Legislative Report

by Nicole Piscitani • June 9, 2025

The fiscal year 2026-27 budget will soon be one step closer to being finalized. On June 3, the Ohio Senate unveiled its amended version of House Bill (HB) 96, the biennial budget bill. The changes accepted by the Senate Finance Committee drastically changed many provisions of the House-passed version of the budget.

School-funding formula
The Senate’s proposal continues years five and six of the Fair School Funding Plan phase-in with guarantees, ensuring that no district receives less state aid than it received…

by Nicole Piscitani • May 11, 2025

The Ohio Senate is working on the biennial budget, House Bill (HB) 96, and will be releasing its changes in June. The biennial budget not only provides funding but also contains education-related policy changes affecting attendance, report cards, assessments and more. Changes by the Ohio House also impacted the State Board of Education.

In the most recent biennial budget, enacted July 1, 2023, HB 33 made sweeping changes to the State Board. HB 33 transferred most of the responsibilities of the State Board and the superintendent of…

Nicole Piscitani • April 21, 2025

The biennial budget process takes several months to complete; it is introduced in early February and ends by June 30. During that process, both the Ohio House and Ohio Senate work to amend the budget based on each chamber’s funding priorities. On April 9, the Ohio House completed its budget work by amending House Bill 96, the biennial budget bill, and voting it out by a 60-39 vote.

State funding formula
The Ohio House made several education-related changes, including how the state funds K-12 education. The House…

Nicole Piscitani • April 21, 2025

The biennial budget process takes several months to complete; it is introduced in early February and ends by June 30. During that process, both the Ohio House and Ohio Senate work to amend the budget based on each chamber’s funding priorities. On April 9, the Ohio House completed its budget work by amending House Bill 96, the biennial budget bill, and voting it out by a 60-39 vote.

State funding formula
The Ohio House made several education-related changes, including how the state funds K-12 education. The House…

by Nicole Piscitani • March 21, 2025

The Ohio General Assembly is working on the FY2026-27 biennial budget, and while the bill will appropriate state funds during the next two years, it will also contain many policy changes. Those policy changes are often House and Senate bills that have already been introduced. While the number of committee hearings a bill has received could indicate the likeliness of it working its way into the budget, some bills may be amended in without any hearings.

The Ohio House is in the process of drafting its version of the budget. As that…

by Nicole Pisciani • March 7, 2025

Gov. Mike DeWine’s executive budget, which was introduced as House Bill (HB) 96, primarily focused on the funding components of transportation plus the initiatives developed in the School Bus Safety Workgroup. The introduced bill would increase the minimum state share of transportation to 45.83% in fiscal year (FY) 26 and 50% in FY 27. The current state share is 41.67% and the increased percentages are consistent with the Fair School Funding Plan’s transportation phase-in.

In August 2023, DeWine brought together 13…

by Nicole Piscitani • Feb. 22, 2025

For the past three years, home valuations have been historically high, resulting in homeowners paying higher property taxes. The Ohio General Assembly is set to address this issue through multiple property tax bills. It is likely that at least one property tax bill will pass during the next six months.

The homestead exemption is a reduction program that the legislature can use to address property taxes for certain individuals. Ohio’s constitution allows the legislature to give a property tax credit to homeowners 65 years of age or…

by Nicole Piscitani • Feb. 7, 2025

Gov. Mike DeWine announced his last executive biennial budget on Feb. 3, 2025. The budget is for fiscal years 2026-27 and, due to term limits, DeWine will not seek reelection. The release of the executive budget starts Ohio’s legislative process, and it is important to note that while DeWine’s budget starts the process, the legislature largely crafts the finalized version.

DeWine’s past budgets have focused on kids, as does this one. As it pertains to the school-funding formula, the budget proposal would continue…

by Nicole Piscitani, deputy director of legislative services • Jan. 27, 2025

The Ohio House majority caucus released its priority bills last week, and the School Bus Safety Act, House Bill (HB) 3, was reintroduced and given a spot on the priority list.

Rep. Bernard Willis (R-Springfield) returns as the bill’s sponsor after working diligently in the 135th General Assembly to try to pass it. As a quick refresher on the efforts made in the 135th General Assembly, House Transportation Committee Chair Rep. Riordan T. McClain (R-Upper…

by Nicole Piscitani • Feb. 10, 2025

The 136th General Assembly officially began on Jan. 6, 2025, with the swearing in of the 99 elected state representatives to the Ohio House and 33 elected state senators to the Ohio Senate. Both the Ohio House and the Ohio Senate voted on leadership; the following elected officials will serve in these positions.

Ohio House

• Speaker of the House: Rep. Matt Huffman (R-Lima)
• Speaker Pro Tempore: Rep. Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville)
• Assistant Speaker Pro Tempore: Rep.…