Ohio committee holds first hearing on bill to impose fee on some wire transfers to fund law enforcement

The House Financial Institutions Committee on Tuesday held the first hearing on House Bill 149, a proposal to impose a fee on certain wire transfers and direct the revenue to local law enforcement and drug task forces. The committee approved minutes from its June 4 meeting before hearing sponsor testimony; no vote was taken on the bill.

Sponsors told the committee the measure is aimed at transfers used for criminal activity and said proceeds would support local policing. In sponsor testimony, members cited data on remittances, noting that in 2022 Rice University found roughly $60 billion entered Mexico via wire transfers and that remittances account for roughly 24% of El Salvador’s GDP, 23% of Honduras’s and 14% of Guatemala’s.

Supporters described the proposal as a tool to capture funds they characterized as…