Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1953-03-03
News Of Our
Legislature

work on revision of Ohio laws is
completed attention is once again
centering on the main business of
regular session of the Ohio Leg
islature. The General Assembly
devoted seven weeks of concerted
effort to pass the revision, and the
next question is what will the leg
islature do with the many prob
lens before it.
Highways, schools and local gov
ernments are the main problems
that face any legislature. And they
are problems that all concern ex-
penditure of money and where to
get that money.
The matter of highways has long
been under consideration by the
General Assembly with little posi-
tive action thus far. Seven years
ago the legislators created a COM
mittee to study the problem and
to make recommendations. They
were made late in the last Ses-
sion, but nothing was done ex-
cept to continue the study.
This year, the recommendations
are already in, but there is a dis
tinct conflict between the Repub-
lican-controlled legislatures atti-
tude on how to follow them, and
the Democratic Governors point of
view.
Both sides are agreed that the
tax on gasoline should be increas-
ed by one penny per gallon. But
that is where the agreement stops.
The Governor wants a weight
distance tax enacted to increase
the share of highway costs for the
trucking industry. The Republicans
feel that the truckers ought to pay
more, but they have not yet de-
termined how to derive the addi-
tional money. They do not want to
enact the weight-distance tax, al
though this was recommended by
their own study group.
Among themselves, Republicans
are undecided about another rec
ommendation of the study group.
This was plan to alter present
distribution of highway funds, now
based on an allotment per local
subdivision to new formula
based more on actual needs. This
would involve reclassifying high
ways so that many roads now sup
ported by the state would be given
to the county, county roads would
be placed under cities and so on
down the line.
, Rural members of the legisla-
ture are generally opposed to this
ALLEGATION of funds and responsible
lities, because they have worked
long years to get these roads cared
for by the state. Urbana legislators
feel they should be given a better
break on ALLEGATION of funds. The
Governor is not taking position,
although most of the Democrats
would be satisfied to take the en-
tire report of the study group and
enact it.
MORE SCHOOL MONEY
Schools have always proved
problem for the Ohio Legislature,
and during these times, the prob
lem has increased more than that
of any other function of govern
ment. Since the war, more and
more children have flocked to the
schools of Ohio /. and the birth
rate has not yet crested.
So legislators have to find some
means of getting additional money
for the increased needs of the
schools and teachers. This is no
little problem. More than two
thirds of Ohio school districts are
considered poor" school districts.
This means that they cannot op-
crate their schools with the money
obtained from the state flat distri-
button of dollars added to the
funds they are able to obtain from
local tax sources.
Coupled with this, some legisla-
tors will tell you, is the problem
of redistricting of school areas.
There are some legislators who be-
lieve that the main reason school
financing plaques the legislature
each session is because so many
of Ohio's smaller school districts
are set up in an uneconomical
manner SO that they can never be
in position to finance themselves
and will always require much ad-
ditional aid from the state.
In fact, some legislators from
the city areas are very distressed
at the fact that their school dis
tricts tax the people to the limit,
and still find themselves paying
through state taxes for the support