Restoring Prosperity
The Greater Ohio Policy Center Blog
Research by GOPC has identified a dire need for policies that provide technical assistance to community that lack the necessary capacity to fully revitalize. The Redevelopment Ready Communities program from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation is one program that has shown promise in addressing this problem and is quintessential example of good public policy.
Greater Ohio has regularly provided updates on the Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Fund settlement and grants that are available through the program. As Ohio EPA prepares to open the second round of grant requests, the department will be holding webinars for those who are interested in learning more about the application process and requirements.
Yesterday, the House unanimously passed HB168, a bill that GOPC is championing as a means to encourage brownfields redevelopment through regulatory reform. HB168 establishes an affirmative defense for purchasers of contaminated properties.
The enactment of the so-called Affordable Homebuilding and Housing Act will subsidize unnecessary urban and suburban sprawl and fuel economically and environmentally unsustainable development across the state of Ohio. At a time when the state has an abundant supply of available housing and the lowest rate of population growth in thirty years, it simply does not make sense to incentivize this dangerous build-up at the expense of local governments. It is for this reason that GOPC opposes these provisions and is urging lawmakers to reject this cookie-cutter policy and leave such decisions up to local policy makers.
I wish to draw the committees attention to five issues which either are currently a part of HB166 or which GOPC believes should be addressed as part of HB 166. We believe that these recommendations build on Ohio’s recent success by recognizing potential, leveraging momentum, connecting people to places, and reviving our most important assets to ensure a Greater Ohio.
The Ohio House gave final approval yesterday to a nearly $69 billion two year budget plan. House Bill 166 is now before the Ohio Senate, where lawmakers have been conducting informal hearings on the budget since late April. The final budget agreement must be approved and submitted to Governor DeWine by June 30 and will take effect on July 1, when the new state fiscal year is set to begin.
Last week, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) released the Corridor Concepts Scenario report. The report concludes that the Columbus region could accommodate more than half of its predicted population growth into five major corridors through denser development and coordinated investments in improved transit.
