Fiscal Note & Local Impact Statement

124 ^th General Assembly of Ohio

Ohio Legislative Service Commission

77 South High Street, 9^th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215-6136 ² Phone: (614) 466-3615

² Internet Web Site: http://www.lsc.state.oh.us/

BILL:	Sub. H.B. 406		DATE:	December 2, 2002
STATUS:	As Passed by the Senate		SPONSOR:	Rep. Reidelbach
LOCAL IMPACT STATEMENT REQUIRED:		No	No local cost

CONTENTS:

Authorizes the Secretary of State to distribute specific documents in an electronic format

State Fiscal Highlights

STATE FUND	FY 2003	FY 2004			FUTURE YEARS
General Revenue Fund
Revenues	Potential gain		Potential gain	Potential gain
Expenditures	Potential decrease		Potential decrease	Potential decrease

Note: The state fiscal year is July 1 through June 30. For example, FY 2003 is July 1, 2002 – June 30, 2003.

· The Secretary of State is authorized to make specific publications available for distribution in an electronic format. The increased funds needed to provide a wider distribution of documents in electronic format are not estimated to exceed the decreased production and distribution costs from the reduced volume of permanently bound documents that are published. Thus, a potential decrease in expenditures is estimated.

· By reducing the number of permanently bound volumes of the session laws that must be compiled, published, and distributed by the Secretary of State, the bill could reduce costs. Copies of the Session Laws that are sold to individuals or entities under the provisions of the bill could generate unknown revenue for the Secretary of State.

Local Fiscal Highlights

· No direct fiscal effect on political subdivisions.

Detailed Fiscal Analysis

Under Current Law

The Secretary of State is required to compile and publish biennially -- in paper, book, or other non-electronic format -- prescribed volumes/copies of the following documents:

· Election statistics

· Official roster of federal, state, county, township, and municipal officers

· Pamphlet Laws

· Session Laws

The Secretary of State currently publishes and distributes hardcopy editions of the pamphlet laws in prescribed quantities to specific recipients: county law libraries, county auditors, and the state library board.

Under current law, the Secretary of State is required to publish, either annually or biennially, up to 900 permanently-bound copies of the session laws and distribute these copies to the Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Clerk of the Senate, each county auditor, each county law library, the Ohio Supreme Court, the Division of the Library of Congress, the State Library, the Ohio Historical Society, the Legislative Service Commission, and to public officials. Copies remaining after the distribution may be sold by the Secretary of State at a price that does not exceed 10% of the cost of publication and distribution.

Under the Bill

The Secretary of State will be required to compile and publish the same documents as stated in current law and may opt to compile and publish the documents in electronic format in addition to paper format. The Secretary is required to maintain the ability to produce and distribute the documents in a non-electronic format.

New revenues may be generated by the provision allowing the Secretary of State to sell the session laws in electronic format to individuals or entities other than those in the preceding list, thus generating revenue.

Potential Costs

The reduction in costs to the Secretary of State to publish and distribute documents with permanent binding could result in the availability of funds for use in broadening the volume of distribution of those same documents in an electronic format. This is especially true with the session laws and pamphlet laws. The increased funds needed to provide a wider distribution of documents in electronic format are not estimated to exceed the decreased production and distribution costs from the reduced volume of permanently bound documents that are published.

Also, the Secretary of State is not estimated to incur new expenditures in order to provide documents electronically rather than in hardcopy format to requestors because the Secretary of State currently has an information technology infrastructure and staff in place that would adequately accommodate the anticipated demand for electronic copies.

LSC fiscal staff: Carol Robison, Budget Analyst

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