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activists work to put two issues on this fall's ballot.

And the fiscal year ends on a potentially off note.

That's this weekend.

The state of Ohio.

welcome to the state of Ohio.

I'm Karen Kasler.

A proposed constitutional amendment that would change the way district lines for lawmakers are drawn in Ohio has been talked about for months as the group backing it has gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures.

Those petitions were turned in Monday to put the measure before voters in November.

Statehouse correspondent Joe Ingles reports.

The group Citizens, Not Politicians, dropped off more than 731,000 petition signatures at the Ohio Secretary of State's office two days before the deadline.

They need more than 413,000 of them to be valid for the issue to be on the November ballot.

The amendment would replace the seven elected officials on the Ohio Redistricting Commission with a 15 member panel of Republicans, Democrats and independents, and none could be or have been politicians.

The summary language for the amendment had to be submitted three times, and then had to be corrected after a typo was found.

So the group wasn't able to start gathering signatures until late November.

The head of the League of Women Voters of Ohio, Jen Miller, said Ohioans are tired of politicians who produce gerrymandered maps for their benefit.

And she said that created this bipartisan effort.

Politicians are going to use the ability to draw maps to guarantee their reelection, and that's a problem.

And it is absolutely true that both Republicans and Democrats do it.

That's exactly why we need to ban lobbyists and politicians from being able to rig the districts.

But it sounds like you're revved up.

Woo!

Later, Moore, backers of the measure rallied at the Ohio State House.

The time for change is now.

We can no longer allow politicians to manipulate our districts for their own gain.

It's time to put the power back in the hands of the people where it belongs.

Our faith calls us to stand up for justice and equality.

Gerrymandering is a moral failure and must be corrected.

Republican former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor was the only Republican to side with the court's three Democrats, all seven times, the court ruled.

Maps approved by the Ohio Redistricting Commission were unconstitutionally gerrymandered in 2022.

She helped write the proposed amendment, and she's leading the charge to pass a process seven times.

Seven times, my colleagues on the Supreme Ohio Supreme Court and I issued bipartisan rulings finding as a politician, drawn maps were unconstitutional.

Seven times, the politicians thumbed their nose at the citizens and trampled on the rule of law and imposed gerrymandered maps on our voters.

The redistricting process described in the amendment is complicated, and the group is bracing for a tough campaign that will criticize it.

Republican Senate President Matt Huffman helped create the Ohio Redistricting Commission and put the idea before voters in 2015, and he plans to oppose this amendment first.

The individuals who are going to be deciding what the district maps are, how we figure out who that it's it's almost impossible to know who that is.

I think that the people who are making an important decision like this ought to be elected officials who are accountable to the public, not unknown bureaucrats, somewhere, someplace, and subject to whatever rules in a oh, there's a 32 page single spaced document.

Huffman says there's another reason voters should reject the plan.

The cost.

The Constitution says we have to pay them.

That's a real problem.

What if they decide, well, you know, we want to hire these folks and we're going to pay them half a million bucks apiece, and we're going to need a staff of ten people.

We have to pay them.

That's what the constitution of the state of Ohio will say that.

So there's a lot of more, detail.

But basically what I would say is no accountability, no restrictions on how you can draw districts and no, no financial accountability.

O'Connor says that's not true.

Okay.

7 million.

Okay.

That dollar amount is related to the amount of money that was spent in 2022 by the legislature, by the redistricting commission in fighting for these seven unconstitutional maps.

And we are not going to exceed that by one penny.

So there is a cap on the amount of money that will be spent for this process of redistricting.

So he should take some comfort in that, that we follow their lead.

and, came up with a dollar amount that obviously they thought was reasonable in their efforts in 2020 to the citizens, not politicians amendment has the backing of progressive and union groups, but also from Republican former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had celebrated when voters approved the amendment that changed congressional redistricting in Ohio in 2018.

It's likely to take three weeks to determine if the issue has enough valid signatures to make the fall ballot, where it would appear, along with the presidential and U.S. Senate races, as well as contests for all 15 congressional seats.

The entire Ohio House and half the Senate, and three Ohio Supreme Court seats.

Joe Ingles, statehouse news bureau.

As the redistricting activists were celebrating, another group was mounting a final push to get their signatures before the deadline.

Raise the wage.

Ohio brought in both volunteers and hired petition circulators for their campaign, That amendment would hike the minimum wage to $15 an hour, plus tips in 2026.

Pushback is likely from Republicans, though there is a bill from Republican Senator Bill blessing to raise the wage to $15 an hour for non tipped workers over four years, and tipped workers receiving $7.50 an hour.

Critics have noted that that would not be a constitutional amendment, but a law that could be changed and wouldn't take effect until 2028, two years after the amendment would raise the wage if it's approved.

Property taxes are still a hot issue, with many homeowners paying the second half of the year bills in the last few weeks.

Two House Republican lawmakers have proposed putting an amendment before voters that would limit property tax increases to 4% a year.

Sponsors Scott Whigham and Beth Lehrer said it would work like a throttle on property tax increases, which have soared 30% in some areas.

But going into the summer break, House leaders were skeptical.

Speaker Jason Stevens is a former county auditor and said he's concerned.

Stevens says he thinks it's easier to change the taxes themselves.

Minority Leader Allison Russo said putting an arbitrary cap into the Constitution doesn't sound like good lawmaking to her.

The amendment is not likely to come about this year, because a supermajority of lawmakers would have to pass it by August 7th to put it before voters in November.

And the House and Senate aren't scheduled to return for voting sessions until after the fall election.

With lawmakers off for the next few months, there are hundreds of bills that may or may not move forward in the lame duck session after the November 5th vote.

Three of them are Republican sponsored legislation related to health care costs.

One would require hospitals to publish actual prices of services and procedures, and would protect patients from debt collectors and negative credit reports if hospitals are not in compliance.

It passed the House overwhelmingly last year, but the Senate changed it by reducing penalties, removing a provision allowing patients to file complaints with the Ohio Department of Health if hospitals do not disclose prices, and allowing hospitals to publish estimates of costs.

When the bill came up in that marathon session last week.

The House voted 92 to 2 not to go along with the Senate's changes.

Republican Representative Tim Barr Horst is a sponsor.

since the Senate's put it out, we've had some, medical groups and individual hospitals actually tell us it's unworkable.

And some the hospital association has members as you know.

Well, big little, small, medium and some of the hospitals really liked our bill and some of them really hated it.

So there was that process going back and forth.

and some of them now say it's, it's not workable because there's an estimator loophole.

So there's no prices that actually are provided.

So that one create any competition or any information that's really usable.

An estimate is already out there.

Currently they're already using them.

They do tens of thousands a year.

but very few of them ever are, are megawatt near or close to what what what's published in that estimate.

So we we are not a believer, in the House and my, my co-sponsor, Ron Ferguson rep. Ferguson.

that estimates really have much value.

So we we want we want some some certainty that the prices will be accessible to, to, patients so they can actually really feel out, feel out where they're going to be at what the price and how it interacts with their health plan and what that deductible and out of pocket bah.

Horst also has a bill that would require half of prescription drug rebates to go to patients and have to go to the insurance plan sponsor.

The other bill is known as the Community Pharmacy Protection Act and seeks to address concerns about a lack of cost transparency from pharmacy benefit managers or PBMs, which act as middlemen between insurers and pharmacies.

Mara says the bill comes after the shut downs of many small local pharmacies.

the result of this rapidly approaching crisis is widespread.

Pharmacy does not hire, which will not be good for any of us.

I will continue to ensure that our constituents and patients in Ohio have adequate access to health care by protecting community pharmacies.

the bill is already being targeted by two opponents.

It's the PBM industry, the pharmacy benefit managers.

They're part of the vertical integration that some of our biggest insurance companies have, bought into and owned these companies.

the other one is fighting it in partnership with the PBMs.

It's the Ohio Chamber.

I'm very disappointed in the chamber.

they have a lot of small businesses that should, have a bigger voice in this.

Dave Burke is the executive director of the Ohio Pharmacists Association and a former Republican senator and pharmacy owner.

He tells me that he would estimate about 150 pharmacies in Ohio have closed in the last 24 months, most of them independent pharmacies and most in the last year.

On the other side of the aisle, Democrats, a bill aimed at protecting consumers from unexpected costs called the Junk Fee Elimination Act.

whether they're called service fees, processing fees, or convenience charges.

These predatory fees cost American consumers an estimated $90 billion a year.

Billion with a B.

These fees may pop up when you, pay to buy a car, pay your credit card or cellphone bill or delivery for dinner, or even when you pay your rent.

The Junk Fee Elimination Act will crack down on deceptive pricing and protect consumers by requiring that all businesses display the total price of items and services, including the mandatory fees.

In a clear manner, the only exceptions would be for government taxes or delivery fees that must be disclosed before the supplier accepts the payment.

The money Ohio families are losing to junk fees is money we're not saving and investing or spending on actual goods and services because these fees are not disclosed or explained.

We often do not realize this money has been charged for the purpose until it's gone.

The bill has 20 co-sponsors.

All Democrats.

Representative Munira Abdullahi said they're working to bring some Republicans on board.

and we're still working on, with the Economic Liberties Project, on the details of this bill and how it would be better mandated.

and so we're still, you know, having conversations with them.

but this is a good start on having these fees being more transparent, and hopefully eliminating those random fees.

But but your questions on how exactly would be mandated across different states.

internationally, we're working with the, the Economist economic liberties Project because they've done this in different states.

and there is a federal version of it that's been, you know, worked on by President Biden.

and hopefully when that passes, it will be a lot easier.

It's easier to do it federally than states, but we want to take some action as Ohio while we wait for that.

The bill was introduced in May and has not had a hearing yet.

July 1st marked the end of the fiscal year, and it's been a tough one as of the last report from the Office of Budget and Management.

Year to date, tax collections are $429.4 million below estimates, which is down 1.7%, but in four of the last six months, tax receipts were down from forecasts because the state has to have a balanced budget.

This has been a concern.

Governor Mike DeWine said in May he suspects he knows why the numbers are down.

I sat down with the state's budget director, Kym Marsh, to talk about what's been happening.

And we started with the $4.2 billion capital budget that was signed at the end of June.

The, capital budget is largely funded by state issued bonds.

So the state issues debt over a period of time, very similar to a family taking out a mortgage to pay for a house.

The state issues bonds to pay for long term facilities projects.

But there is some extra money in this budget, so we'll talk about that in a minute.

But without getting too technical, how does your office, once the budget is approved, make sure everybody gets the money that they've been appropriated?

Well, for those community projects, we will be working with the grant recipients for the one time, strategic funds first to ensure that they they are who they say they are and that they are the intended, grantee.

So we'll go through a secure validation process and then we will, they will submit a grant application to us.

We will verify the information and then issue the payments.

This capital budget may be a record breaker, right?

This capital budget is the largest, in terms of dollars appropriated and includes $3.5 billion in what I would call the traditional capital budget realm.

And then, as you alluded to earlier, there's, $700 million in cash funded projects that are supported by revenue that existed in the general fund that the General Assembly set aside during the last operating budget.

So the those dollars have been, held over and are now being appropriated for the various projects.

For a while we were hearing the state was flush with cash, and that's where the $770 million come from.

This is not something that we should expect going forward, right?

We are definitely.

And like other states in a an era of returning to normal.

So we are seeing our sales tax revenues, which is our largest state revenue source, still continuing to grow, but at a more normalized pace.

And we are seeing the rest of our revenue streams come back to more normal patterns as well.

So the, the pandemic era of large fluctuations in receipts has, thankfully been put in the past and we are able not to move on.

And what is a more traditional revenue pattern.

So the capital budget moves forward.

At the same time, we're at the end of this fiscal year and the state is required to have a balanced budget.

Tax collections, though, are down by $429.4 million, according to estimates.

According to your monthly report for May that came out on June 10th.

So how do you make up that difference?

Sure.

We have seen the personal income tax come in below estimates this fiscal year, especially in the last, half of the year.

And that is due to, larger than expected personal income tax refund payments.

So as we've processed those payments, that caused our, personal income tax receipts to come in below estimate.

However, at the same time, we have seen other revenue categories come in above estimate.

For instance, the state's return on investment.

Our earnings and on, on interest on the state's cash and in general revenue fund has been significantly above estimate, largely due to the interest rate environment that we're in right now.

In addition, the commercial activity tax has come in above estimates.

So that does largely balance out the, what we've seen in the personal income tax such that we are really within about a half a percentage point of where we expected to be at this point in time.

We've also seen, spending come in below estimate.

So altogether, the state is still on a very strong, very solid financial position.

The commercial activity tax that you just mentioned is up 22% over estimates, I think, at this month.

But the current budgeted start up, but the current budget that is in place right now starts a two year phase in of an exemption that eliminates the commercial activity tax, which was the state's main business tax for about 90% of Ohio businesses.

So why is that number up?

the the budget did includes new provisions to, to, to reset the, the baseline for when businesses are required to pay the commercial activity tax and so there will still be will be those larger businesses will continue to pay.

And we have accounted for that in our estimates.

the other change that the budget included was to direct 100% of the commercial activity tax receipts to the state's general fund, whereas prior to that, 15% had been set aside in a in a in a different fund.

So that's why you see some of the growth happening at the same time that, that this structure was changed to ultimately result in fewer businesses paying that tax.

So we have accounted for those, those provisions in our estimates, they, have begun to to hit in fiscal 24, but they will largely, hit in fiscal 25.

And again, we have we have plan for that in the budget.

You talk about the personal income tax and collections are 486.9 million, or 5.4% lower than the budget estimates, and 1.2 billion or 12.5% lower than last year.

is this just an effect of cutting income taxes in the state budget, which is what governor Mike DeWine has said it is largely the, especially when you compared to prior years, that is largely the result of the planned reductions, that the General Assembly passed in in the last budget that continued phase down, continue collapsing of our income tax brackets.

The, the other impact that we've seen for the personal income tax this year is a provision that was put in place in tax year 22 that allowed for certain businesses pass through entities, things like partnerships, etc., to, to file their estimated taxes in order to take advantage of some federal tax provisions.

And the result of that was, ultimately, when they filed their final taxes for that tax year with the state, they were due refunds.

So there were higher than expected refunds to those businesses as a result of that provision.

They still ultimately paid the same to the state that they would have otherwise.

But it changed that pattern for when they paid.

So we had significant dollars come in to our fiscal year 23 that then were paid out in fiscal 24.

So it was kind of a timing issue there.

So should anybody be concerned because taxes were cut in the budget?

That was not Governor DeWine's proposal.

That was the legislature that put that in place.

Should we be concerned about the long term effect on the budget that that has?

So as we, with each budget, we project both the revenue and the spending side, and I'm not concerned about the balance of the current state budget.

The current biennium is is strong.

We continue to be in a good financial position as a state based on our current revenue structure.

It with the next budget, we will, need to continue to make sure that that revenue structure matches our expenditure needs in a way that we can continue to provide support to all of the programs and all of the, the necessary functions of government for now on behalf of Ohioans.

But again, Ohio is required by law to have a balanced budget.

So these things have to go into place.

It has to come out at the end of the year to be balanced.

That's correct.

And we will ensure that that continues to the case.

There was a lot of concern on the expenditure side about, Medicaid and people having to re qualify for Medicaid after the pandemic, and that means a lot of fewer people are on Medicaid.

As of when I looked at it today, 459,000 fewer people on Medicaid in May 2024 versus May 2023 is that why Medicaid spending is lower, just simply that there are fewer people on the Medicaid rolls and no other cost cutting measures?

That's correct.

Care.

And there are fewer people that are on the Medicaid rolls.

As you know, we we turn to to join those, eligibility assessments that had been on hold during the pandemic.

About a year ago, our Department of Medicaid and coordination with all of our counties who really do most of the work and have really done a great job of going back and and doing all of those eligibility reassessments.

And that has resulted in fewer people qualifying for Medicaid, which does align with what we're seeing in the economy.

We have continued to see near record low unemployment, but more people working, more jobs available in the state.

So so you would expect the Medicaid rolls to be declining.

And at the end of the year, you feel confident going forward?

Yes, we will absolutely close the fiscal year with a balanced budget and a structurally balanced budget.

The final report on the fiscal year should be available from the Office of Budget and Management in the next two weeks.

And that is it for this week.

For my colleagues at the statehouse News Bureau of Ohio Public Radio and Television.

Thanks for watching.

Please check out our website at State News.

Org or find us online by searching.

State of Ohio show.

You can also hear more from the Bureau on our podcast, The Ohio State House scoop.

Look for it every Monday morning wherever you get your podcasts.

Happy Independence Day.

And please join us again next time for the State of Ohio.

We close this week with some nice views of Middletown between Dayton and Cincinnati, as seen after jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

Support for the Statehouse News Bureau comes from Medical Mutual, dedicated to the health and well-being of Ohioans, offering health insurance plans, as well as dental, vision and wellness programs to help people achieve their goals and remain healthy.

More at Med mutual.com.

The law offices of Porter, right, Morris and Arthur LLP.

Porter Wright is dedicated to bringing inspired legal outcomes to the Ohio business community.

More at porterwright.com.

Porter Wright inspired Every day in Ohio Education Association, representing 120,000 educators who are united in their mission to create the excellent public schools.

Every child deserves more at OHEA.org.