Ohio Legislature Wraps 134th GA After 16 Hour Session

Yesterday, and into this morning, the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate convened for a 16-hour session, resulting in the passage of dozens of bills, billions of dollars of spending and a failed attempt to overhaul the Ohio Department of Education. The marathon session marks the likely end of the 134th General Assembly, meaning any legislation that did not pass will die and need to be introduced in the 135th General Assembly, which is set to begin on January 3, 2023. 

A breakdown of lame duck session law changes can be found below: 

Education 

A last-minute attempt to revamp the Ohio Department of Education and gut the State Board of Education failed in the early morning hours, however we expect this issue to be brought up next year. Some education-related reforms successfully passed include:

-        Requiring sexual abuse prevention instruction for students in grades K-6, and sexual violence prevention for grades 7-12

-        Expanding the income tax deduction allowed for contributions to Ohio's 529 education savings plans

-        Requiring the State Board of Education to issue temporary educator licenses to applicants with expired professional teacher’s certificates and professional educator licenses

-        Funding to children experiencing developmental delays and the school districts educating them

-        Requiring state colleges and universities to accommodate the religious beliefs of students when it comes to exams and absences from class

Criminal Justice Reforms 

The legislature passed a significant number of criminal justice-related reforms such as:

• Toughening penalties for road related offenses including aggravated vehicular homicide 

• Loosening penalties for underage drinking

• Making it a felony to intentionally report fake or misleading information to trigger an emergency response from law enforcement a.k.a. “swatting” 

• Strengthening penalties for assault and menacing committed against an emergency services provider 

• Increasing the rights of crime victims 

• Expanding current sealing and expungement laws including allowing felons to have their records sealed up to one year after release, depending on level of felony and permitting Ohioans to apply to have a criminal record expunged, or removed permanently, three years after a sentence for a misdemeanor and 10 years after the end of a felony sentence

• Allowing inmates to reduce their sentences by up to 15% if they participate in job training, educational, or drug programs

Distracted Driving 

After a multi-year effort, distracted driving, which includes using your cell phone while driving or press buttons on phones and screens was made a primary offense with some exceptions, including holding your phone up to your ear to communicate on a call.

Election Changes 

Lawmakers passed a series of election related changes, including: 

• Tightening voter requirements around photo IDs 

• Limiting time to vote

• Limiting the number of drop boxes county boards of election can provide to just one for completed absentee ballots

• Eliminating early, in-person voting the day before Election Day

Local & State Government 

An array of policy changes impacting all levels of government passed this week including:

• Prohibiting cites from passing tobacco laws that are more stringent than state laws 

• Barring local governments from closing gun stores or confiscating firearms during riots or other states of emergency 

• Tightening laws around unemployment benefits to avoid abuse and fraud issues 

• Renewing Cuyahoga County’s ability to charge a 34.5 cent tax per cigarette pack 

• Providing immunity to clerks of court who post online a case document with personal identifiers

• Specifying that documents received, created, or converted by the clerk of court in electronic format are considered the official version of the record

• Making changes to notary public laws including exempting peace officers from the application criminal records check 

• Allowing fracking under public lands 

• Liming the water pressure at public swimming pools, spas and splash pads to protect patrons

Spending

The legislature allocated roughly $6 billion of spending using $1.4B of the remaining $1.6B American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars allocated to Ohio and $1.75B of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds for schools. Some of the funding includes:

• $350M in nursing home funding 

• $250M for water quality 

• $161M in rental assistance 

• $150M for lead abatement and prevention 

• $25M to address food insecurity 

• $85M to a program to help ensure Ohio has more mental health workers

• $75M related to infrastructure projects related to the recently announced Honda project

• $90M for crisis care facilities around the state