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Chuck Lausin had a problem. He and his fellow trustees in two rural Geauga County townships couldn’t afford to fix a hilly, narrow gravel road where a new middle school was about to be built. So they turned to the State Capital Improvement Program (SCIP) to pay for the widening, flattening and paving. "We were able to put that school on a safe road," Lausin recalls.

In his 28 years as a township trustee, Lausin saw a lot of roads paved, bridges repaired and culverts installed. That’s why now, as a state trustee for Ohio Farm Bureau, he was glad his fellow board members voted to support State Issue 1 on the November ballot. More than two-thirds of the money generated by the bond offering – $1.35 billion out of a total $2 billion – will continue funding for the SCIP. The program, according to Lausin, "is actually getting the rural infrastructure improved."

Lausin’s assessment is backed up by the statistics. Local governments have received $2.25 billion in grants, loans and financing support since the SCIP was initiated in 1987. It’s paid for 10,200 public works projects across all 88 counties. The infrastructure enhancements have included roads, bridges, culverts, systems for water supply, wastewater and storm water management and solid waste disposal facilities, according the Ohio Public Works Commission, which oversees the SCIP.

"These are the kinds of things that are important to farmers and their communities, and that’s why we’re continuing our long track record of supporting the public works initiatives in the state," said Jack Fisher, OFBF executive vice president. Farm Bureau was a proponent of the original SCIP bond proposal in 1987 and again when it was up for renewal in 1995.

Fisher said Lausin’s story is a prime example of the importance of the local infrastructure program. "It costs over $50,000 just to resurface a mile of township road. This public works money isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity, " he said.

The Ohio Chamber of Commerce agrees. Andrew Doehrel, the chamber's president and CEO, said in a statement supporting Issue 1 that the group's study of economic competitiveness ranks Ohio third in the nation in the quality of its physical infrastructure. "(Issue 1) will help preserve and improve our state’s roads, bridges, sewers and water lines," he said.

Issue 1 also includes $150 million to pre-build job sites to attract new or expanding businesses. Local communities can use this money to equip locations with utilities, roads, telecommunications, buildings and other assets that make a site attractive to businesses.

"If a company decides they’re ready to build, they want a site tomorrow," Fisher said. "If they come to your location and see they don’t have to wait on roads or rail lines or sewers, they’re more likely to locate there."

Fisher said OFBF believes the money to create these "shovel ready" sites is good public policy but only if it’s balanced by sound land-use policy.

" Where communities choose to locate these sites is important," according to Fisher. "The sites need to be contiguous with similar uses, not leap-frogged onto productive farmland." Economic development planning should be done in concert with wise choices on how land is used, he added.

Because Issue 1 is vital to Ohio’s future, Farm Bureau will be concentrating its efforts on educating members about what the ballot measure will do and why it’s good for farmers and Ohio, Fisher said. "We want our members to be leaders in terms of understanding the issue, and most importantly, be leaders in determining how their communities can benefit."