The first numbered bills in this two-year general assembly have been filed. So far, there have been 29 filed in the House and 32 in the Senate, all with Republicans as main or joint sponsors. Some are carryovers from previous sessions, and others are new.
Among the bills back for another attempt at passage are Senate Bill and House Bill 6. They include many of the same elements that were part of Senate Bill 83, the bill that conservatives sought to crack down on what they saw as liberal ideology and “indoctrination” on public university campuses. This time it’s titled the “Advance Ohio Higher Education Act“, and it's what Republicans have called a free speech higher education overhaul, which bans most university diversity, equity and inclusion programs. It also shortens trustees' terms from nine to six years, requires performance reviews for faculty with tenure and mandates a civic course that includes American history, documents such as the constitution. A ban on faculty strikes that had been dropped in SB 83 has been brought back, as sponsor Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) promised it would be.
House Bill 1 is also a reintroduction of two bills from the last General Assembly. They would prohibit foreign adversaries such as China from owning Ohio farmland. House Bill 9 and Senate Bill 31 are also getting a second go-around. They seek to replace plans to build a limited access and exit ramp along I-71 in Medina County with a traffic study. That exit was part of the Ohio Department of Transportation budget in 2023.
Among the new proposals are bills in both chambers that would create the Child Care Cred Program for employers, employees and the state to equally share employees’ child care costs. There's also a $25 million school bus safety fund that would be created by House Bill 3. It comes after a task force issued recommendations after it was convened by Gov. Mike DeWine in 2023. And both chambers have bills to establish a scholarship program for foster kids hoping to go to college - they are House Bill 25 and Senate Bill 13.
Republican lawmakers are likely to push for tax cuts in the coming budget, but there’s also Senate Bill 3, which would lower the income tax rate to a flat 2.75%.
There are two property tax bills in the Senate. Senate Bill 22 offers tax credits when property taxes hit 5% of a homeowner's or renter's income - what's been referred to as a "circuit breaker" in previous legislation and in a report on a joint committee that reviewed potential property tax law changes last session. There's also Senate Bill 28, which would impose a tax on high-volume landlords. In the other chamber, House Bill 22 would authorize a homestead exemption for surviving military spouses, and House Bill 28 would eliminate replacement property tax levies - another recommendation from that joint committee's report.
A bill to overhaul electric utility legislation was introduced as House Bill 15. Among other things, it would repeal part of 2019's House Bill 6, the sweeping energy law that included cost recovery for two coal-fired power plants. The nuclear power plant subsidies that were a part of the initial law were repealed after Republican former House speaker Larry Householder and others were arrested in a scheme to pass the law.
A few other bills:
House Bill 26: a ban on "sanctuary cities" for immigrants without legal permission to be in the U.S., which Republican Attorney General Dave Yost has called on the legislature to pass though Ohio doesn't have any officially named "sanctuary cities"
Senate Bill 8: a ban on paid leave for unionized public employees campaigning for a candidate or issue
House Bill 10: a reintroduction of a bill to regulate how imitation meat and egg products are labeled
House Bill 16: a prohibition on homeowners' associations passing restrictions on political yard signs
Senate Bill 25: a ban on tanning beds for children under 16
Senate Bill 30: a mandate that retailers give customers the opportunity to pay in cash instead of offering only a cashless option
Senate Bill 11 : a ban on noncompete clauses in employment contracts
House Bill 18: the Ohio Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve Act, which would allow the state treasurer to invest certain funds in "digital assets"
House Bill 19: a crackdown on those who provide alcohol to underage people
There are also bills to raise awareness for stroke, ameloblastoma, Cardiovascular Health and stillbirth prevention, and days to honor President Rutherford B. Hayes, cowboy entertainer Roy Rogers and the first and only woman to serve as speaker of the Ohio House, the late Republican Jo Ann Davidson.
There were 1,052 bills proposed in the last session. A little over a hundred of them were signed into law, but other bills that weren't passed were added to measures that did.
