Fiscal Note & Local Impact Statement
126 th General Assembly of Ohio
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BILL: |
DATE: |
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STATUS: |
SPONSOR: |
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LOCAL IMPACT
STATEMENT REQUIRED: |
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STATE FUND |
FY 2007 |
FY 2008 |
FUTURE YEARS |
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Ohio Ballot Board - GRF |
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Revenues |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
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Expenditures |
Potential increase in
election costs |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
Note: The state
fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
For example, FY 2007 is July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2007.
·
Ballot Printing Costs. Revises the
redistricting process for General Assembly and Congressional districts. If this measure appears on the ballot in
November, the state will experience a one-time increase in election costs for
whatever costs counties incur from adding this additional measure to their
ballots.
·
Ballot Advertising Costs. Based on recent ballot expenses, the state could experience costs
of $200,000 or more associated with the required advertising of this issue in a
newspaper of general circulation in each county. The state reimburses counties via the Ohio Ballot Board.
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LOCAL
GOVERNMENT |
FY 2006 |
FY 2007 |
FUTURE YEARS |
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County Boards of Elections |
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Revenues |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
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Expenditures |
Increase in ballot
advertising costs; however, these will be reimbursed by the state |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
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Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
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Local Ballot Advertising Costs. Generally, counties initially pay for the costs of the required
ballot advertisement, and then later submit an invoice to the Secretary of
State's Office for reimbursement.
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Bill Overview
The bill revises the
redistricting process for General Assembly and Congressional districts. The bill would replace the current
Apportionment Board of seven members with the Ohio Redistricting Commission,
consisting of seven members, four of which must be appointed by the leaders of
the General Assembly, and three of which must be appointed unanimously by the
first four. If the four members are not
able to unanimously appoint one or more of the three additional members, each
of the four members must submit a proposed name to the Governor, who will
randomly select the necessary members to fill the remaining vacancies. The bill prohibits persons who have, within
ten years, held or have been a candidate for a state or federal office for
which candidates may be nominated by political parties from being appointed to
the Ohio Redistricting Commission. It
also prohibits members of the Redistricting Commission from being a candidate
for the Ohio General Assembly at the first general election after the adoption
of a new Congressional or General Assembly plan.
Fiscal Effect
The General Assembly will
appropriate whatever funds it deems necessary for the Commission to complete
its task. This should result in no new
additional costs as the previous Apportionment Board was funded in the same
manner. However, the "As
Reported" version of the bill gives the Supreme Court the authority to reconvene
the Commission in the event that a submitted plan is determined to be
unconstitutional. If such a case were
to occur, there would be added costs for the Commission to complete a new plan. The General Assembly is also responsible for
appropriating whatever funds deemed necessary to defend the adopted
Congressional and General Assembly plan from any lawsuit arising from the
adopted plan. The Attorney General is
responsible for defending it.
There would be temporary
local costs associated with the passage of this bill, which the state will
reimburse, for the required advertising of this issue in a newspaper of general
circulation in each county. Generally,
counties initially pay for the costs of producing the required ballot
advertisement, and then later submit an invoice to the Secretary of State's
Office for reimbursement. The Ohio
Ballot Board then gets Controlling Board approval to reimburse the counties
after the invoices have been received.
In the fall 2005 election,
ballot issues 1-5, which proposed various changes to the state's campaign
finance and elections process, had a combined advertising cost of approximately
$1.1 million. Thus, it could be
reasonably estimated that adding a single issue to the ballot would result in
approximately $200,000 or more in additional advertising costs. Note, however, that, these costs vary
depending upon the length of the amendment.
LSC fiscal staff: Terry Steele, Budget Analyst