A $2.5 billion bond issue for local infrastructure as requested by state lawmakers at the end of the last session is officially set to appear on the May ballot. And it will be the last statewide ballot question known as Issue 2 that many Ohioans will ever see.
Voters must approve bond issues as constitutional amendments. The Ohio Public Works plan started in 1987 and has been renewed three times. The latest renewal, a $2 billion package approved in 2014, expires in July.
Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose notes that even though it’ll be the only issue on the May ballot, it will be Issue 2 because of a new law on ballot question numbers, which began with last fall’s redistricting plan that was Issue 1.
“So this is the beginning of the sequential numbering. And someday maybe our great-grandchildren will see it reset back to 1, because I think it goes to 500, before it starts back at 1," LaRose said.
"If there's one on there in the fall, it would be 3. Or if there's another one on the fall it would be 4," LaRose said. "I kind of hope we never get to 500.”
The amendment would authorize a $2.5 billion general obligation bond, capped at $250 million each year over ten years administered by the State Capital Improvement Program. No organized opposition is expected.
Strong Ohio Communities, the group that lawmakers have brought in to promote Issue 2, said the idea has funded more than 19,000 critical infrastructure projects and upgrades in every county, including roads and bridges, wastewater treatment and water supply systems, solid waste disposal facilities, and storm water and sanitary collection, storage, and treatment facilities all 88 counties. Since the last renewal in 2014, $2.3 billion has been awarded to 1,084 local governments for 4,490 projects.
The initial Ohio Public Works issue and the three renewals of is were easily approved. It passed by 70.8% in 1987, by 61.9% in 1995, by 54.1% in 2005 and by 65.1% in 2014.
