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Ohio House Speaker Stephens said he won't bring massive higher education bill to House floor • Ohio Capital Journal [1]
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Date: 2024-11-20
Republican Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens said Tuesday he will not bring a controversial higher education overhaul bill to the Ohio House floor during lame duck session.
Senate Bill 83 has been stalled in the Ohio House for almost a year. Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, introduced the bill last year and it quickly passed the Senate and passed in the Higher Education Committee just before Christmas, but it hasn’t seen any movement since.
“We’re not going to deal with Senate Bill 83,” Stephens, of Kitts Hill, said Tuesday when asked about the bill’s future. “We’ve got a lot of other things that are a lot more important than that.”
Cirino told the Ohio Capital Journal later in the day he was disappointed to hear about Stephens’ comments, but plans on re-introducing the bill in the next General Assembly.
“It’s unfortunate because it doesn’t diminish the importance of the bill,” he said. “It doesn’t take away from this legislation eventually passing.”
S.B. 83 has gone through nearly a dozen revisions — including removing an anti-striking provision that was replaced with a retrenchment provision which would prevent unions from negotiating on tenure.
Cirino, who won reelection for his Senate seat, said the bill he plans on introducing in January will bring back some provisions that have been removed from the current bill, including the anti-striking provision.
“When a student pays for tuition, that student is owed instruction no matter what,” he said.
It’s been more than a year and a half since Cirino first introduced S.B. 83, so he said there could be other issues affecting higher education he could add to the new bill, “but don’t know what those are going to be at this point.”
Not having Stephens as House Speaker could help advance Cirino’s future bill. Under Stephens, S.B. 83 has never made it on a House Session agenda.
Stephens announced Monday he won’t seek reelection for Speaker and the House GOP caucus will choose their next Speaker Wednesday. Senate President Matt Huffman and Rep. Tim Barhorst, R-Fort Loramie, are running for Speaker.
“We will remain opposed to (SB 83), whether it be in this General Assembly or moving forward,” said House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington.
What’s in SB 83?
The bill would ban mandatory diversity, equity and inclusion training unless it is required to comply with state and federal law, professional licensure requirements, or receiving accreditation or grants.
Under the bill’s retrenchment provision, universities could fire tenured professors for a broad list of reasons including reduction in student population. Faculty with 30-35 years of tenure would be protected.
SB 83 defines controversial beliefs or policy as “any belief or policy that is the subject of political controversy, including issues such as climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion.”
The bill would allow students to “reach their own conclusions about all controversial beliefs or policies and shall not seek to indoctrinate any social, political or religious point of view.”
SB 83 has received tremendous pushback. Hundreds of people have submitted testimony against the bill, including a marathon seven hour Senate Workforce and Higher Education meeting last spring. There have also been rallies against the bill, including a mock funeral.
Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on X.
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