02/03/2023

Governor Outlines Executive Budget for FY 24-25

OBM has released the Blue Book with additional details about the budget, although the actual bill language is still not available. Here is what we know:

Transportation/ODOT

• $2.9 billion for the Brent Spence Bridge (1x appropriation authority)
• $125 million for railroad safety improvement projects
• $100 million in increased and continued investments (including IIJA) in multi-modal transportation including rail development, airport improvements, and public transit
• $10 million for a statewide strategic transportation study to analyze and forecast transportation capacity over a 10- 20- and 30-year planning horizon and identify future projects
• $50 million Systemic Safety Program awards funding to projects that focus on wider shoulders, flattening slopes, removing deep ditches, and installing centerline and edge line rumble stripes – especially on high-speed rural roads
• Additional $11 million over the biennium for the Unmanned Aerial Systems Center

H2Ohio

• $307.2 million total for the biennium
• Dept of Ag: $69 million each FY (up from $49.3 mil) to continue best management practices across 1.5 million acres of farmland in the Maumee River Watershed and expand the program to additional counties in the Western Lake Erie Basin and across the state
• OEPA: $31.35 million in each FY (up from $10 mil in FY23) - $20 million for drinking water/wastewater/sewage/lead risks and $11.4 million for the Ohio Rivers Initiative
• ODNR: $53.05 million per year ($35 million for wetlands and $18 million for the Rivers Initiative) to complete work on projects where design and engineering is complete, launch new projects
• Rivers initiative: The program will include land acquisitions, surveying of contaminants, and monitoring of aquatic species. State funding will be used to safely and sustainably clean-up and restore the areas in need (initial steps include salt management and chloride reduction, strategic dam removal, litter reduction, and remediation of streams impacted by acid mine drainage)
• Lake Erie Commission: $132,000 annually to continue coordinating H2Ohio nutrient reduction efforts among the three agencies and advance additional tools to provide greater public accountability on the amount of nutrients removed by H2Ohio projects

 Ohio EPA

• Additional $14.2 million each year in federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and Gulf Hypoxia Task Force funding to support phosphorous reduction efforts in Lake Erie and local grants for projects such as dam removal and dredging the Cuyahoga River for restoration and stabilization

Department of Development

• $5.75 million to the Appalachian Regional Commission, up from $5.5 million
• $105 million for the BEAD program (it appears BroadbandOhio is using only federal funds for all its programs and operations this biennium, but we will be able to confirm that once the actual language comes out)
• $1 million for the Broadband Digital Equity Act program
• $25 million total in new funding for “local roads” (likely related to Intel)
• $2.5 billion for the All Ohio Future fund

Local Government

• Increases the Local Government Fund share from 1.66% to 1.7%

Next steps include introduction of budget bills in the Ohio House which will go through committee hearings over the next few months.

*Click here for Budget Details on OBM Website