What is the Controlling Board?
The legislature is constitutionally charged with appropriating state dollars, which they do through a series of budgets (for a guide to budgets in Ohio, click here). The state budgets are a plan for how the state will spend money, implemented by the Administration. However, it is often necessary for the Administration to request minor changes, such as creating new funds or transferring unused money to different funds. The Controlling Board is a small legislative body that oversees this process by approving these requests.
The Board also provides legislative oversight on other state fiscal activities such as waivers of competitive selection for procurement of goods and services or contracts and real estate transactions. This ensures state funds are used effectively and in accordance with legislative intent. The Controlling Board is one way the General Assembly and Ohioans can see how the Administration is spending state money. For more information on the Controlling Board’s authority and purview, click here.
Who sits on the controlling board?
The board is made up of 7 members:
- The Director of the Office of Budget and Management (OBM), or, typically, a designee
- The Chair or Vice Chair of the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives
- The Chair or Vice Chair of the Finance Committee of the Senate
- One majority party member and one minority party member of the House appointed by the Speaker of the House
- One majority party member and one minority party member of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate.
The President of the Board is the Director of OBM or the OBM designee. The President assigns a staff member as Secretary of the Controlling board, which comes with many responsibilities, including serving as a first point of contact for inquiries regarding items before the board. For a current list of Controlling Board members and staff, click here. Temporary substitutions are common.
What is the process?
State agencies submit requests to the Controlling Board that fall within its authority, including operating, capital, and real estate requests, which all have varying requirements for submission as explained in the Controlling Board manual. After a request has been submitted, OBM and the Legislative Service Commission analyze it and submit documentation to the Controlling Board members, who review all the materials before the meetings.
If a committee member has a question or concern that hasn’t been addressed, they will “hold” the item in order to discuss with an agency representative attending the meeting. Items that are not “held” pass as a block of consent before the board enters discussion for the “held” items. After debate, the board votes on items to pass, thereby allocating the funds.
When and where do I watch?
To find meeting agendas and minutes, click here. The controlling board usually meets every other Monday at 1:30 in the House Finance Room (room 313) of the Ohio Statehouse. A schedule of all meetings is published here. Meetings can be watching in-person or online at the Ohio Channel.
