Ohio General Assembly Adopts Various
Amendments to House Bill 694

Maria J. Armstrong
Bricker & Eckler LLP
June 2007

The Ohio General Assembly recently adopted a series of amendments to Ohio Revised Code Section 3517.13, 3517.992, and temporary law provisions contained in House Bill 694. The amendments are found in House Bill 119, the state budget bill, and address a number of concerns raised since the passage of House Bill 694. House Bill 694, passed late in 2006, placed significant restrictions on many political contributors who currently held, or hoped to win, a contract with the state or local government.

Among other things, the new language:

• Clarifies the legislative intent that changes instituted by House Bill 694 only apply to contributions made on or after April 4, 2007;

• Changes the look-back period from two calendar years to a rolling 24 month period prior to award of the contract;

• Changes the definition of a contract for goods and services when issued by a political subdivision to include contracts of more than $10,000;

• Allows a contractor to avoid having a contract rescinded or being fined for violations of contribution limits if the contribution is refunded within a certain period of time;

• Requires the Secretary of State to adopt administrative rules defining what constitutes a contract for the purchase of goods and services;

• Allows public authorities to require the certification of compliance with the campaign finance laws in public contracts on an annual basis rather than with each individual contract;

• Clarifies that an affiliated political action committee also includes a federal PAC that is registered with the Ohio Secretary of State to participate in state and local political activities;

• Clarifies the definition of an affiliated PAC for purposes of Ohio Revised Code 3517.13;

• Specifies that the prohibition against soliciting contractors as it applies to a statewide officeholder only extends to contractors that are awarded contracts by that officeholder’s office.

The bill containing the aforementioned changes was signed by Governor Strickland on June 30 and the provisions will become effective 90 days thereafter.