Ohio Mayors Allicance Statement on the House Passage of HB 157
May 26, 2021
Columbus, OH – Today, the Ohio House voted on the passage of House Bill 157. The following statement may be attributed to Keary McCarthy, executive director of the Ohio Mayors Alliance.
“The passage of House Bill 157 by the Ohio House today presents a serious challenge for many local communities and threatens to slow Ohio’s recovery from this pandemic.
“While we agree that sunsetting this temporary remote working provision at the end of this year makes sense, we do not support other retroactive changes that move the goalposts on Ohio’s cities while the pandemic is still affecting where people work.
“The original provision passed last year in HB 197 was to maintain the status quo and provide stability for businesses and local governments during an incredibly disruptive public health crisis. The bill passed today goes back in time to change that law in a way that will now have significant fiscal and administrative impacts on many of Ohio’s local communities.
“We know much work went into this bill in the House. We look forward to continuing this important process in the Senate, where we hope to find a more reasonable solution that protects the fiscal health of our cities and supports a strong economic recovery for our state.”
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