The Operating Budget (every two years, odd-numbered years)
Ohio runs on a two-year Main Operating Budget covering state agency funding, including tourism-related programs. The Governor releases a budget proposal (typically early in the odd-numbered year), the House and Senate each hold committee hearings and pass their own versions, a conference committee reconciles differences, and the final budget must be signed by June 30 so the new fiscal year can begin July 1. The current operating budget covers FY2026–2027; the next one (FY2028–2029) will move through this same process in 2027.
The Capital Budget (every two years, even-numbered years, happening in 2026)
Separate from the operating budget, Ohio also passes a Capital Budget in the second year of each General Assembly (even-numbered years) to fund construction, renovation, and infrastructure building projects at state agencies, universities, parks, and local community projects, though not road/transportation projects, which are funded separately. State agencies and communities submit project requests the prior year, the Governor’s office compiles recommendations, and the legislature introduces and passes a bill, generally on a faster timeline than the operating budget.
This year’s capital budget (Senate Bill 450) is a live example: it moved through the Senate Finance Committee in the spring and passed the Ohio House on June 10, 2026. Check the bill’s status page on legislature.ohio.gov for the most current status, since a capital budget can still be amended or await final signature after House passage.
When bills expire
Every bill lives inside a two-year General Assembly (the current one, the 136th, runs 2025–2026). Any bill that hasn’t passed both chambers and been signed by the Governor by the end of that two-year term simply dies; it does not carry over. To move forward, it has to be reintroduced as a new bill, with a new bill number, in the next General Assembly. This is worth flagging to members: a bill they were tracking that seems to have “disappeared” at year’s end may simply have expired, not failed on its merits; it may resurface as a new bill next session.
Click here to access Ohio Legislature’s session schedule
Best time to reach out: in-district first, then Columbus
Legislators are far easier to get meaningful time with while they’re “in-district” during recesses and the lighter summer stretch since they’re not competing with floor votes and committee hearings. The recommended approach:
2. Reach out and meet locally while the legislature is in a district work period (including summer). This is when a legislator has the most flexibility and is often most interested in hearing about local tourism impact firsthand.
3. Follow up in Columbus once session resumes, ideally around OACVB’s State Lobbying Day or another scheduled Statehouse visit, to keep the relationship warm and reinforce the same points in the building where votes happen.
This two-touch approach (local, then Columbus) is worth stating explicitly on the page, since it’s exactly the kind of institutional knowledge that’s obvious to veteran members and invisible to new ones.