Infrastructure Bonds
On May 6, 2025, Ohio voters amended the Ohio Constitution to authorize the issuance of $2.5 billion in general obligation infrastructure bonds to provide funds to help counties, cities, villages and townships pay for roads and bridges, sewage-treatment plants, water lines, solid-waste-disposal facilities, and storm and sanitary sewers for the next decade. No more than $250 million in bonds may be sold in any year. Unofficially, 67.8% of Ohio voters supported the amendment in a low-turnout election. The amendment added a new provision to the constitution, Art. VIII, sec, 2t.
A constitutional amendment was necessary to permit the state to incur debt above the $750,000 ceiling contained in Art. VIII, sec. 1 of the 1851 Constitution. Beginning in 1921, the voters have approved amendments overriding this ceiling 21 times. All these amendments were proposed by the General Assembly; none were proposed by the constitutional initiative.
Word Count
The approval of this infrastructure amendment further solidifies the role of Article VIII (public debt and public works) as the longest and most often amended Article in the Ohio Constitution The new amendment, Art. VIII, sec. 2t, adds more than 1050 words to the Ohio Constitution, lengthening the constitution to more than 61,000 words and likely maintaining Ohio’s standing as having the 9th longest state constitution in the country.