Strickland to Sign Transportation Budget Bill Saturday

Press Release

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland today announced that on Saturday he would sign House Bill 67, the transportation bill for fiscal years 2008 and 2009.

"This is a victory for economic growth and job-creation in Ohio," Strickland said. "This budget was created through compromise and honest, healthy debate in the interest of producing good public policy."

"A modern transportation system is crucial to keeping and creating new jobs," Strickland said. "And I am committed to working to protect transportation projects across the state that have been promised by the state of Ohio."

Highlights of Strickland's transportation budget include:

* Funding an aggressive construction and maintenance plan by the Department of Transportation for the next two years.
* Awarding record funding for a robust construction program - in so doing building a strong transportation infrastructure to support greater economic development throughout our state.
* Funding the Ohio State Highway Patrol throughout the next biennium.
* Creating a deputy inspector general position for the Department of Transportation to maintain high ethical standards and bring to justice those who violate the trust of the people of Ohio.
* Creating higher standards and accountability for school bus drivers in our school districts and private companies contracted by our school districts.
* Establishing the first specific line item for the Department of Homeland Security, recognizing homeland security as a major priority of the Strickland Administration.
* Increasing funding for the Family Violence Shelter Network by $100,000 each year of the biennium.
* Protection of Ohio's recently enacted tax reforms.

Strickland also announced that his only line-item veto would be a measure that would allow charter schools to establish their own transportation system and would require a per pupil transfer from the school district to the charter school without any agreement from their resident school district. Under current law, if a charter school desires to transport their own students they must have an agreement with their resident school district.

"While I believe Ohio can benefit from a charter system that is accountable and transparent, and am open to discussing how to improve charter school transportation, there hasn't been sufficient time to review this measure for me to support it," Strickland said. "In particular, I have heard concerns today from some of Ohio's largest school districts that this measure could mean a significant financial blow."

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