House Activity
The House voted 65-28 to override Governor DeWine’s veto of House Bill (HB) 68, sponsored by Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery). The bill would prohibit gender affirming care for minors and would designate the act as the Ohio Saving Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act. The bill also included HB 6, which would enact the Save Women's Sports Act to require schools, state institutions of higher education and private colleges to designate separate single-sex teams and sports for each sex. The Senate is scheduled to consider the override of Gov. Dewine’s veto on Jan. 24, 2024.
The House also concurred 82-8 with amendments made by the Senate to HB 101, sponsored by Reps. Adam Bird (R-New Richmond) and Jean Schmidt (R-Miami Township), which modifies the law regarding village dissolution and makes several education-related budget corrections. Some corrections include:
- For preschool/school age childcare licensing, clarifying budget language that the new agency for Children and Youth will administer;
- Fixing a JVSD budget engrossing error to make the minimum state share percentage for joint vocational school districts 10% from 5%;
- Clarifying the Autism Scholarship application process to make sure that students can apply in the first year they are eligible, as the budget language is not clear;
- Clarifying that the State Board of Education is responsible for RAPBACK and criminal record checks, and making other corrective changes for the implementation of the new Department of Education and Workforce;
- Clarifying that preservice teacher permits are under STRS not SERS.
House Ways and Means Committee
The committee held a second hearing on HB 344, sponsored by Reps. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon) and Thomas Hall (R-Madison Township), which would eliminate replacement property tax levies and would make changes to the laws regarding property tax valuation complaints, counter-complaints and appeals.
House Higher Education Committee
The committee introduced a substitute version of HB 183, sponsored by Reps. Adam Bird (R- New Richmond) and Beth Lear (R-Galena), regarding single-sex bathroom access in primary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education. Changes made in the substitute bill include:
- Prohibiting schools and universities from constructing or maintaining a multiuse, multigender restroom;
- Creating exemptions to allow custodial and emergency workers, people with disabilities and their caregivers, and parents with children younger than ten to enter facilities designated for the opposite sex;
- Clarifying that colleges and universities are not in violation of the legislation unless they knowingly permit individuals to use facilities designated for the opposite sex; and
- Aligning the measure's definition for biological sex to the definition used in HB 68.
Joint Committee on Property Tax Review
The joint committee met for the first time and heard invitation-only testimony on the history of Ohio’s property tax structure from the Legislative Service Commission (LSC) and the Ohio Department of Taxation. The committee is tasked with reviewing Ohio’s current property tax structure and making recommendations on how to proceed with bills related to property tax reform in order to avoid tax burdens for some groups as well as avoid creating issues for public school funding. The committee has not announced how many additional meetings will be held, but says it hopes to be finished with its work between March and June.
State Board of Education
The State Board of Education (SBOE) unanimously passed a resolution to oppose moving the SBOE from their offices co-located in downtown Columbus with the Department of Education and Workforce to the campus of the Department of Agriculture in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. The board cited the state’s constitution which directs that the board have its headquarters in “the seat of state government.” After passing the resolution, the SBOE accepted a motion to invite the Director of the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Kathleen Madden to their February meeting to explain the reasoning behind the proposed move.