Patton Helps Lead Historic Transportation Budget through Ohio House

In serving as Chair of the Finance Subcommittee on Transportation and member of the House Finance Committee, State Rep. Tom Patton (R-Strongsville) has played a significant role in Wednesday’s House passage of the historic transportation budget bill.

House Bill 23 is Ohio’s largest funding commitment for highway infrastructure and the largest jobs bill in Ohio history with $12.6 billion in investments.

“Outside of being critical for improving our infrastructure throughout the state, this is a huge jobs bill,” said Patton. “This is all about enhancing job opportunity and economic development in all parts of our state – the transportation hub of the Midwest. This is the largest jobs bill in the state of Ohio. It will create jobs for current Ohioans, and also create work zones that will help build our state, you can’t get any better than that.”

Key components of the legislation include:

• Funding $2.2 billion for pavement, $717 million for bridges, $360 million for dedicated safety upgrades, and $1.5 billion for large, capacity adding projects such as reconfiguring urban interstates.
• $1 billion to create the Rural Highway Fund on projects to help reduce commute times to employment centers.
• Funding the Brent Spence Corridor project reinforces the critical role Ohio plays in the nation’s supply chain.  
• Requiring the Public Utilities Commission (PUCO) and the Environmental Protection Agency to create and submit a report to the General Assembly within 90 days of the effective date on the transportation of hazardous materials and waste in the state.
• Requiring that a train must have a two-person crew related solely for safety.
• Allowing political subdivisions with a population of over 300,000 residents to establish their own standards when constructing bike lanes on public streets and allows for the construction of bike lanes in the center lane of a street or highway. 
• Clarifying that the prohibition of counties and townships using traffic cameras applies only to enforcement of red light or speeding violations and not the detection and enforcement of criminal offenses. 
• Reducing the registration fee for a plug-in hybrid vehicle from $200 to $100 effective January 1, 2024.

The legislation now moves to the Senate for further consideration and deliberations.