Monday, 09 February, 2009
Ohio House Democrats rolled out their top-priority bills of the 128th session today, including legislation from two newly elected representatives from Cincinnati that propose military bonuses for veterans returning from the Middle East and a six-month moratorium on foreclosures of occupied homes. Other newly drafted bills would ban marketing credit cards to students at Ohio public colleges and universities and require all Ohio health insurance plans to include coverage for autism.
The foreclosure prevention bill, co-sponsored by state Rep. Denise Driehaus, a Democrat from West Price Hill, also would allow judges to reduce the principal and interest on mortgages in foreclosure and provide alternatives to eviction. Slowing down the foreclosure process would give Ohioans time to seek legal help and work out new affordable loan terms with their lenders, she said. “It’s not a handout to people,’’ Driehaus said after a Statehouse news conference Monday. “It’s a timeout.”
The bill also gives mortgage services that appear at foreclosure hearings the authority to work out loan modifications, increases notification requirements to 60 days, allows homeowners to rent after foreclosure until the property is sold.
“It is estimated that approximately 40,000 Ohio homeowners will lose their homes in the next six months due to foreclosure,” Driehaus said. “We cannot afford to sit by while the foreclosure crisis continues unabated. We must put mechanisms in place to make loan modifications the norm, not the exception.”
The veterans’ bonus bill co-sponsored by state Rep. Connie Pillich, a Democrat from Montgomery, would require voter approval in November to authorize paying for bonuses by selling bonds. A similar veterans’ bonus bill was passed by the General Assembly during the last legislative session, but vetoed by Gov. Ted Strickland last month. That bonus proposal would have used money from the state’s emergency “rainy day” fund, which the governor prefers to use to cut a growing budget deficit. Pillich’s proposal resumes a state tradition by providing bonuses to returning soldiers from the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq wars. One-time bonuses range from $500 to $1,500, with veterans serving in a combat zone receiving more money.
Strickland’s $54 billion budget got top billing, as House Bill 1. House Finance Committee hearings to review the two-year spending plan, which must be approved by June 30, begin Tuesday. The new House Democratic majority also ranked energy, child protection, job creation and high school long-distance learning as top priorities for 2009-2010. For instance, Pillich co-sponsored a bill requiring buildings constructed with state capital budget money to meet higher energy efficiency standards. House Speaker Armond Budish, a Democrat from Beachwood, said, “The economic challenges we face are very real, but I am excited by the opportunities we have to move Ohio forward on a bipartisan basis during this legislative session.”
Senate Republican leaders plan to announce their priority bills today, said Maggie Ostrowski, spokeswoman for Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland. “Glancing down their list, it appears that we share a lot of the same priorities,’’ Ostrowski said today. A nearly identical veterans’ bonus bill, which the Senate passed last session before it was amended in the House, will be reintroduced as Senate Joint Resolution 1.
Source: http://news.cincinnati.com/
