Week in Review: June 25, 2023

FY24-25 BUDGET

Budget negotiators will have more money to work with as they try to reconcile versions of the FY24-25 budget bill, although the latest forecasts do show a slight reduction in projected revenue for the second year of the biennium. Office of Budget and Management (OBM) Director Kim Murnieks and Legislative Service Commission (LSC) Director Wendy Zhan presented updated forecasts for tax revenues and the Medicaid caseload at Thursday's initial meeting of the conference committee on HB33 (Edwards). OBM added $513 million to its FY24 forecast but dropped its FY25 forecast by $84 million. LSC projects $334 million more in FY24 and $42.6 million less in FY25 as compared to February forecasts. OBM predicts an even larger FY23 surplus to end this biennium, with $387 million more expected compared to the February forecast. For FY24, OBM projects $513 million more in revenue, while projections for FY25 are slightly lower, down $84 million. Zhan said LSC projects $294.3 million more in surplus revenue to end FY23, $334 million more in revenue for FY24 compared to February forecasts, and $42.6 million less than forecast for FY25. Legislators on the panel did not ask them any questions.

The meeting opened with a decision to work off the most recent version, the Senate's, and to abide by traditional rules requiring a majority of members from both chambers to approve amendments and the final conference report.

ECONOMY

Ohio's unemployment rate was 3.6% in May, setting a new record low and breaking the previous one of 3.7% set in April. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) also said Friday that the state added 6,600 jobs over the month. ODJFS said the number of workers unemployed in Ohio in May was 207,000, down from 211,000 in April. The number of unemployed has decreased by 16,000 in the past 12 months from 223,000. The May unemployment rate for Ohio decreased 0.3 percent from 3.9 percent a year ago in May 2022. The U.S. unemployment rate for May 2023 was 3.7 percent, up from 3.4 percent in April 2023, and up from 3.6 percent in May 2022.

MARIJUANA/HEMP

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy (OBP) has issued four more dispensary certificates of operation. There are now 91 dispensaries legally operating under the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program.

TAXATION

Lawmakers should require the tax commissioner to use a three-year average of data in overseeing county property valuations to dampen the effects of a major runup in valuations pending in some counties, local government officials told a House committee Tuesday. Under HB187 (Hall-Bird), the Ohio Department of Taxation would be required to consider all sales from the three preceding years, rather than a sampling, when performing sales ratio studies that look at valuations versus sale prices. Similar language was incorporated into the Senate-passed version of the budget bill, HB33 (Edwards). Legislators sponsoring the proposal recently held a press conference to address the need for the change, pointing to predicted valuation increases in excess of 30 or 40 percent in some counties.