House activity
The House passed Senate Bill (SB) 26 by a vote of 90-0. The bill permits teachers to deduct from their state income taxes up to $250 for out-of-pocket expenses for classroom supplies and professional development. The bill returns to the Senate for a concurrence vote.
Prior to the vote, the House Finance Committee amended the bill with several changes including:
• exempting from sales and use tax the sale of feminine hygiene products associated with…
House activity
The House passed House Bill (HB) 123, sponsored by Reps. Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville) and Glenn Holmes (D-Girard). The bill requires public schools to implement certain programs on and provide instruction in suicide awareness and prevention and violence prevention. The bill now goes to the Senate.
House Primary and Secondary Education Committee
The committee conducted sponsor testimony on:
•…
Senate Judiciary Committee
The committee conducted a second hearing on Senate Bill 144, sponsored by Sen. Sandra R. Williams (D-Cleveland). The bill requires student instruction on the prevention of and disciplinary procedures for harassment, intimidation or bullying and creates the offense of aggravated bullying as a third-degree misdemeanor.
Joint Education Oversight Committee
The committee conducted its final hearing as it is set to be…
Senate Education Committee
The committee accepted another version of House Bill (HB) 154 during its third hearing. The revised bill would maintain the proposed School Transformation Board and school improvement committees. Click here for a description of the new substitute bill. The committee is expected to accept amendments to and vote on the bill before the end of September.
The…
Senate Education Committee
The committee accepted a substitute version of House Bill (HB) 154 during its second hearing. The revised bill would create a five-member panel, called the School Transformation Board, charged with overseeing improvement efforts in school districts with persistently low report card grades, among other responsibilities.
The bill also would designate school districts with “improvement” status if they received two consecutive overall F…
State budget activity
Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law House Bill 166, the state biennial budget bill. Before approving the legislation, the governor line-item vetoed 25 provisions, seven of which would have impacted our members. Click here for a discussion of the vetoes.
Funding simulations
Funding simulations for fiscal years 2021 and…
State budget activity
Despite growing concern from Gov. Mike DeWine, a compromise on the two-year state budget has not yet been reached by House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) and Senate President Larry Obhof (R-Medina). If a deal is not agreed to by Wednesday, July 17, legislators will be forced to pass another temporary funding extension. Both the House and Senate have “if-needed” sessions scheduled on July 17.
News reports indicate that Householder and Obhof have agreed that the budget will declare a moratorium on the establishment of new academic…
State budget activity
No official activity took place this week at the Statehouse. However, negotiations continued among the leaders of the House of Representatives and Senate and Gov. Mike DeWine as they finalize the items of disagreement in House Bill 166, the two-year state budget bill. Prior to this week, lawmakers passed a 17-day interim budget - Senate Bill 171 - to…
State budget activity
The Conference Committee considering House Bill (HB) 166, the two-year state budget bill, has yet to release its report. With the June 30 budget deadline looming, only two scheduled session days remain for the House and Senate to agree on budget changes and send the bill to Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature. If the legislature cannot meet the June 30 deadline, a temporary, two-week spending bill is reportedly being considered to fund state government…
Senate activity
The Senate passed House Bill (HB) 166 by a vote of 33-0. Before the two-year state budget bill reached the Senate floor, the Senate Finance Committee made several changes to the legislation, including:
• implementing long-term graduation requirement changes, which were crafted jointly by Ohio Excels, the Fordham Institute and the Alliance for High-Quality Education;
• removing the provisions that eliminated academic distress commissions (HB…
