ODOT director urges restoration of administrative funds, pushes utility-delay language and technical study in biennial transportation bill

Director Pamela Abourd of the Ohio Department of Transportation told the Ohio Senate Transportation Committee on the formal hearing for House Bill 54 that ODOT supports the Legislature’s multi‑billion dollar transportation investment but asked senators to restore reductions and adopt several agency amendments.

The department asked the Senate to restore an administrative line‑item reduction of $58,200,000 over the biennium, saying those funds pay for internal support functions — including human resources, information technology, finance, communications and legal services — and required contracts such as the memorandum of understanding with the attorney general. "Those services along with IT staff . . . support many of our software applications and projects," Abourd said, warning that cuts could affect modernization efforts including cybersecurity, help desks and highway safety data systems.

Why it matters: ODOT said the administrative funds are needed to meet contract obligations and maintain core systems that support the statewide capital program and reimbursements. The department said reduced state administrative funding would make it harder to match and deploy federal project money and could slow or reduce the number of projects completed.

Utility delays and proposed legislative language

Abourd described a central operational problem for highway construction: utilities that do not relocate facilities on schedule. She told the committee the House version of the bill contains language shifting costs from the department and contractors to the utility that causes the delay and…