Advocacy Update: OLC Continues to Propose Modifications to Credit Card Legislation
UPDATE: Ohio House Makes Changes to Proposed Credit Card Legislation
Read an updated summary of the current legislation from the Legislative Service Commission (LSC).
Oct. 30, 2017 — In late July, Rep. Dave Greenspan (R-Westlake) and House Speaker Pro Temp Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) introduced legislation (HB 312) that would require local governments, including public libraries, to establish policies and implement compliance procedures for the use of credit cards by staff members.
Even before the bill’s introduction, the OLC staff worked with the Auditor of State’s office on suggested amendments to the proposed bill language that would address issues with the practical application of the legislation’s requirements in an effort to mitigate the impact on public libraries. That effort has continued since the bill’s introduction, up to and including a meeting last Friday when a small group of library directors and fiscal officers joined the OLC staff in a meeting with representatives from the Auditor’s office to suggest further modifications to the bill.
The positive interaction between the Auditor’s staff and the OLC representatives suggest that additional changes may be included in the next substitute version of HB 312, which is currently pending in the House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee.
Nov. 6, 2017 — Ohio House Makes Changes to Proposed Credit Card Legislation
The OLC has had ongoing conversations with the Auditor of State’s (AOS) office and sponsors of HB 312. The OLC suggested several amendments that would address issues with the practical application of the legislation’s requirements in an effort to mitigate the impact on public libraries. Some of those suggestions were amended into the bill by the House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee last week. The committee made several changes to the legislation before reporting it out of committee on a unanimous vote. An updated summary of the current legislation from the Legislative Service Commission (LSC) is available online. The bill now goes to the full Ohio House for a vote on the floor.
While OLC appreciates the changes made to the bill by the AOS’s office and the bill sponsors in the House, there are still have concerns related to the compliance officer language, credit card reward reporting procedure, and the statutory itemized receipt language. The OLC has already started discussions with members of the Ohio Senate in an effort to address these concerns.
