Legislative Report

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.…

The 135th Ohio General Assembly is expected to close its legislative work this week. House Primary and Secondary Education Chair Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville) has indicated that the committee will not meet again this year. The Senate Education Committee has one committee hearing scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 17. A few education-related bills are still pending and could receive action this week. 

by Nicole Piscitani • Dec. 1, 2024

The Ohio legislature returned to the Statehouse on Nov. 12, and the Ohio Senate promptly accepted changes to Senate Bill (SB) 104. This bill makes changes to the College Credit Plus program (CCP) and includes provisions regarding single-sex facilities and accommodations. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill on Nov. 26, and it will be effective in 90 days.

SB 104 started as a stand-alone CCP bill that was primarily drafted from a report conducted by the Auditor of the State’s Office (AOS). The AOS report included several…

by Nicole Piscitani • Nov. 3, 2024

The Ohio General Assembly is set to return to the Statehouse the week of Nov. 10. Legislators have been campaigning in their districts since the end of June. With the Nov. 5 general election, all efforts have focused on a handful of tight elections in the Ohio House and Senate. Please note that this report was written before the election. 

As noted in other Legislative Reports, this General Assembly has been historic, never knowing what might or might not happen. The election’s outcome could play a part in the legislature's…

by Nicole Piscitani • Oct. 16, 2024

Senate Bill (SB) 168’s main objective was to provide school districts flexibility and improve local control on various areas within education law. From its inception, the bill was known as the Education Deregulation Bill. One area that received multiple modifications was teacher licensure and evaluations.

Teacher licensure has been tweaked and changed several times over the past few years. In June 2023, the biennial budget changed grade bands. During the pandemic, substitute teacher laws were changed to provide school districts…

by Nicole Piscitani • Sept. 23, 2024

In June, the Ohio legislature passed 29 bills in a single day, nine of which impacted the education community. Senate Bill (SB) 168, one of the nine bills passed and later signed by Gov. Mike DeWine, is one of the largest education bills to pass the legislature in the past few years. Due to the multitude of issues addressed in SB 168, this update will focus on a few areas. Future legislative reports will continue additional SB 168 provisions.

District exemptions from certain requirements
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by Nicole Piscitani • Sept. 8, 2024

In June, the Ohio legislative made several changes to House Bill (HB) 147 before sending the bill to Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature. The bill originally was introduced to fix a loophole in the Ohio Revised Code (RC) that pertained to teacher misconduct. The law did not require a school employee’s misconduct to be reported to the state’s superintendent of public instruction (state superintendent) if the school employee retired during a disciplinary investigation for misconduct. The bill was introduced in April 2023 and moved smoothly…

by Nicole Piscitani • Aug. 23, 2024

In June, the Senate Education Committee incorporated Senate Bill (SB) 49, which proposed the Religious Expression Days (RED) Act, requiring that each K-12 public school adopt a policy providing students with religious accommodations, into House Bill (HB) 214. HB 214 originally addressed public school staff members’ professional duties.

SB 49 was introduced in February 2023 and received numerous hearings before unanimously passing out of the Senate in April 2023. The House Primary and Secondary Education Committee held three…

by Nicole Piscitani • Aug. 13, 2024

Senate Bill (SB) 112, the Ohio Childhood Safety Act, was signed by Gov. Mike DeWine on July 24, 2024. The bill was sponsored by former state Sen. Michael Rulli (R-Salem), who recently was elected to Ohio Congressional District 6. The bill requires annual inspections of doors in public schools by qualified inspectors. Rulli made the following statement during his sponsor testimony: “Overall, code-compliant doors play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and security of school occupants. By adhering to…