Fair School Funding Plan
The Ohio House passed House Bill (HB) 305 by a vote of 87-9. The bill creates a new school-funding formula. The House Finance Committee amended the bill on Tuesday to make several changes, including transportation modifications and revamping the makeup of the School Funding Oversight Commission to now include three school board members. Jennifer Hogue, OSBA director of legislative services, provided proponent testimony, which can be accessed here. Board members and administrators providing proponent testimony on the bill were:

Dr. Howard Fleeter, consultant for the Ohio Education Policy Institute, provided interested party testimony, which can be accessed here.

The bill will now be sent to the Senate.

House activity
The Ohio House passed HB 220 by a vote of 89-2. The bill permits school districts, among others, to use blockchain technology. The bill will now be sent to the Senate.

The House passed HB 231 by a vote of 95-1. The bill requires the Ohio Department of Education to compile and publicize a list of entities that provide free and reduced-price epinephrine autoinjectors and permits school districts to create training for staff and instruction for students on food allergies and allergic reaction treatment. The bill was amended on the House floor to permit schools and camps to procure and use injectable or nasally administered glucagon in accordance with prescribed policies and to exempt them from licensing requirements related to the possession of glucagon. The bill will now be sent to the Senate.

The House passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 8 by a vote of 61-32. The resolution urges Congress to enact The Sunshine Protection Act of 2019, which would permanently extend daylight saving time.

Senate activity
The Senate accepted a conference committee report on Senate Bill (SB) 1 by a vote of 24-8. The bill requires the Ohio Department of Education and other state agencies to reduce regulatory restrictions by 30% by 2024.

The Senate passed SB 331 by a vote of 32-0. The bill sunsets the academic standards review committees in English, math, social studies and science, among other committees and councils. The Senate General Government and Agency Review Committee accepted a substitute version of the bill. Click here for an analysis of the bill.

The Senate passed SB 334 by a vote of 32-0. The bill establishes June 19, or Juneteenth, as a legal holiday for which government employees receive paid leave and for which school districts may dismiss school.

Governor activity
Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law SB 89. The bill revises the law regarding career-technical education and joint vocational school districts; changes eligibility requirements for the Educational Choice (EdChoice) Voucher Program; repeals on Sept. 1, 2021, a law regarding territory transfers of school districts located within a township split between two or more school districts; and amends student degree completion at state institutions of higher education.

DeWine also signed into law HB 404. The bill extends temporary authorization for members of a public body to hold and attend meetings or hearings via electronic technology; extends the summer food service program regulations; extends license deadlines; extends to the 2021-22 school year a prohibition against using value-added data for teacher, principal or school counselor performance evaluations; and specifies that school districts cannot be penalized for failing to administer diagnostic assessments and health screenings if certain factors apply.

DeWine vetoed SB 311. The bill prohibits the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) from issuing a general, mandatory statewide or regional quarantine or isolation order that applies to and is enforced against individuals who have not been either directly exposed to or medically diagnosed with the disease that is the subject of the order and allows the General Assembly to adopt a concurrent resolution to rescind certain ODH orders or rules for preventing the spread of contagious or infectious diseases.

House Finance Committee
The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 190, sponsored by Rep. Ryan Smith (R-Bidwell), which creates the Ohio Broadband Development Grant Program and encourages the Ohio Department of Transportation to work with telecommunications providers to lay fiber optic cable.

Senate Finance Committee
The committee held a second hearing on SB 376, sponsored by Sens. Vernon Sykes (D-Akron) and Peggy Lehner (R-Kettering), which creates a new school-funding formula. Testifying in support of the bill were:

The committee held a second hearing on SB 372, sponsored by Sen. Michael A. Rulli (R-Salem), which creates the Holocaust and Genocide Memorial and Education Commission that, among other responsibilities, would find opportunities to provide resources for schools to teach effectively about the Holocaust and genocide.

Senate Education Committee
The committee accepted a substitute version and passed SB 358, which changes education law for the 2020-21 school year to provide school districts continued flexibility and relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. The substitute version of the bill removes provisions that were enacted in other recently passed legislation. Dr. Jeff M. Graham, chief executive officer, Lorain City, provided proponent testimony.

The committee accepted a substitute version of HB 436, which requires professional development for screening and intervention for children with dyslexia; school districts to establish structured literacy certification procedures; and districts to employ specified ratios of structured literacy-certified teachers. The substitute version of the bill changes the members and qualifications of the Ohio Dyslexia Committee, removes prescriptive requirements for the guidebook, changes screening requirements and changes certification requirements.

The committee held a second hearing on SB 292, sponsored by Sen. Louis W. Blessing III (R-Colerain Township), which establishes student attendance requirements at e-schools that are not dropout prevention and recovery schools.

The committee held a second hearing on SB 342, sponsored by Sens. Steve Wilson (R-Maineville) and Rob McColley (R-Napoleon), which requires students who enter the ninth grade for the first time on or after July 1, 2021, to earn at least one-half unit of instruction in the study of financial literacy.

Finally, the committee held sponsor testimony on HB 111, sponsored by Rep. Catherine D. Ingram (D-Cincinnati), which requires public and private schools to transmit a transferred student's records within five school days.

House Primary and Secondary Education Committee
The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 504, sponsored by Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland), which prescribes a minimum per-pupil funding amount of $1,371 for Brooklyn City, Danbury Local (Ottawa) and Put-In-Bay Local (Ottawa).

The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 626, sponsored by Reps. Lisa Sobecki (D-Toledo) and Joseph A. Miller III (D-Amherst), which allows a board of education to not plan its transportation schedule based on the start and end times of nonpublic schools for which it is required to transport and require chartered nonpublic schools and community schools to provide transportation information by July 1.

The committee held sponsor testimony on House Resolution 266, sponsored by Rep. Tavia Galonski (D-Akron),which urges the Ohio Department of Education to institute a mandatory four-year life skills program.

The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 653, sponsored by Reps. James M. Hoops (R-Napoleon) and Adam Miller (D-Columbus), which restricts eligibility for students with F-1 visas to participate in interscholastic athletics to those students in schools that operated as a dormitory prior to 2014 and to repeal the requirement that districts, interscholastic conferences and organizations that regulate interscholastic athletics have the same transfer rules for public and nonpublic schools.

The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 758, sponsored by Rep. Reggie Stoltzfus (R-Minerva), which requires school districts to permit family member spectators at athletic activities.

The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 527, sponsored by Reps. Jena Powell (R-Arcanum) and Stoltzfus, which enacts 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.

Finally, the committee held sponsor testimony on HB 549, sponsored by Reps. J. Miller and Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown), which requires one-time performance audits of school districts with a current academic distress commission.

House Ways and Means Committee
The committee accepted a substitute version of SB 95, which enhances state and local tax inducements for businesses making substantial fixed asset and employment investments and their suppliers. The substitute version of the bill added provisions from various other bills, including:

  • HB 75, which requires school boards to pass a resolution approving a property valuation complaint or counter-complaint prior to filing that complaint and also send written notice to the property owner indicating intent to file a complaint or counter-complaint.
  • HB 255, which requires the state’s tax expenditure report to include information on property tax exemptions and requires a periodic review of each property tax exemption.
  • HB 751, which modifies the law regarding property tax valuation complaints to include tenants of the property who pay the entire amount of taxes charged against the property.

The committee held a second hearing on HB 751, sponsored by Rep. Brett Hudson Hillyer (R-Uhrichsville), which modifies the law regarding property tax valuation complaints to include tenants of the property who pay the entire amount of taxes charged against the property.

The committee held a fourth hearing on SB 212, which provides a full or partial tax exemption to developers and owners of newly constructed homes within specified areas during the construction period and for 10 years after the home is occupied.

The committee held a third hearing on SB 125, which expands the income tax deduction allowed for contributions to Ohio’s 529 education savings plans to include contributions to 529 plans established by other states.

Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee
The committee held a third hearing on HB 13, which establishes the residential broadband expansion program.

House Health Committee
The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 727, sponsored by Reps. Randi Clites (D-Ravenna) and Mark Fraizer (R-Newark), which expands eligibility for the Program for Medically Handicapped Children to individuals up to age 26.

Senate Local Government, Public Safety and Veterans Affairs Committee
The committee amended HB 450, which requires fiscal officers of school districts, among other local governments, to provide certificates of transition to their successors when leaving office and modifies the duties of school district treasurers to ensure delivery to a treasurer’s successor all papers related to the affairs of the district. The amendment allows the auditor of state to conduct more agreed up procedure (AUP) audits. The Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO) provided interested party testimony. Click here to read the testimony.

Senate General Government and Agency Review Committee
The committee accepted a substitute version of HB 76, which modifies the form of election notices and ballot language for property tax levies. The substitute version replaces the term fair market value with county auditor’s appraised value; expresses the rate of such an existing levy for each $100,000 of true value by accounting for the effect on the tax’s collections by the HB 920 tax reduction factor’s application against residential/agricultural property; and extends the deadline from within five days to within 10 days of receiving the request for the county auditor to certify to the taxing authority for a fixed-sum emergency levy or growth levy. OSBA, the Buckeye Association of School Administrators, OASBO, Ohio Library Council and Ohio Township Association provided opponent testimony. Click here to read the testimony.

The committee held a ninth hearing on HB 46, which creates a state government expenditure database that includes school district employee salary and employment information.

The committee amended SB 246, which requires an occupational licensing authority to issue a license or government certification to an applicant who holds a license, government certification or private certification or has satisfactory work experience in another state under certain circumstances. The amendments protect reciprocity compacts and allow boards and commissions to take disciplinary actions.

Finally, the committee held sponsor testimony on SB 384, sponsored by Sen. Bob D. Hackett (R-London), which amends compensation, medical benefits and disability retirement for peace officers, among others, diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder arising from employment without an accompanying physical injury.

House Financial Institutions Committee
The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 514, sponsored by Reps. Brigid Kelly (D-Cincinnati) and Haraz Ghanbari (R-Perrysburg), which requires the state teachers retirement system and the school employees retirement system, among others, to publicly broadcast and archive board meetings.

The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 515, sponsored by Kelly and Ghanbari, which requires the state teachers retirement system and the school employees retirement system, among others, to disclose certain financial information regarding alternative investments.

The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 516, sponsored by Kelly and Ghanbari, which prohibits the state teachers retirement system and the school employees retirement system, among others, from doing business with a former state retirement system employee, officer or board member.

Senate Finance Primary and Secondary Education Subcommittee
The committee held sponsor testimony on SB 224, sponsored by Sen. Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati), which provides additional school funding payments to Warrensville Heights City and St. Bernard-Elmwood Place City.

Posted by Nicole Piscitani 12/04/2020