Ohio lawmakers have sent Gov. Mike DeWine a $2.5 billion capital budget to fund construction projects, renovations and equipment purchases around the state for the next two years, reports Cleveland.com.
Senate Bill 310, which cleared a final Senate vote on Dec. 18, includes $452 million for colleges and universities, $305 million for K-12 school buildings and about $281 million for prisons.
About $280 million would go to the Public Works Commission, part of which would be distributed via grants and loans to local governments for infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, and wastewater treatment systems.
According to Cleveland.com, DeWine, whose administration introduced the original version of the budget plan, now has 10 days to sign the bill, veto it, or cut parts of it out using his line-item veto authority.
Legislators introduced the capital budget bill on Dec. 15, taking the unusual procedural move of inserting it into a previously introduced bill. That bill, Senate Bill 310, originally allocated federal coronavirus-relief funding to local governments. But legislators have removed the meaningful language over the course of the year, inserting them into other bills that have been passed.