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Proponent Testimony (Written Only) on HB 349 — James Kennedy, CCAO (April 23, 2024)

Summary

Written-only proponent testimony on HB 349 submitted to the House Economic and Workforce Development Committee on April 23, 2024, by James Kennedy, Policy Analyst, for CCAO. It states that the bill permits the establishment of EnergizeOhio zones, locally designated areas that will benefit from loan programs and accelerated depreciation. The testimony states that southeast Ohio maintains abundant supplies of natural gas but lacks the distribution pipelines and other needed infrastructure to access them. It states that CCAO believes the bill is necessary to expand economic development and activity in areas such as southeastern Ohio.

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“Proponent Testimony (Written Only) on HB 349 — James Kennedy, CCAO (April 23, 2024).” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2024-04-23-econ-workforce-dev-testimony-testimony-10834-2ee415db4a/, SHA-256 595b1b95146f8ad213ec8339d7bc924df1a2b643b6107078d763e1f67999123d.

Full text

                     House Economic and Workforce Development
                      HB 349-Proponent Testimony (Written Only)
                                         April 23, 2024
                                        James Kennedy
                                         Policy Analyst


Good afternoon, Chairman Swearingen, Vice Chair Santucci, Ranking Member Upchurch, and
Members of the House Economic and Workforce Development Committee. Thank you for the
opportunity to submit proponent testimony on House Bill 349.

CCAO recognizes the positive economic effects from the creation of the EnergizeOhio program.
The bill permits the establishment of “EnergizeOhio zones,” which will be locally designated
areas that will benefit from loan programs and accelerated depreciation. These tools will allow
local communities to lower the cost of investment through the abatement of local taxes. Some
areas in Ohio, particularly western Ohio lack the adequate capacity of natural gas. Additionally,
southeast Ohio maintains abundant supplies of natural gas, however the region lacks the
distribution pipelines and other needed infrastructure to access these natural resources. The
EnergizeOhio program will be a major economic development tool for counties throughout Ohio
but will have a monumental positive impact in southeastern Ohio.
This program will provide resources to assist in revitalizing abandoned worksites that now will
create additional jobs and enhance the economic activity of the region. We also believe this
program will provide necessary incentives to attract industrial and manufacturing firms to the
region that would otherwise overlook southeastern Ohio.

The economic incentives will also be used to access natural gas which is vital for the expansion
of housing in areas that would have otherwise have the inability to build additional housing. For
many counties having access to natural gas is the last piece in economic development and job
creation.
CCAO believes this bill is necessary if we are serious about expanding economic development
and activity in areas such as southeastern Ohio amongst others. CCAO is happy to provide
proponent testimony on HB 349 and would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to
submit proponent testimony.

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