Senate Finance Committee favorably reports amended substitute House Bill 96 after tabling multiple member amendments

The Ohio Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday voted to favorably report amended substitute House Bill 96 — the chamber's omnibus budget measure — to the committee on rules of reference after adopting a final omnibus amendment and tabling a series of member amendments.

The committee, chaired by Senator Serino, moved the omnibus amendment (AM0699) into the bill and, after a roll call, "Having sufficient votes, the amendment becomes a part of the bill," the chair said. Later, Vice Chair Chavez moved that the committee "favorably report amended substitute House Bill 96 to the committee on rules of reference," a motion the committee approved.

Why it matters: HB 96 is the Senate's comprehensive budget package and, as amended in committee, contains funding and policy changes that affect state programs, school funding, tax credits and health-care payment systems.

Most important provisions described by committee leadership include restoring the brownfield remediation program to $250,000,000; increasing H2Ohio funding by $10,000,000 per fiscal year (bringing that line to $56,100,000 for the fiscal year referenced in…