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LEGISLATIVE TRACKER
Education Bills Pending (from Honesty for Ohio Education)
Fair School Funding Plan
Brief description: 90% of Ohio students attend public schools, but Ohio politicians are trying to gut public school funding.
Action Needed NOW: On April 1, House Republicans proposed a state budget that would end the bipartisan Fair School Funding Plan and slash school funding by over TWO THIRDS. We cannot let this stand.
SB 68 – Nonchartered Educational Savings Accounts (ESAs) – Broader and even less regulated than universal vouchers.
Brief description: ESAs are basically a flexible spending account. They can be spent on ANYTHING that’s vaguely education related, not just tuition (which is what vouchers cover). An even less accountable use of our tax dollars.
Action Needed NOW: This bill has been added as an amendment into the state budget.
SB 34 – “Historical Educational Displays Act” requiring the display of certain documents in schools
Brief description: Districts would be required to choose from among a set list of “historical documents” to display in each classroom in each school – including the Ten Commandments and the Ohio/national mottos.
SUBSTITUTE BILL 4/1/25
“Narrows the scope” of the bill so it applies to social studies and history classrooms starting in fourth grade.
Requires affected classrooms to display four of nine historical documents listed in the legislation instead of one of nine as mandated by the prior version.
Replace the nine documents included in the bill with a list of “100 milestone documents” identified by the National Archives.
Action Needed ASAP – Moving FAST. Fourth hearing in Senate Education Committee on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.
SB 127 — Allows the state to close certain public schools
Brief description here.
Action needed ASAP — The bill sponsor, Sen. Andrew Brenner, is moving this bill quickly through his own committee (Senate Education Committee). Third hearing in Senate Education Committee on Tuesday, 4/1/25.
SB 113 and HB 155 – Ban all diversity, equity, and inclusion in K-12 public schools.
Brief description: “Prohibits diversity, equity, and inclusion in public schools.”
Action Needed ASAP – The bill sponsor, Sen. Andrew Brenner, is moving this bill quickly through his own committee (Senate Education Committee).
HB 28 – Ban replacement property tax levies
Brief description: HB 28 gets rid of an important tool used by local school districts to raise revenue when needed. Replacement levies allow a local school district to replace an existing levy to adjust revenue for property value growth. They are different from a renewal levy, which only renews the levy at the previously passed max income.
Action Needed ASAP – Already passed the House. In Senate Ways and Means Committee.
SB 13 and HB 25 – Foster-To-College scholarships
Brief description here.
Action Needed ASAP – Best chance of getting this bill passed is likely to get it added to the state budget.
SB 109 – School meals for K-12 students
Brief description: This bipartisan bill would provide breakfast and lunch at no cost to public school students and chartered nonpublic school students.
Action Needed ASAP – We’re hoping this bill will be included in Ohio’s massive state budget, which is moving quickly through the Statehouse.
HB 42 – Require school districts to collect and report immigration and citizenship data
Brief description: Requires certain entities (including school districts) to report on immigration status and report on students here “unlawfully.”
HB 137 – Library Levies
Brief description: Allow a taxing authority to refuse to submit a requested library levy or general health district levy to voters.
SB 73 – CROWN ACT
Brief description: Ban discrimination against natural hair styles in schools.
SB 107 and HB 153 – Make all state board of education AND local school board races partisan
Brief description: Would make all state board of education AND local school board races partisan. Requires all state board of education candidates, Educational Service Center (ESC) candidates, AND local school board candidates to appear on the general election ballot with a political party designation.
OTHER LEGISLATION
HB28/SB3 State Budget – We are partnering with the Hunger Network of Ohio to ensure that there is adequate funding in the state budget for affordable housing and to reduce or eliminate hunger for our most vulnerable populations. We are also advocating for equitable funding for public education. Budgets, according to our colleague Deacon Nick Bates, are moral documents! See the Education Summary for items which we are following.
SB53 – Regards civil actions for vandalism or riot activity injuries. This bill is a direct attack on Ohio citizens’ First Amendment Rights as it pertains to speech and assembly. We oppose passage of this bill. This bill would:
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Punish individuals and organizations for protests by holding them financially liable for property damage they did not commit.
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Shift the burden of proof onto the accused, violating due process and threatening advocacy groups and community organizers.
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Strip local governments of oversight of law enforcement, removing critical checks on police accountability during protests.
SB75 – Increase penalty for failure to report a lost or stolen firearm. We support passage of this bill.
HB45 – Prohibit certain firearm transfers without a background check. We support passage of this bill.
HB46 – Enact the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act – allows certain persons to obtain a court order that temporarily restricts a person’s access to firearms under specified circumstances. We support passage of this bill.
HB72 – Prohibit public funding for lethal injection drugs; death penalty. This bill does not eliminate the death penalty in Ohio; it just prohibits use of state funds to do executions. We oppose passage of this bill. We still want a clean bill that makes the death penalty in Ohio a thing of the past!
HB26 – Enact Protecting Ohio Communities Act – require state and local authorities to cooperate with the federal government in the enforcement of immigration laws, to prescribe funding reductions for noncompliance, to name this act the Protecting Ohio Communities Act, and to declare an emergency. This is an anti-immigration bill that seeks to do harm to our immigrant population. We oppose passage of this bill.
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