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Senate hears sponsor testimony on bill to license traffic‑camera companies, impose fees and calibration requirements (Senate Bill 213)
Summary
Senator Patton presented sponsor testimony for Senate Bill 213, a proposal to license traffic‑camera companies, impose a $100,000 per‑camera licensing fee, require monthly calibration at about $5,000 per camera and assess an 8% fee on revenues directed to a first‑responder PTSD fund. Committee members questioned feasibility, unknown camera counts,
Senator Patton introduced Senate Bill 213 in a first hearing, proposing state licensure for traffic‑camera companies that operate automated speed enforcement systems and new fees and technical requirements aimed at increasing oversight and funding a first‑responder post‑traumatic‑stress disorder (PTSD) fund.
Patton said the bill would require a per‑camera license fee of $100,000 paid to the Department of Commerce, monthly calibration of cameras by the Department of Public Safety at an estimated $5,000 per camera, and an 8% assessment on camera revenues to be directed to the PTSD fund created in prior legislation. Patton told the committee that the Department of Taxation estimates traffic‑camera systems have collected about $67,600,000 and that the companies operating those systems receive roughly 40% of gross receipts, which he characterized as revenue leaving Ohio.
Committee members pressed Patton on feasibility and consequences. Senator DeMora asked whether the Department of Public Safety has the manpower or resources to perform monthly calibrations; Patton replied that the program would generate funds to hire personnel if needed and that “at least to our knowledge nobody's advertising that they [cameras] are [being calibrated].” Senator Timken and others asked how many municipalities use cameras; Patton responded the number is unknown and said cameras “pop up” and have become a “cottage industry.” Senator Blackshear and others raised concerns that higher costs could be passed to motorists; Patton acknowledged tickets have risen in amounts he described as historically increasing and said voters in some cities have rejected speed‑camera programs.
Patton framed the bill as a way to both increase oversight of private companies that issue citations and to generate funding for a PTSD fund for first responders. The bill received no committee vote at the hearing and was recorded as a first hearing.
