5/22/06 TEL Could Be Removed From Ballot
The Rumors of the death of TEL are not exaggerated . After months of intense pressure from libraries and local governments, the Ohio General Assembly appears poised to take action that would remove the proposed TEL amendment from the November 2006 ballot. The Republican Party has been concerned for some months that the growing opposition to the TEL would hurt the TEL's biggest supporter and their gubernatorial candidate, Ken Blackwell. It appears that the Republican caucuses in the House and Senate have reached an agreement with Secretary of State Ken Blackwell to take two separate, but related, actions next week. The first piece of legislation will impose a TEL-like restraint on state general revenue fund spending. The second piece of legislation will provide a legal mechanism for the Citizens For Tax Reform, the committee that placed the TEL on the ballot, to remove the TEL from the November ballot.
Although a final version of the TEL-like legislation is not yet available, it appears that the expenditure limitation will not be imposed on libraries or local governments. In addition, if the expenditure limits are imposed on General Revenue Fund expenditures only, it would not be imposed on the LLGSF or the other two local government funds, since they are not part of the General Revenue Fund.
However, there are a number of cautionary notes. Of course, the limits would be placed on the State Library and OPLIN budgets. In fact, I would expect the General Assembly to consider, once again, funding OPLIN through the LLGSF. This would remove that expense from their GRF budget ceiling. It is likely that other mandates will be shifted from the GRF to local governments, as well. Although this shift of programs will likely move some programs currently funded by the GRF to the LLGSF, it will certainly move even more current GRF programs to the other local government funds. It is also likely that this legislation will trigger a series of tax reform measures and funding changes over the next several biennium budget bills. Remember that the state is currently committed to using increasing CAT revenues to replace lost TPP tax revenues to libraries and local governments. This is another "growth" area in the GRF that may be subject to scrutiny in future budgets. These "details" of the new TEL proposal will require a careful review.
In addition, although it appears the constitutional version of the TEL will be removed from the November 2006, ballot there are three things that are important to remember:
- The Colorado TABOR was on their ballot four times before it was passed.
- Not only was the Ohio TEL conceptually not good for Ohio , it was poorly drafted. Secretary of State Ken Blackwell has repeatedly said his TEL is the cornerstone of his government philosophy.
- It is clearly the efforts of the public libraries and all the other local governments that forced the issue off the ballot.
Many libraries have passed Board Resolutions in opposition to the TEL. With what appears to be certain action by the Ohio General Assembly this week, libraries can "stand down" on the TEL issue. But, OLC urges libraries to keep all information and research related to the TEL close at hand in preparation for future issues that may arise.
