From the Statehouse 2008 No. 05
by Jennifer Garrison
Feb. 23, 2008
From the Statehouse:
By Jennifer Garrison
It was a busy week in the Ohio House, where we passed several pieces of legislation. I would like to share information with you about three of those bills.
First, House Concurrent Resolution 36 urges the United States Congress to renew the exemption for the Delta Queen, a stern-wheel river steamboat, from the 1966 Safety at Sea Act. That law does not allow wooden ships to carry more than 50 passengers on overnight trips as a fire safety precaution. Built in 1926, the Delta Queen has a steel hull but also a wooden superstructure. The ship can carry up to 174 passengers and has a long, storied history, but no record of fire or injury. Fortunately, due to the vessel’s safety record, Congress has consistently exempted the vessel from this provision.
Officially based in Cincinnati, the Delta Queen regularly travels along the Ohio River and has frequently stopped in Marietta. The ship is a popular tourist attraction in Southern and Southeastern Ohio, and it has made a significant economic contribution to the Marietta area. Without federal action, however, the Delta Queen’s exemption will expire in November 2008.
I am proud to be a co-sponsor of H.C.R. 36, which passed unanimously, including my “yes” vote. It is my hope that the Senate will approve this resolution quickly and send it on Congress so Washington knows how Ohioans feel about keeping this floating landmark in service.
This week in the Ohio House we also made progress on a source of frustration for clients of County Boards of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MR/DD). When a client needs services, they are often placed on a waiting list because funds are not available or the required service isn’t offered at that time. Substitute House Bill 405 revises the law on waiting lists, and eliminates the requirement that county MR/DD boards maintain a Service Substitution List and a Long Term Service Planning Registry.
The elimination of these lists will streamline a complicated application process for clients in need and help 20,000 children and adults waiting for MR/DD services. The Ohio Department of MR/DD is currently in the process of reforming its operations, and this is the first legislative step in that regard.
H.B. 405 passed, including my “yes” vote. It now heads to the Senate for its consideration.
House Bill 416 ratifies the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. The compact will be entered into between Ohio and other Great Lakes states: New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Minnesota. The compact is designed to protect the Great Lakes by regulating the withdrawal of surface water and groundwater from the Basin in two ways: it prohibits diversion of these waters out of the Basin except for a small number of specified local uses, and it maintains the rights of individual states to determine how to use water within the Basin.
H.B. 416 was passed by the 126th General Assembly in 2006, but it failed to clear the Senate. Illinois and Minnesota have already ratified the compact and the other states are at various points in the process, but the compact will not take effect until all of the Great Lakes states sign on.
H.B. 416 passed overwhelmingly, including my “yes” vote. It will now head to the Senate.
You can reach Jennifer Garrison at her Columbus office at (614) 644-8728 or in the district at 373-2414 or by e-mail at jennifer@jennifergarrison.com. Her Web site is Riffe Center | 77 South High Street | Columbus Ohio 43215-6111 | (800) 282-0253 | District93@ohr.state.oh.us
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