administer the fund.
Voluntary
taxpayer contribution. The
bill provides that for taxable years beginning in 2005 or thereafter, a
taxpayer who wishes to contribute to the Military Family Relief Fund may donate
any part of the taxpayer's refund or increase the payment required to accompany
the taxpayer's annual income tax return.
A taxpayer must designate on the taxpayer's income tax return the amount
he or she wants to contribute to the fund, provided that the amount must be at
least $1. If a taxpayer elects to
increase a payment required to accompany the taxpayer's return and the taxpayer
fails to remit the full amount of the contribution, the amount of the
contribution must be reduced accordingly.
In no case shall a contribution reduce the combined amount of the state
and school district income taxes shown to be due on a taxpayer's annual
return. The bill requires the Tax
Commissioner to provide with the income tax form instructions a description of
the fund's purposes and how money contributed to it is used. The Commissioner is required to deposit the
contributions into the fund.
Matching
tax funds. The bill
requires the Treasurer of State to credit to the Military Family Relief Fund
from revenue from the income tax and the withholding tax imposed on certain
qualifying pass-through entities, an amount equal to the total dollar value
contributed to the fund from the voluntary income tax contributions.
Donations. The bill also permits any person to
contribute directly to the fund in addition to or independently of an income
tax contribution.
(R.C. 3333.26; Section 4)
Current law
provides that state-supported institutions of higher education must waive
tuition and student fees for up to four academic years of undergraduate
education to a student they admit that is:
(1) an Ohio resident who is under 26 years of age, or under 30 years of
age if honorably discharged from the armed services of the United States, and
who is the child of a public service officer killed in the line of duty or of a
member of the United States Armed Services killed in the line of duty during
Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom, or (2) an Ohio resident
who is the spouse or qualified former spouse of a public service officer killed
in the line of duty. Private institutions of higher education
may reduce their tuition and fees for the persons described above that they
admit by an amount indicated by the Ohio Board of Regents. Any private institution that makes such a
reduction is eligible to receive a grant in that amount from the board.
Each
state-supported institution of higher education that enrolls students described
above must report to the board, by July 1 of each year, the number of students
who were so enrolled and the average amount of all such tuition and fees waived
during the preceding year. The board
must determine the average amount of all such tuition and fees waived during
the preceding year, which will be the amount of grants that participating
institutions receive during the current year, but no grant can exceed the
tuition and student fees due and payable by the student prior to the
reduction. Such grants must be made for
four years of undergraduate education of an eligible student.
Current law defines
"qualified former spouse" to mean the former spouse of a public
service officer who is the custodial parent of a minor child of that marriage
pursuant to an order allocating parental rights and responsibilities for care
of the child.
The bill makes the
state-supported institution of higher education tuition and fee waiver and the
private institution tuition and fee reduction apply to a spouse or a qualified
former spouse of a member of the United States Armed Services killed in the
line of duty while serving in a combat zone after May 7, 1975. The bill defines "combat zone" to
mean an area which the President of the United States by executive order
designates as an area in which armed forces of the United States are or have
engaged in combat. The bill alters the
definition of "qualified former spouse" to include the former spouse
of a United States Armed Forces member.
The bill also
provides that, on July 15 of 2005 and 2006, or as soon as possible thereafter,
the Board of Regents must certify to the Director of Budget and Management the
amount that state-supported and private institutions of higher education must
be paid for the cost of providing tuition waivers or reductions to spouses and
qualified former spouses of members of the armed services of the United States
killed in the line of duty while serving in a combat zone after May 7,
1975. Upon receiving the certification,
the director must increase the appropriations for Ohio Instructional Grants by
the amount certified. The increased
appropriation must be used by the Board to pay the institutions for the cost of
providing tuition waivers or reductions to those spouses and qualified former
spouses.
(R.C. 169.05,
2969.14, and 5919.33)
Under current law,
on certification of the availability of funds by the Director of Budget and
Management, the Adjutant General must pay a death benefit of $20,000 from
appropriations for operating expenses to the properly designated beneficiary or
beneficiaries of any member of the Ohio National Guard who dies while
performing state active duty under orders issued by the Adjutant General on
behalf of the Governor.
The bill increases
this death benefit to $100,000, and provides that $80,000 of it is to come from
the Crime Victims Reparations Fund.
(The remaining $20,000 continues to be paid from Adjutant General
operating appropriations.) Upon the
Adjutant General's request, the Director of Budget and Management must request
that the Attorney General transfer sufficient additional money every fiscal
year from the Reparations Fund to pay the $100,000 death benefit to the
properly designated beneficiary or beneficiaries of any member of the Ohio
National Guard who dies while performing active duty under orders issued on
behalf of the Governor. If the money the Attorney General transfers
is insufficient to pay the total death benefit required, the Adjutant General
must request the Director to request that the Director of Commerce transfer
sufficient money from unclaimed funds to supplement the money transferred by
the Attorney General to pay the death benefit.
The bill makes corresponding changes to the laws governing disposition
of money from the Crime Victims Recovery Fund and unclaimed funds as part of the
death benefit funding mechanism.
(R.C. 5919.31)
The bill provides
that if an active duty member of the Ohio National Guard chooses to purchase
life insurance pursuant to the federal "Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance
Act," the Adjutant General must reimburse the member in an amount equal to
the premium paid.
(R.C. 125.024)
The bill provides
that DAS and any other state agency that owns or operates interactive video teleconference
facilities may make them available at cost to members of the immediate family
of persons deployed on active duty so that those family members can communicate
with the persons deployed. DAS must adopt, and may amend, rules under
the Administrative Procedure Act to implement these provisions.
(R.C. 1349.04)
The bill requires
the Attorney General to appoint a member of the staff of the Consumer
Protection Division to expedite cases or issues raised by a person, or the
immediate family of the person, who is deployed on active duty, which cases or
issues relate to Ohio laws regulating consumer protection. The expedition of cases and issues also
applies to laws addressing the following:
·
DAS authority to contract for state agencies regarding
telephone, telecommunication, and computer services;
·
A prohibition against a county recorder charging fees
for the recording of a military power of attorney;
·
Interest and finance charges regarding a person or
spouse deployed on active duty;
·
Termination of motor vehicle leases and cellular phone
contracts where a person or spouse is deployed on active duty;
·
Military leave of absence from state and private
institutions of higher education and career colleges and universities;
·
Authority of courts where ability to pay agreed rent is
materially affected by deployment on active duty;
·
Free public schooling when a parent is on active duty;
·
Provisions of life insurance contracts when a Reservist
is on active duty;
·
Prohibiting gas and electric service shut off for the
residential premises of a residential customer on active duty.
(R.C. 5739.01,
5739.011, and 5739.02)
Under Ohio's sales
and use tax law, sales of investment metal bullion and investment coins are
exempted--neither tax applies. Current
law defines "investment metal bullion" to mean any elementary
precious metal that has been put through a process of smelting or refining,
including gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, and which is in such state or
condition that its value depends upon its content and not upon its form.
"Investment metal bullion" does not include fabricated precious metal
that has been processed or manufactured for one or more specific and customary
industrial, professional, or artistic uses.
Current law defines "investment coins" to mean numismatic
coins or other forms of money and legal tender manufactured of gold, silver,
platinum, palladium, or other metal under the laws of the United States or any
foreign nation with a fair market value greater than any statutory or nominal
value of such coins.
The bill eliminates
the exemption and subjects their sale to the sales and use taxes. The title of the bill states that the
application of the sales tax to investment metal bullion and investment coin is
intended to fund the tuition and fee waivers and reductions discussed
above. But the bill does not amend or
enact any provision of codified or uncodified law to mandate such a funding
purpose.
(R.C. 145.38,
145.386, 742.26, 742.261, 3307.35, 3307.354, 3309.341, and 3309.346)
Under current law
governing the Public Employees Retirement System, Ohio Police and Fire Pension
Fund, State Teachers Retirement System, and School Employees Retirement System,
any retirant under those systems receiving benefits from a system is penalized
if, within two months after retirement, the retirant takes a job working for a
public employer, for a police or fire department, or as a teacher. Additionally, retirants under the State
Highway Patrol Retirement System and the Cincinnati Retirement System are also
subject to the penalty if they take such employment under the same
circumstances. The penalty is temporary
forfeiture, until the two months from the date of retirement have elapsed, of
the benefits the retirant is otherwise entitled to receive. In addition, service and contributions for
that period are not included in the calculation of any new retirement benefits
based on the new employment.
Under the bill, a
retirant employed by a public employer or police or fire department or as a
teacher to fill a position vacated by an employee called to active military
duty pursuant to an executive order of the President of the United States, an
Act of Congress, an order of the Governor requiring Ohio National Guard units
to perform training or duty authorized under federal law, or a proclamation of
the Governor calling out the Ohio Organized Militia to aid civil authorities,
is not to be subject to the forfeiture provisions. All service and all contributions made on compensation earned
during the retirant's employment must be used in the calculation of new
retirement benefits based on the retirant's employment.
(R.C. 1517.11,
1531.26, 5101.184, and 5747.113)
Current law permits
taxpayers to contribute any part of their Ohio income tax refund to the Natural
Areas and Preserves Fund, the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Fund, or
both. The Tax Commissioner administers
the income tax refund contribution system and is authorized by law to certify
to the Director of Budget and Management the costs of administering it. (The amount the Department of Taxation can
receive for administrative costs is capped at 2.5% of the total contributions
each year.) The Director must transfer
one-half of the cost of administering the system from each of the funds.
Because the bill,
as discussed above, allows taxpayers to not only contribute any portion of
their refund to the new Military Family Relief Fund, but also any additional
amount, the name of the system has been changed to the income tax contribution
system. Additionally, the
administration costs are now to be divided three ways, with a third each paid
from the three funds: the Natural Areas
and Preserves Fund, the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Fund, and the Military
Family Relief Fund.
(Section 6)
The bill declares
that it is an emergency measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the
public peace, health, and safety. The
stated reason for the necessity is to recognize and ease the hardship that many
members of the Armed Services and their families are facing as a result of
their service for their country.
Because of the emergency, the bill will go into immediate effect, if
passed by a two-thirds vote of each house of the General Assembly and signed by
the Governor.
ACTION
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DATE
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JOURNAL ENTRY
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Introduced
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05-03-05
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pp. 734-735
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h0230-i-126.doc/kl