Senate activity
The Senate passed Senate Bill (SB) 178, sponsored by Sen. Bill Reineke (R-Tiffin), by a 22-7 vote. The bill would reform the functions and responsibilities of the State Board of Education (SBOE), the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Ohio Department of Education (ODE), and would implement the following provisions:

  • create a Department of Education and Workforce with a cabinet-level director appointed by the Governor and approved by the Senate;
  • divide the agency into two divisions, the Division of Primary and Secondary Education, which would also include preschool and the Division of Career Technical Education;
  • authorize the new department to be responsible for the rulemaking process and the enforcement of current rules;
  • maintain the current structure of the SBOE but limit its duties to teacher licensure, educator or staff conduct and territory transfer decisions.

Earlier in the week the bill was amended to institute the normal 90-day effective date for legislation, while specifying the new structure should be in place by July 1, 2023. OSBA provided interested party testimony. Click here to read the testimony. Additional testimony was provided by the following individuals:

The bill now heads to the House for consideration.

Senate Primary and Secondary Education Committee
The committee held sponsor testimony on SB 368, sponsored by Sen. Sandra O’Brien (R-Ashtabula), which would expand eligibility for EdChoice scholarships to all students beginning with scholarships sought for the 2023-24 school year, and would increase the homeschool expense tax credit from $250 to $2,000.

The committee held a third hearing on HB 554, sponsored by Reps. Mary Lightbody (D-Westerville) and Adam C. Bird (R-New Richmond), which would require SBOE to issue two-year temporary educator licenses to applicants with expired professional teacher's certificates and professional educator licenses as long as certain requirements are met.

The committee held a third hearing on SB 356, sponsored by Sen. Andrew O. Brenner (R-Powell), which would increase the eligibility age from six to nine regarding the education of children experiencing developmental delays and state operating funding for districts and schools educating such children.

The committee amended HB 151, sponsored by Rep. Don Jones (R-Freeport), which would revise the Ohio Resident Educator Program to allow mentoring to occur online or in person and prohibit SBOE from limiting the number of attempts participants have to successfully complete the Resident Educator Summative Assessment. The bill also requires districts to provide one day of professional development leave for classroom teachers each year to observe a veteran teacher. Additionally, the bill includes provisions of HB 61, which would enact the Save Women’s Sports Act to require schools and public and private colleges to designate separate single-sex teams and sports for each sex. The committee accepted an amendment regarding the HB 151 provisions that would permit the holder of an alternative resident educator license to teach preschool. Additionally, the committee accepted an amendment regarding HB 61 provisions that would do the following:

  • allow biological females to participate within male sports,
  • remove collegiate sports from the bill,
  • remove physical exams when a participant’s sex is disputed and instead would require the determination to be made using the participant’s birth record, and
  • remove authorization of a civil action.

OSBA, the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA), the Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO), Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators (OASSA) and the Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators (OAESA) provided proponent testimony on the original provisions of HB 151 and asked the committee to remove the provisions of HB 61 and consider those separately. Click here to read the testimony.

The committee also held a second hearing on HB 606, sponsored by Reps. Bird and Catherine D. Ingram (D-Cincinnati), which would require public and chartered nonpublic schools to create an individualized seizure action plan for each enrolled student who has an active seizure disorder diagnosis. The bill also would require each school to have at least one employee trained in implementing seizure action plans and would require students to receive age-appropriate instruction on seizure disorders.

Finally, the committee held a second hearing on SB 361, sponsored by Sen. Frank Hoagland (R-Mingo Junction), which would allow schools districts to employ veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces that have met certain requirements as teachers without licenses.

House Government Oversight Committee
The committee held a fifth hearing on HB 294, sponsored by Reps. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) and Sharon Ray (R-Wadsworth), which would make changes to election law and absentee voting. Additionally, it would remove the August special election, among other changes. OSBA, BASA and OASBO provided interested party testimony. Click here to read the testimony.

Senate Local Government and Elections Committee
The committee accepted a substitute version of HB 458, sponsored by Rep. Thomas Hall (R-Madison Township), which would eliminate the August special election, except in instances when the August special election is to nominate or elect candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives or if a school district is under a fiscal emergency. The bill also would allow a school district whose entire territory is located within the congressional district that is on the August ballot to put certain levies on the August ballot. The substitute version of the bill also includes the provisions of HB 294, a larger election reform measure that is still pending in the House.

The committee accepted a substitute version of HB 501, sponsored by Rep. Hall, which would extend to townships the use of the municipal tax increment financing laws and allow townships to create a redevelopment tax increment equivalent fund for payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT), both of which may have an impact on school district local revenue. The substitute bill clarifies that counties, townships and municipal corporations can regulate small solar facilities; allows a township to use general funds to support broadband expansion; and allows townships to establish a preservation commission to preserve historic properties, among other changes.

House Technology and Innovation Committee
The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 432, sponsored by Reps. Jefferey A. Crossman (D-Parma) and Lisa A. Sobecki (D-Toledo), which would require the state chief information officer, every two years, to conduct an examination of ODE to determine the risk of a data breach.

House Higher Education and Career Readiness Committee
The committee amended HB 577, sponsored by Reps. Mark Fraizer (R-Newark) and Adam Holmes (R-Nashport), which would establish the Ohio STEM Gateway Program under the College Credit Plus program, which requires a public high school and public college to jointly develop 30 credit-hour pathways in STEM and health care fields. The bill also would allow schools to use existing pathways to meet the 30-credit-hour requirement and would create the Ohio STEM Retention Program that provides an annual tuition waiver of $2,000 for up to three academic years to a student who completes the Ohio STEM Gateway Program and enrolls in a STEM or health care field at a public college. Finally, the bill would create the Ohio IT Promise Program that provides up to $4,000 in student loan forgiveness to an individual who meets certain requirements. The amendment permits, instead of requires, public secondary schools to enter into agreements with public colleges to jointly develop STEM pathways.

The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 663, sponsored by Rep. Mary Lightbody (D-Westerville), which would establish a loan repayment program to award no more than $40,000 to an eligible teacher who is employed in schools with low performance ratings and difficulty attracting and retaining classroom teachers.

The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 667, sponsored by Rep. Lightbody, which would establish the Grow Your Own Teacher Program for low-income students who commit to teaching in a qualifying school for four years upon graduation or to a qualifying employee who commits to teaching in a qualifying school upon graduation. The program would also provide a $7,500 scholarship per academic year to a qualifying student, and upon completion of the four years of teaching requirement the remainder of the loan would be forgiven.

House Criminal Justice Committee
The committee amended SB 288, sponsored by Sen. Nathan Manning (R-North Ridgeville), which would update employment laws as they pertain to Head Start agencies, along with other changes. The amendments pertain to the bill’s bind-over provisions when a complaint or multiple complaints have been filed and also the divulging of confidential information.

House State and Local Government Committee
The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 134, sponsored by Rep. Thomas West (D-Canton), which would require peace officers to complete annual training on de-escalation techniques, implicit bias, procedural justice, mental health issues, first aid and critical injuries.

The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 359, sponsored by Reps. C. Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) and Jamie Callender (R-Concord), which would license and regulate art therapists and music therapists.

Senate Finance Committee
The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 45, sponsored by Reps. Thomas West (D-Canton) and Bill Roemer (R-Richfield), which would require the state tax commissioner to administer a temporary amnesty program from July 1, 2022, through Aug. 31, 2022, with respect to delinquent state, local sales and use taxes and also certain fees.

Senate Judiciary Committee
The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 462, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Miller (R-Franklin Township), which would prohibit swatting.

House Energy and Natural Resources Committee
The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 685, sponsored by Reps. Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville) and Jon Cross (R-Kenton), which would authorize the creation of an EnergizeOhio zone for specified areas to receive incentives, in the form of infrastructure loans, to encourage the development of natural gas pipelines and other infrastructure. Additionally, the bill would reduce the true value of a qualifying property by 75%, and would appropriate $20 million in fiscal year 2023 for the Pipeline Revolving Loan Program.

Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee
The committee held sponsor testimony on SB 119, sponsored by Sens. Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) and Michael A. Rulli (R-Salem), which would specify that the state prohibition of sex discrimination includes sexual orientation, gender identity and expression discrimination, and would maintain current law on existing religious exemptions.

Senate Health Committee
The committee held a third hearing on HB 281, sponsored by Reps. Dontavius L. Jarrells (D-Columbus) and Tom Young (R-Washington Township), which would change terminology in the Ohio Revised Code as it pertains to people with mental illnesses and disabilities.

Posted by Nicole Piscitani on 12/09/2022