To amend sections 4501.21 and 4503.733 and to enact section 5534.90 of the Revised Code to designate the bridge spanning the Grand River in Lake County as the "Specialist Jacob A. Ashton Memorial Bridge" and to make changes to the "Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation" license plate.
Summary
HB27 is a commemorative naming bill. It creates new section 5534.90 of the Revised Code to designate the bridge spanning the Grand River in Lake County, which is part of Interstate 90, as the “Specialist Jacob A. Ashton Memorial Bridge.” The bill also authorizes the Ohio Director of Transportation to place appropriate markers on the bridge or its approaches to identify the memorial name.
In practical terms, the bill does not change traffic rules, funding formulas, or bridge operations. Its legal effect is limited to adding a named memorial bridge to Ohio law and allowing signage to be installed. The bill’s caption also indicates it was originally paired with changes to the “Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation” license plate provisions, but the text provided here only includes the bridge designation language.
Impact
HB27 amends the Revised Code by adding section 5534.90, thereby placing the Grand River bridge in Lake County on Interstate 90 into Ohio’s list of named memorial bridges. The bill affects the Ohio Department of Transportation only to the extent that the director may erect markers or signs recognizing the bridge’s memorial designation. It does not impose regulatory, fiscal, or enforcement changes on motorists, local governments, or private parties beyond the commemorative naming.
Sentiment
The available voting history shows strong, unanimous support at every recorded stage, with no recorded dissent in either chamber. That pattern suggests the bill was broadly viewed as a routine honorary designation rather than a controversial policy measure. No committee transcript is available, but the absence of opposition and the repeated favorable votes indicate a generally positive reception.
Contention
There is little evidence of substantive contention around the bridge naming itself, likely because memorial designations are typically noncontroversial. The only potential point of interest is that the bill caption references changes to the “Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation” license plate, but those changes are not included in the text provided here. If that companion subject was part of the introduced bill or later amendments, it could have been a separate policy issue, but the available record for this text shows no disagreement.
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