Each Monday morning, BASA posts a “tracking” of all Ohio House and Senate bills which the staff is monitoring. Listed in numerical order, each listed bill identifies the sponsor and features a brief caption about content. A complete history of the bill shows the dates on which official action was taken on the piece of legislation. A link to supplementary information may also be available within each bill.
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Search for a specfic Senate or House Bill. Example enter HB1 or SB145
BIENNIAL BUDGET (SYKES, V) To make appropriations for the biennium beginning July 1, 2009, and ending June 30, 2011 for the operation of state programs.
TRANSPORTATION BUDGET (UJVAGI, P) To make appropriations for the programs related to transportation and public safety for the biennium beginning July 1, 2009, and ending June 30, 2011.
BUILDING SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS (HARRIS, M) To require a building or structure erected or constructed using state capital moneys to adhere to certain sustainability standards.
AUTISM (CELESTE, T) To prohibit health insurers from excluding coverage for specified services for individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
SORN LAW (HEARD, T) To provide that any person required to register under Ohio's Sex Offender Registration and Notification Law who establishes or occupies residential premises within one thousand feet of any school premises, recreation center, playground, or other place where it is reasonable to expect children to frequent or linger is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree and to require a court to order a violator to vacate the premises as part of any injunctive relief granted for the violation.
CHILD VICTIM OFFENDERS (GARRISON, J) To prohibit Tier III sex offender/child victim offenders who have committed specified offenses against a victim under 16 years of age from knowingly being present on school premises or preschool or child day-care center premises.
DATING VIOLENCE (HARWOOD, S) To require school districts to adopt a dating violence policy and to include dating violence education within the health education curriculum.
VETERANS (STEBELTON, G) To eliminate the requirement that a veteran be a resident of Ohio to qualify to receive the veterans preference on civil service examinations.
COMMUNITY SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION (LUCKIE, C) To permit a school district to surrender the transportation of its resident high school students attending community schools to those community schools.
BULK DATA (FENDE, L) To authorize public offices to limit the number of bulk data requests, impost charges to cover the actual costs associated with bulk data requests, and charge for the cost of redacting certain information.
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS (DYER, S) To require expanded minutes for legislative committee meetings or a transcribed record of committee proceedings in lieu of minutes, and to require sworn testimony of all witnesses testifying before legislative committees.
COMPETITIVE BIDDING (DYER, S) To require the Department of Administrative Services to maintain a web site database including apparent low bidders who failed to be awarded a contract because they were found not to be "responsible," and to require public entities to conduct investigations when apparent low bidders are suspected of failing or fail to meet the "responsible" prong of the "responsive and responsible" competitive bidding threshold.
DISABILITY PARKING (FENDE, L) To require the removal of snow or ice from special parking locations designated for persons with disabilities within 24 hours after the weather condition causing the snow or ice ceases.
LOTTERY PROFITS (GERBERRY, R) To require that a portion of lottery profits be distributed annually on a per pupil basis to public and chartered nonpublic schools.
UNIFORMED SERVICES SPOUSE (UJVAGI, P) To provide two weeks of leave for any employee who is the spouse or parent of a member of the uniformed services who is called to active duty or is injured, wounded, or hospitalized while serving in a combat zone.
MISUSE OF PUBLIC FUNDS (MCGREGOR, R) To require the Auditor of State to establish a fraud-reporting system for residents and public employees to file anonymous complaints of fraud and misuse of public funds by public offices or officials.
GUARDIAN RESIDENCY - SCHOOLS (STEBELTON, G) To prohibit disqualification of certain students who live with legal or temporary custodians or with guardians from interscholastic athletics solely because their parents do not reside in the state.
MILITARY EXPERIENCE (PRYOR, R) To require relevant military experience to be considered by state licensing boards and agencies and by private state contractors and to provide a waiver of a licensure or certification fee if a veteran is within six months of separation from active military duty.
HEALTHY FARMS/HEALTHY SCHOOLS (DODD, D) To establish the healthy farms and healthy schools grant program for the purpose of providing grants to schools to establish nutrition and agricultural education programs for kindergarteners.
SCHOOL BUSES (DOMENICK, J) To require that all new school buses be equipped with a single white strobe light to be activated at all times when the bus is transporting passengers.
ELECTIONS (MECKLENBORG, R) To require absent voter's ballot identification envelope statements to be completed for absent voter's ballots to be counted, to require boards of elections to notify absent voters that their ballots will be rejected if they do not complete the required statement, to generally prohibit same day voter registration and application for absent voter's ballots, to permit election observers to be appointed to serve at the board of elections or at another designated site during the time absent voter's ballots may be cast in person, to permit a board of elections to establish additional locations at which voters may cast absent voter's ballots in person, to require the Secretary of State to notify boards of elections of mismatches between voter registration information and motor vehicle records, and to revise the process for appointing members of the board of elections.
COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENCES (HOTTINGER, J) To disqualify the holder of a commercial driver's license from operating a commercial motor vehicle upon a municipal OVI conviction and to eliminate the waive provision for restricted commercial driver's licenses for farm-related service industries.
SCHOOL ENERGY MEASURES (FOLEY, M) To authorize school boards, for on-site renewable energy generation measures and in the same manner as for energy conservation measures, to enter into installment contracts subject to specified terms of payment, to provide that energy conservation installment contracts are subject to those same terms, and to require that at least twenty-five per cent of the schools in the state's school districts have a long term supply of solar-sourced electricity.
DEPARTMENT OF MR/DD (NEWCOMB, D) To change the name of the Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities to the Department of Developmental Disabilities and the name of county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to county boards of developmental disabilities and to make similar name changes for the Joint Council on Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, the Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Developmental Center Closure Commission, and certain state and county funds.
TAX CREDIT-SCIENCE DEGREE (GOYAL, J) To grant an income tax credit to individuals who earn degrees in science, technology, engineering, or math-based fields of study and to authorize municipal corporations to grant a credit to individuals qualifying for the state credit.
DRIVING LAWS (MILLER, E) To prohibit a person who is less than 17 years of age from talking or text messaging on a mobile communication device while driving.
LIQUOR PERMIT LOCATIONS (WEDDINGTON, C) To prohibit the Division of Liquor Control from issuing a retail liquor permit or entering into an agency liquor contract if the permit location is proposed to be located within one thousand feet from a school, church, library, public playground, or township park.
EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS (KOZIURA, J) To require that an appropriations bill for education agencies be enacted separately from and prior to any other operating appropriations bills.
PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL LAW ENFORCEMENT (MILLER, E) To authorize a board of education of a school district or governing board of an educational service center to employ public high school law enforcement officers, and provide that public high school law enforcement officers are members of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, to prohibit the impersonation of a public high school law enforcement officer, and to specify the powers of arrest and citation of public high school law enforcement officers.
EDUCATION FOR MILITARY CHILDREN (UJVAGI, P) To ratify the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children and to establish the State Council on Educational Opportunity for Military Children and other officers to implement the state's participation in the compact.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DISCRIMINATION (MURRAY, D) To prohibit an employer or a landlord from discriminating against a victim of domestic violence, to allow a victim of domestic violence to take unpaid leave for court proceedings relating to domestic violence.
EMPLOYER RETALIATION (MURRAY, D) Prohibit an employer from retaliating against the employer's employee for testifying in an unemployment compensation proceeding.
STRS INVESTMENT PERSONNEL (HUFFMAN, M) To provide that investment personnel of the State Teachers Retirement System may not receive performance-based bonuses or premiums in years of negative investment returns and to declare an emergency.
WORK ELIGIBILITY STATUS (COMBS, C) To require employers to register and participate in a status verification system to verify the work eligibility status of all new employees and to affirm their participation on their state income tax returns, to specify that an employer's failure to affirm their participation in the status verification system on their state income tax returns constitutes falsification or dereliction of duty, to require public agencies to cancel contracts with private employers who do not participate in a status verification system, to require jail officials to make a reasonable effort to verify the citizenship of confined persons, to collect electronic fingerprints of illegal aliens, and to notify the United States Department of Homeland Security in certain circumstances, to prohibit political subdivisions from restricting communication and cooperation with federal officials regarding a person's citizenship status, to require judges and magistrates to consider immigration status and other factors in determining a defendant's bail, and to declare an emergency.
PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYER ORGANIZATIONS (CARNEY, J) To establish certain financial capacity requirements for professional employer organizations, clarify rights and liabilities of these organizations and client employers, and make other changes to the professional employer organization law.
PUBLIC UTILITY TANGIBLE TAX VALUATION (WINBURN, R) To modify the tax valuation of public utility tangible personal property used to generate electricity from renewable resources.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT PUBLIC NOTICE TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS (CHANDLER, K) To implement the recommendations of the Local Government Public Notice Task force by authorizing legal publication to be made in a newspaper of general circulation, eliminating certain publication and postal privilege requirements, reducing the number of times publication must be made, requiring newspapers to establish a government rate for publication, allowing publication of a summary of an ordinance rather than publishing it in its entirety, and allowing the costs of publishing delinquent property tax lists to be charged to delinquent taxpayers.
COMPREHENSIVE CLEANING SYSTEM FOR SCHOOLS (STEWART, D) To require the Department of Health to establish a pilot program to test the effectiveness of the "OS1" comprehensive cleaning system in public schools.
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS (MORAN, M) To include any child that an individual claiming benefits has been granted custody of by court order in the calculation of dependents for the purpose of determining unemployment benefits.
COMMERCIAL DRIVERS' LICENSES (BOOK, T) To make changes in the law governing commercial drivers' licenses, including hazardous material endorsements, disqualifications, conviction records, and licensure or private commercial driver's license test administration.
DRIVING (DEBOSE, M) To prohibit driving a vehicle while text messaging or typing on a mobile communication device and to establish the violation as a secondary traffic offense.
TRAFFIC OFFENSES (DEBOSE, M) To prohibit driving a vehicle while talking, text messaging, or typing on a mobile communication device and to establish the violation as a secondary traffic offense.
COMMUNICATING WHILE DRIVING (KOZIURA, J) To generally prohibit driving a vehicle while using a handheld or manually operated mobile communication device.
SCHOOLS (DRIEHAUS, D) To temporarily reduce the per pupil base cost payments to community schools in academic watch or academic emergency, to use the aggregate of those reductions to make supplemental payments for Auxiliary Services for chartered nonpublic school students and for administrative cost reimbursement to chartered nonpublic school students and for administrative cost reimbursement to chartered nonpublic schools, and to make an appropriation.
CLASSROOM FACILITIES EQUITY RANKINGS (HUFFMAN, M) To revise the method for calculating the annual school district equity rankings for classroom facilities assistance and to declare an emergency.
SALES TAX EXEMPTIONS (BACON, K) To provide a three-day period in August and in December each year during which sales of clothing, footwear, school supplies, personal computers and computer-related items, and sporting equipment are exempt from sales and use taxes.
JUNIOR ROTC (BUBP, D) To include Junior ROTC as a permitted elective within the Ohio Core curriculum and to permit schools to excuse Junior ROTC students high school physical education.
MARGINAL INCOME TAX RATE (FOLEY, M) To increase the marginal income tax rate applicable to individuals, estates, and trusts with taxable income greater than $200,000.
EDUCATION (MORGAN, S) To allow new Internet-or computer-based community schools to open under certain conditions, to require the use of student performance data in evaluating teachers and principals for licensure, and to qualify Teach for America participants for a professional educator license.
SEX EDUCATION (SLESNICK, S) To establish statutory standards for comprehensive sexual health education and HIV/AIDS prevention education in public schools and to designate a section of the Revised Code as the "Act for Our Children's Future."
INCOME TAX FREEZE (SYKES, V) To postpone for two years the last of five scheduled income tax rate reductions, to reduce salaries of General Assembly members by five per cent, and to make conforming amendments.
SCHOOL DISTRICT PARENTS (WILLIAMS, S) To require parents of students enrolled in school districts rated continuous improvement or lower to attend a parent-teacher conference.
SCHOOL DISTRICT PURCHASING (PATTEN, M) To authorize the director of transportation to include school districts in purchase contracts for machinery, materials, supplies, and other articles.
POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OFFICE HOLDERS (GARRISON, J) To prohibit an elected officer of a political subdivision or a candidate for an elective office of a political subdivision from accepting contributions from an employee of that political subdivision who is or who would be supervised, directly or indirectly, by the public officer or candidate.
WEB-SITE PUBLICATIONS (HAGAN, R) To allow political subdivisions to make internet web site publications in lieu of newspaper of general circulation publication requirements if the political subdivision donates all funds that would otherwise be used to provide newspaper notices to a local food bank or food drive for charitable purposes.
INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETICS (GROSSMAN, C) To prohibit disqualification of certain students from interscholastic athletics if a student's resident school district ceases, then resumes, its interscholastic athletics program.
UNDER-AGE DRINKING (BOLON, L) Regarding the criminal liability of an owner or occupant of any public or private place who allows a person under age 21 to remain in or on the place while possessing or consuming beer or intoxicating liquor.
ABSENTEE VOTING (UJVAGI, P) To change the time by which absent voter's ballots must be ready, to authorize the Secretary of State to make emergency revisions in the armed service absent voting provisions, and to establish write-in absent voter's ballots for certain overseas voters who are unable to cast regular absent voter's ballots.
ASSAULT OF SCHOOL SECURITY GUARD (LUCKIE, C) To impose the same criminal penalties for assaulting a school security guard as are imposed for assaulting a school teacher.
PUBLIC EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING (CHANDLER, K) To eliminate an exemption from the Public Employees' Collective Bargaining Law for specified educational employees.
SCHOOL DISTRICT RULES (GARDNER, R) To allow school district boards to exempt their districts from certain spending rules and the requirement to provide all-day kindergarten and to direct the duties of the Ohio School Funding Advisory Council.
COMPUTER-BASED COMMUNITY SCHOOLS (GARRISON, J) To lift the moratorium on Internet- or computer-based community schools, to require the State Board of Education to adopt by rule its recommended standards for those schools and other electronic educational courses, to permit the Department of Education and the Chancellor of the Board of Regents to establish a longitudinal student data system and to declare an emergency.
NUTRITIONAL STANDARDS FOR SCHOOLS (CARNEY, J) To establish standards for certain foods and beverages sold in public and chartered nonpublic schools, to require public school students to have periodic body mass index measurements; to require daily physical activity for public school students and to make other changes regarding physical education and to establish the Healthy Choices for Healthy Children Council.
STATE BUDGET (BLAIR, T) To prohibit the Governor from proposing and the General Assembly from enacting a state budget with aggregate general revenue fund appropriations that exceed ninety-seven per cent of the total money received in aggregate revenue for the two most recent fiscal years, to prohibit the proposal and enactment of a state budget containing transfers from the Budget Stabilization Fund in excess of twenty-five per cent of the amount of the Fund, and to eliminate the state appropriation limitation.
CASINO GAMING (MURRAY, D) To authorize the conduct of casino gaming at facilities in specified locations in this state if approved by the elections of a county or municipal corporation and in accordance with laws enacted to regulate and restrict these facilities.
INITIATIVE/REFERENDUM APPROVAL (DOMENICK, J) To require sixty-seven per cent of the electors voting in an initiative or referendum to vote in favor of the issue in order for the issue to be approved.
FEDERAL INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING (CAREY, JR., J) To provide for the distribution of moneys received by the state from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 by making appropriations and to declare an emergency.
ELECTIONS CLARIFICATIONS (SEITZ, B) To require absent voter's ballot identification envelope statements to be completed for absent voters that their ballots will be rejected if they do not complete the required statement, to generally prohibit same day voter registration and application for absent voter's ballots.
HEALTH CARE POLICIES (MILLER, D) To prohibit discrimination in health care policies, contracts, and agreements in the coverage provided for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses and substance abuse or addiction conditions.
THOROUGH AND EFFICIENT EDUCATION (STEWART, J) To establish a bipartisan committee to recommend a system that pays one hundred per cent of the actual cost of a thorough and efficient education and to require the Department of Education to report certain school funding information to parents and taxpayers.
EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATION/BARGAINING UNIT (PATTON, T) To create a testimonial privilege for communication between a representative of an employee organization and a bargaining unit member.
TEMPORARY CUSTODIANS (SCHAFFER, T) To prohibit disqualification of students who live with temporary custodians or with guardians from interscholastic athletics solely because their parents do not live in the state.
SEX OFFENDERS (SCHAFFER, T) To specify that the restriction against offenders convicted of a sexually oriented offense or child-victim oriented offense establishing or occupying a residence near school, preschool, or child day-care premises generally applies regardless of when the offense was committed or the offender began living in the residence, to provide an exemption from the ban for offenders who occupy residential premises they or their spouse own at the time of occupancy and also owned prior to the ban's effective date, and to specify that a registration requirement for children adjudicated delinquent for a sexually oriented offense and classified a juvenile offender registrant applies regardless of when the offense was committed.
PROPERTY OWNERS (MILLER, D) Require county auditors to make reasonable efforts to identify property owners wrongfully receiving the 2.5% property tax rollback.
SEXUAL HEALTH EDUCATION (FEDOR, T) To establish standards for comprehensive sexual health education in public schools, to create the Office of Healthy Schools within the Department of Education, to require the State Board of Education to adopt health education standards closely modeled after the National Health Standards, and to designate section 3313.6011 of the Revised Code as the "Act for Our Children's Future."
HEALTHY STUDENTS ACT (FEDOR, T) To enact the "Healthy Students Act" to establish standards for K-12 health education in public schools and to create the Office of Healthy Schools within the Department of Education.
MR/DD NAME CHANGE (STEWART, J) To change the name of the Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities to the Department of Developmental Disabilities and the name of the county boards of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and to make similar name changes for the Joint Council on Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, the Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Developmental Center Closure Commission, and certain state and county funds.
VACANT HOMES-TAXATION (SEITZ, B) To authorize local governments to exempt homes that have been vacant for at least twelve months from non-school district property taxation for up to three years when purchased by an owner-occcupant.
SCHOOL DROPOUT PROGRAMS (TURNER, N) To require the State Board of Education to recommend performance standards for dropout programs operated by school districts.
REAL PROPERTY TAXATION (GIBBS, B) To exempt from real property taxation the value of single-family residential property owned by a developer or builder until the developer or builder transfers possession or title.
PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX LOSSES (STEWART, J) To make permanent the temporary reimbursements for local government and school district tangible personal property tax losses.
EDUCATION-MILITARY CHILDREN (FEDOR, T) To ratify the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children and to establish the State Council on Educational Opportunity for Military Children and other offices to implement the state's implement the state's participation in the compact.
PUBLIC SCHOOL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS (TURNER, N) To authorize a board of education of a school district or governing board of an educational service center to employ public high school law enforcement officers, to provide that public high school officers are members of the Ohio Public Employee Retirement System, to prohibit the impersonation of a public high school law enforcement officer, and to specify the powers of arrest and citation of public high school law enforcement officers.
SCHOOLS REPORT HARASSMENT (FEDOR, T) To prohibit school administrators from knowingly failing to report to law enforcement authorities menacing by stalking or telecommunications harassment that occurs on school grounds, to require a board of education to adopt a policy that prohibits bullying by electronic means, to require a school district's harassment policy to address acts that occur off school property but materially disrupt the educational environment of the school, to require a school district annually to provide training on the district's bullying policy for district employees and volunteers, and to require a school district to notify parents or guardians of students if the annual training is not completed.
PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' BARGAINING LAW (STRAHORN, F) To eliminate an exemption from the Public Employees' Collective Bargaining Law for specified educational employees.
STANDARDS FOR PRIVATELY RUN FACILITIES (MILLER, R) To require that any privately run non-Ohio school, camp, institution, or other facility to which Ohio delinquent children are committed comply with the same standards that are applicable to in-state schools, camps, institutions, or other facilities.
HEALTH CARE INSURERS (MILLER, R) To prohibit health insurers from denying payment for a service during or after the performance of the service if the insurer provided prior written authorization for the service.
DRIVING (MILLER, R) To prohibit driving a vehicle while using a handheld or manually operated mobile communication device and to establish the violation as a secondary traffic offense.
DRIVING AND TEXTING (SMITH, S) To prohibit driving a vehicle while text messaging or typing on a mobile communication device and to establish the violation as a secondary traffic offense.
SCHOOL DISTRICTS (CATES, G) To delay for one year the effective date of rules regarding school districts' expenditure of funds for core teachers and the requirement for districts to provide all-day kindergarten for all kindergartners.
SCHOOL FACILITIES DIRECTOR (CATES, G) To transfer appointment of the executive director of the Ohio School Facilities Commission from the Commission to the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.
TAX LAW CHANGES (SEITZ, B) To partially decouple Ohio law from recent tax law changes, and to amend the version of section 5747.01 of the Revised Code that is scheduled to take effect January 1, 2010, to continue the provisions of this act on and after that effective date and to make appropriations.
EDUCATION (HUSTED, J) To allow new internet of computer based community schools to open under certain conditions, to require the use of student performance data in evaluating teachers and principals for licensure, and to qualify Teach for America participants for a professional educator license.
VETERANS-PROPERTY TAXES (SCHAFFER, T) To exempt from property taxation the primary residences of military veterans who are 100% disabled from a service-connected disability.
ADOPTION LAW (GOODMAN, D) Regarding adoption law, custody of an abused, neglected, or dependent child, and the elimination of acknowledgments of paternity.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE (SCHURING, K) to require each campaign committee that receives a contribution from an individual that exceeds $100 to identify the individual's employer on the campaign committee's campaign finance statements and to require an individual who makes a contribution exceeding $100 to a campaign committee to provide the name of the individual's employer to the campaign committee at the time the contribution is made.
SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION (CATES, G) To permit non-Civil Service school district boards to terminate positions of district transportation employees for reasons of economy and efficiency and to contract with independent agents to provide transportation services as certain conditions are satisfied.
TAX CREDIT FOR HIRING UNEMPLOYED (GIBBS, B) To authorize a $2,400 income tax withholding credit for an employer that hires and employs a previously unemployed individual.
TAX CREDIT FOR CERTAIN DEGREES (SCHIAVONI, J) To grant an income tax credit to individuals who earn degrees in science, technology, engineering, or math-based fields of study and to authorize municipal corporations to grant a credit to individuals qualifying for the state credit.
COMPUTER-BASED COMMUNITY SCHOOLS (SAWYER, T) To lift the moratorium on Internet-or computer-based community schools, to require the State Board of Education to adopt by rule its recommended standards for thoee schools and other electronic educational courses, to permit the Department of Education and the Chancellor of the Board of Regents to establish a longitudinal student data system and to declare an emergency.
NUTRITIONAL STANDARDS FOR SCHOOLS (COUGHLIN, K) To establish nutritional standards for certain foods and beverages sold in public and chartered nonpublic schools; to require public school students to have periodic body mass index measurements; to require daily physical activity for public school students and to make other changes regarding physical education; and to establish the Healthy Choices in Healthy Children Council.
STATE RETIREMENT - FELON (GRENDELL, T) Regarding termination of the disability benefit of a state retirement system member convicted of certain felonies committed while serving in a position of honor, trust, or profit.
