Senate discussions follow-up on state budget from yesterday.
After a very in-depth legislative discussion with our OPRA leader Pete Moore, I attended a early evening reception provided by the Success Group(Mike Toman) for the Ohio Senate Republican caucus and leadership. Pete had a prior engagement.
The Senators were complimentary of the assistance of the Success Group in its ethical and informative role in the budget process and legislation.

Had very positive discussions with various members of the Senate Finance Committee ( Senators Dolan, Kunze, Ecklund ) and Subcommittee Chair Hackett, Majority Leader Matt Huffman and President Pro Temp Peterson.
The discussions on the state budget were limited to budget rules on biannual increases state budgets. There is restrictive rule language that holds spending increases down from one budget cycle to another. That rule may have more impact on state budget increases rather than the state revenue verses state spending we’ve been concerned about.
There were very positive remarks from a variety of Senators on OPRA’s issues and workforce. No commitment on voting outcome.
The most interesting discussion was a one on one discussion with Senate President Larry Obhof. He was very supportive of Director Davis and even suggested a joke to played on the Director. To me , a strong indication of Director Davis’s relationship with the legislature. I’ll discuss the joke at a later time.
Senate President Obhof was also not sharing any specific outcome on DODD budget but indicating that the Senate has to follow state rule on overall spending increases. That does not mean DODD will be cut or not. The good news, the Senate President has a high appreciation of a Director Davis run state department.
We are in as good/positive place as any prior state process. DODD’s creditability is high and the Senate recognized the support for DODD’s budget request from various associations including OPRA. OPRA’s brand is known and valued by the elected officials.
There will be at least another week of deliberations before a vote.(no mention of baseball today)
Thanks
Than

Than Johnson
Chief Executive Officer, CRSI
Office: 937-653-1307
Mobile: 937-776-5515 > On May 29, 2019, at 11:18 AM, Than Johnson <TJohnson@crsi-oh.com> wrote:
>
> OPRA Senate Finance Committee testimony was provided yesterday.
> We were fortunate that Mike Toman had set up prior discussion with many of the members, including Chairperson Senator Dolan, prior to the committee hearing.
> The testimony was similar to that provided to the Senate Sub- Committee on Health and Medicaid chaired by Senator Hackett.
> I received questions on both NMT and on expansion of our healthcare workforce through potential hiring of 16/17 aged students under a cadet like program. There was no mention of issues with removing the GED requirement.
> The question on NMT centered around the need or lack there of a study committee. While we emphasized the priority was to keep the level of funding as in the current Governor/House approved state budget and we did acknowledge the length and results of a 2 year long study of the NMT issue.
> There was a discussion on where the field of employment is going( from sheltered workshop to community inclusion and competitive employment) and that the prior study group had well thought out recommendations.
> The final statement was to implement those results as quickly as possible even it meant accepting a short span study committee as indicated in the House version of NMT. The county board representative came up afterwards and thanked OPRA for its support on NMT recommendations.
> In meeting with Senator Antonio during the hearing, she moved from supporting a study committee(voiced in the sub- committee hearings) on the principled concept of ‘that study committee should include individuals with disabilities’ to not having a study committee but making sure input to the process from individuals with disabilities was included by Director Davis’s administration. A good suggestion.
> We are now in the final stages of Senate deliberations and will keep making the rounds to emphasize our requests and support for amendments carried by various Senators on issues such as franchise fee, summary judgement process at county level, NMT , $13.00 average wage with administrative components, increase in day services wage rate,  and support of Director Davis initiatives.
> The 7th inning of this process will be a Senate vote on their version of the state budget based on their assumptions of state revenue verses state budget funding . We hope to hold on to all our funding in both DODD and OOD budgets but are aware of the possibility of some spending cuts so *keep up your communication with your Senators.
> The 8th inning will the assignment of ‘conference committee’ participants from Governor, House and Senate to resolve differences in each’s budget proposals and then approve final state budget funding and initiatives.
> The 9th inning will be the Governor either signing the state budget  or vetoing some line items which will mean extra innings as House and Senate either agree or overturn those vetos.
> Stay tune, stay involved and stay connected.
> Than
>

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