Ohio lawmakers gave final approval Thursday to a two-year transportation budget with more than $7 billion for highway projects around the state.
The budget also contains a controversial 30-day vehicle registration deadline and requires the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to accept credit and debit cards, among other measures.
The Ohio House passed the budget 82-13 on Thursday afternoon; the bill previously passed the state Senate unanimously.
Gov. John Kasich has to sign the budget by April 1 for it to take effect when the new fiscal year starts in July. The governor’s policy team is currently reviewing the legislation, administration spokesman Jim Lynch said Thursday.
Here are some of the key provisions in House Bill 53:
- $7.06 billion for highway construction and maintenance.
- Thirty-day vehicle registration deadline: Under the bill, people who come into Ohio and register to vote must re-register their vehicles with the state within 30 days or their out-of-state driver’s license would no longer be valid in the state. Democrats claim the measure would suppress voting by college students; Republican supporters dispute that, saying the provision merely seeks to regulate vehicle registration laws.
- The BMV must soon accept credit and debit cards.
Here are some measures that lawmakers considered adding but ultimately left out.
- A 75-mph speed limit: An Ohio Senate committee proposed raising speed limits along the Ohio Turnpike and rural freeways from 70 mph to 75 mph. A legislative conference committee later removed that provision, though lawmakers will continue to study the proposal.
- Left-lane restrictions: Ohio senators inserted language requiring motorists driving on highways with at least three lanes in the same direction to only use the far left lane to pass, exit, or allow other vehicles to get in a right-hand lane. That measure was removed by the conference committee as well.
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