Week In Review 1-13-25

Week in Review > Week In Review 1-13-25

Posted by Buckeye Association of School Administrators on January 13th, 2025

FY24-25 BUDGET

December tax collections either lagged or exceeded targets by big margins, depending on whether a transfer related to 2024’s expanded sales tax holiday is factored into the totals, but normal revenue streams were generally on target, according to the Office of Budget and Management (OBM). In the most recent budget bill, 135-HB33 (Edwards), lawmakers created an expanded sales tax holiday on most items priced at $500 or less, supported by a $750 million fund lawmakers set aside to cover the revenue loss. However, the actual fiscal effect was nowhere near that. As a result, the September revenues reported in October 2024 appeared to exceed estimates by more than half a billion dollars. And in the December revenues reported Tuesday, a smaller than expected transfer from that sales tax holiday fund lawmakers created made overall tax revenues look like they missed by $140.8 million. Excluding effects of the transfer makes revenues appear to be nearly $320 million over estimates. The administration made a transfer of about $123 million for the holiday, below the $584 million transfer they had expected to make.

PROPOSED FY26-27 BUDGET

The Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS) is asking the governor for a 9 percent increase in personnel funding to launch the FY26-27 biennium and a 12 percent increase in actual staff to keep pace with the state’s rising juvenile corrections population and to realize the agency’s vision for smaller, “trauma-informed” detention centers and community correction facilities (CCF) with lower employee-youth ratios. The staffing proposal — most of it to hire more youth correction officers — is the lion’s share of DYS’s total General Revenue Fund (GRF) request of $272.2 million in FY26 and $278.8 million in FY27. Federal pass-throughs and dedicated purpose funding would push those totals to $287.2 million and $294.2 million, respectively. “DYS’s proposal supports efforts to attract and retain talent for critical positions and to maintain the staffing levels necessary for youth and staff safety,” the agency’s 66-page FY26-27 Operating Budget request states. The Office of Budget and Management provided Hannah News with the request from DYS and other agencies in response to a public records request. Ultimately, Gov. Mike DeWine will decide what goes into the executive budget proposal.

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is asking for a nearly $1.5 billion increase in its proposed budget request for FY26-27, with a continued focus on safety for the upcoming biennium. The total request, which was provided by OBM to Hannah News along with those of other agencies, in response to a public records request, is for $9.5 billion over the biennium, up from the agency’s $8 billion request for the FY24-25 biennium. In a letter to OBM included in the request, ODOT Director Pamela Boratyn said the budget furthers ODOT’s mission “of providing a transportation system that is safe, well-maintained, accessible, and positioned for the future.” The budget proposal allocates approximately $7 billion of the $9.5 billion requested for maintenance and reconstruction of the state’s existing highway system over the next two years, Boratyn said. Noting that the DeWine administration increased safety spending by 54 percent in its first term, leading to a drop in traffic deaths and serious injuries in 2022 and 2023, Boratyn said the budget proposal includes $191 million for highway safety projects in each fiscal year.

ECONOMY

Economist and Regionomics Owner Bill LaFayette called the outlook for 2025 “not so cheerful” during the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s forum Wednesday, saying he expects to see a “measly 4,500 jobs” added in the region, an addition of 0.4 percent compared to the current 1.1 million jobs there. “That’s actually only a touch less than the 5,200 jobs that it looks like we got last year,” LaFayette said further, adding he wished they’d been closer to his expectation of 9,800 jobs added. He also said 2025 is likely to be the fourth consecutive year in which the local job growth rate is “much less” than the national average. That is expected to be around 1 percent this year, LaFayette added.

EDUCATION

The trial judge was right to deny a Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) bid to toss the Warren County Educational Service Center’s (ESC) lawsuit against the state agency in a long-running special education dispute. The ESC sued DEW last year over how it responded to a complaint filed by the nonprofit Disability Rights Ohio (DRO) over the Wellness Center, an ESC program for students with complex needs. DRO has since expanded the dispute to federal court. Origins of the case stretch back to 2022, when DRO filed a complaint with DEW against the ESC and its client school districts over practices at the Wellness Center, a day-treatment program for students with intensive behavioral and mental health needs. DEW, then known as the Ohio Department of Education, investigated and issued corrective action plans, including awards of compensatory education services for some students. However, DEW later reconsidered its decision and, in the process, scaled back some of the compensatory awards. DRO subsequently filed a due process complaint, alleging DEW flouted procedure on these types of special education disputes. Around the same time, Warren County sued DEW, arguing it had no authority to accept DRO’s complaint. Warren County prevailed at trial in that case, which DEW subsequently appealed to the 12th District. On Dec. 30, 12th District Judges Stephen Powell, Robert Hendrickson and Matthew Byrne affirmed the trial judge’s decision not to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction, as DEW had requested.

Recognizing that a healthy, educated workforce is a key to a thriving economy in the state, school districts and policymakers are increasingly seeing the value of providing health care services in Ohio schools, according to a policy spotlight released recently by the Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO).

Research by HPIO says that during the 2022-23 school year, Ohio children enrolled in Medicaid were chronically absent — meaning they missed more than 10 percent of instruction time — at a rate more than twice as much as their peers not enrolled in Medicaid (38.6 percent to 18.2 percent). During the same school year, more than 703,000 Ohio students were enrolled in Medicaid for at least three months, representing 42 percent of Ohio’s K-12 public school students. HPIO notes that children from families with low incomes, and therefore eligible for Medicaid, often experience more barriers to accessing health care due to factors such as lack of transportation or challenges for the parent to take time off work. These factors increase the value of SBHCs for families, especially those enrolled in Medicaid.

The Ohio STEM Learning Network, which advises on STEM education in the state, is now taking nominations for its latest round of Excellence Awards. The awards provide recognition in three categories: teaching, leadership and partnership. The network also selects an educator to receive the Outstanding Service Award. Nominations close Tuesday, March 4. Winners will be recognized at the Ohio STEM Innovation Summit on Tuesday, June 3.

FEDERAL

Ohio’s U.S. Sen. and Vice President-elect JD Vance resigned his seat, effective at midnight Friday morning. Vance, who will be sworn-in as vice president on Monday, Jan. 20, submitted his official resignation letter to Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday. “I hereby resign my office as a United States senator from the state of Ohio, effective Jan. 10, 2025,” Vance wrote. “As I prepare to assume my duties as vice president of the United States, I would like to express that it has been a tremendous honor and privilege to serve the people of Ohio in the Senate over the past two years.”

Albeit with a dramatic finish, only one round of voting was needed as the U.S. House of Representatives voted at the beginning of the 119th Congress on Friday for Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) to remain as speaker of the House. During the initial roll call vote, multiple House Republicans did not vote for Johnson, with some representatives voicing support for other Republicans for speaker and still others abstaining during the roll call. That left the incumbent speaker with more votes than the Democratic nominee, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), but less than the simple majority of all votes needed for any member to be elected speaker. The vote was held open following the roll call, during which time President-elect Donald Trump is reported to have spoken on the phone to two of the representatives who did not initially vote for Johnson for speaker. Reps. Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Keith Self (R-TX) had voted for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Byron Daniels (R-FL), respectively, but following their reported phone calls with Trump, switched their votes to Johnson, giving him the needed majority. Each member of Ohio’s House delegation voted for their party’s original nominee for speaker.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY/STATEHOUSE

The Senate released a revised version of its first-half schedule for 2025 Wednesday, adding activity in the first full week of April. The chamber is now scheduled to hold committee hearings Tuesday, April 8 and have session Wednesday, April 9. The change aligns the Senate’s April plans to that of the House. Both chambers now have a break the week preceding and the week following Easter, which is Sunday, April 20, and will return for committees Tuesday, April 29 and sessions Wednesday, April 30.

Minutes after being sworn in as a freshman representative on Monday, Matt Huffman (R-Lima) was unanimously elected speaker of the House during the chamber’s first meeting of the 136th General Assembly (GA). While speakers have traditionally been elected unanimously on the House floor after a closed caucus vote, that has not been the case in recent years, as former House Speakers Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) and Larry Householder (R-Glenford) were elected with split votes. Even former House Speaker Bob Cupp (R-Lima) wasn’t elected unanimously when he first took over after Householder’s arrest on federal racketeering charges. Huffman, who just left the Senate after serving four years as president of that chamber, won the speakership by a vote of 96-0. Reps. Sedrick Denson (D-Cincinnati), Ismail Mohamed (D-Columbus) and Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland) were not present. The rest of the majority leadership team was also elected unanimously. Those members include Speaker Pro Tempore Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville), Assistant Speaker Pro Tempore Plummer, Majority Floor Leader Marilyn John (R-Shelby), Assistant Majority Floor Leader Adam Bird (R-Cincinnati) and Majority Whips Riordan McClain (R-Nevada), Steve Demetriou (R-Chagrin Falls), Nick Santucci (R-Niles) and Josh Williams (R-Oregon).

The Democratic leadership team was elected by a vote of 85-4, with Reps. Thad Claggett (R-Newark), Levi Dean (R-Xenia), Ron Ferguson (R-Wintersville) and Beth Lear (R-Galena) voting “no.” The Democratic leaders are House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Columbus), Assistant Minority Leader Dontavius Jarrells (D-Columbus), Minority Whip Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) and Assistant Minority Whip Michele Grim (D-Toledo).

The Senate began the 136th General Assembly by unanimously electing Sen. Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) as the new Senate president, and adopting two resolutions addressing salaries of Senate employees and mileage reimbursements. McColley, who was nominated on the floor by Sen. Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson) and seconded by Sen. Susan Manchester (R-Lakeview), pledged “to work for you” in his opening remarks. The Senate also unanimously elected the rest of the leadership slates: Sen. Bill Reineke (R-Tiffin) as president pro tempore; Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) as majority floor leader; Sen. George Lang (R-West Chester) as majority whip; Sen. Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) as minority leader; Sen. Hearcel Craig (D-Columbus) as assistant minority leader; Sen. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) as minority whip; and Sen. Beth Liston (D-Dublin) as assistant minority whip. Vincent Keeran was also re-elected by the Senate as the Senate clerk.

Delta 8 THC, energy policy, economic development and property taxes are some priorities to tackle during the 136^th General Assembly, House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) told reporters after session on Monday. Huffman emphasized that his caucus will be going on a retreat soon, and priorities for all House Republicans will be discussed during that time. The speaker said addressing the Delta 8 THC issue is important, and that he’s interested in passing some language to clean up issues in voter-approved marijuana legalization law Issue 2.

House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Columbus) told reporters that criminal justice is one issue that she’s optimistic Democrats and Republicans can productively address together. Russo said Democrats will continue to push to address housing issues as well.

In his first gaggle after being elected Senate president, Sen. Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) told reporters that he expects property tax reform, energy, and other tax reforms to be among the priorities for the Senate majority in the 136th General Assembly. Senate Republicans have a retreat planned for next week, and McColley said they will be prepared to unveil their priorities after that. McColley also said that he doesn’t expect a replacement to be named for former Sen. Kirk Schuring’s (R-Canton) seat until after the retreat.

Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) said she also expects there to be a better relationship between the House and Senate, noting that last session she worked well with Huffman and had an open line of communication with him. She also said she worked in the “trenches” with McColley and sees an open line of communication with him continuing.

With Casey Weinstein’s (D-Hudson) move to the Senate, the Ohio Jewish Caucus said it will have bicameral membership for the 136th General Assembly. The caucus said it has welcomed new members Reps. Christine Cockley (D-Columbus), Eric Synenberg (D-Beachwood), and Karen Brownlee (D-Symmes Township) following their election to the Ohio House. They join founding members Reps. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio (D-Gahanna), Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati), and Weinstein. The caucus was formed in the 135th General Assembly.

Calling it a “guiding document,” Sen. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) held a press conference Wednesday to outline what he believes should be the guiding principles of the 136th General Assembly, dubbing the document his “Rules for the Road Ahead.” Smith, the Senate minority whip, said the “rules” could be part of the informal understanding of how lawmakers and staff operate in the Statehouse. He said he felt it was a good time to bring the ideas forward as the 136th General Assembly begins. They are inspired by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg’s “Rules for the Road,” which the former presidential candidate created for his campaign staff during his 2020 run. Smith said he began thinking about launching his own version last year, and last month, he discussed them with Buttigieg after the latter appeared at a City Club of Cleveland forum. The rules are based on the following: integrity, curiosity, teamwork, persistence, learning, inclusiveness, hope, accountability, trust and action.

GOVERNOR

Gov. Mike DeWine late Thursday, Jan. 2 signed three bills, including “Christmas tree” bill HB315 (Hall-Seitz), while vetoing the “medical free speech” provision, following through on statements he made before the holiday. The provision would have prohibited medical licensing agencies from infringing on what the bill called “medical free speech,” or pursuing administrative or disciplinary action against professionals expressing a medical opinion not aligned with opinions of the board or other health-focused government entities. In his veto message, the governor argued that Ohio’s medical licensing boards “exist to protect patients and the public from bad actors in the medical field,” and added that the provision in HB315 would have threatened patient safety “by providing a health care professional, including hospitals and inpatient facilities, with a legal shield that would prevent being held to account for dangerous or harmful medical care given to a patient by them saying there was a difference of ‘medical opinion.’” DeWine also vetoed sections of HB315 that would create exemptions to longstanding Ohio ethics laws and clerks of courts governance.

DeWine also signed HB173 (Troy), requiring hospitals to publish certain price information and to designate “Ohio Black Media Week,” “Hindu Heritage Month,” and “Older Ohioans Month;” and SB54 (Reynolds-Sykes), an omnibus bill that includes the creation of the Ohio River Commission and the Ohio Ireland Trade Commission, to broaden the types of national or international competitions eligible for a sports site selection grant, to support state employee compensation, to support soil and water conservation districts, to support suicide prevention in schools, to modify certain appropriations for FY25, and to modify certain capital appropriations and reappropriations for the biennium ending June 30, 2026. However, DeWine line-item vetoed a provision of SB54 involving payments to local boards of elections, saying it was requested by the General Assembly, which did not intend to require local boards to wait until after the May 6, 2025 primary and special election to seek reimbursements for expenses incurred in conducting the election.

On Wednesday, the governor signed legislation called the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” by proponents and dubbed the “Unsafe Student Act” by opponents and 28 other bills. The governor said 135-HB8 (Swearingen-Carruthers) will help ensure parents are kept informed of what’s going on in their children’s lives while at school. “Parents are the first teachers, the best teachers,” DeWine told reporters at a Statehouse press conference. The governor was joined by Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who said parents play a “huge role” in the education of their children.

The governor also signed “Braden’s Law” HB531 (Lear-Lorenz), which prohibits sexual extortion. The bill is named after Braden Markus, an Olentangy High School student who died by suicide after being extorted by a person posing as a teenage girl online. DeWine signed the bill surrounded by the family of Braden Markus and other advocates of the bill, saying it was important to sign the bill publicly to raise awareness of the issue.

DeWine and Husted were also asked about their plans for the U.S. Senate seat that will open up once J.D. Vance is sworn in as vice president, with DeWine saying he wasn’t ready to make an announcement. “It will be coming soon,” DeWine said. Asked whether he is interested in being appointed to the U.S. Senate, Husted said he and the governor are “considering all of the options.” Asked for his thoughts on former Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton announcing her gubernatorial campaign, DeWine said, “I suspect there will be a lot of people running for governor.”

The governor signed the following bills:

– 135-SB58 (Johnson), which prohibits requiring fees or firearms liability insurance for the possession of firearms, or fees for the possession of knives. It also enacts the Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act.

– 135-SB63 (Lang), which requires a plaintiff in a tort action alleging an asbestos claim to file specified disclosures.

– 135-SB95 (Reynolds), which deals with remote dispensing pharmacies and makes other changes to the pharmacy law and to license certified mental health assistants.

– 135-SB158 (Cirino), which adds a judge to the Adams County Court of Common Pleas.

– 135-SB163 (Kunze), which creates and amends multiple specialty license plates.

– 135-SB208 (Roegner), which deals with open enrollment policy exceptions for military children, school district and educational service center purchases of technological equipment, virtual services provided under special needs scholarship programs, public school employee in-service training in child sexual abuse, pre-service teacher permits, and student and driver training instruction in peace officer interactions. It also establishes the Regional Partnerships Program, and exempts home education groups from child care regulations and county and township zoning regulations.

– 135-SB211 (Roegner), which enters into the Dietitian Licensure Compact and to establish a 988 suicide prevention and mental health crisis telephone line.

– 135-SB234 (Gavarone), which designates May as “Food Allergy Awareness Month” and as “Lupus Awareness Month”; authorizes certain peace officers to use epinephrine autoinjectors acquired by their law enforcement agencies; and requires schools and higher education institutions to advertise the national suicide and crisis lifeline telephone number to students, and to require higher education institutions to provide information about declarations for mental health treatment.

–135-SB237 (Gavarone-Manning), which enacts the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act relating to legal actions concerning protected speech, clarifies small claims court jurisdiction, and prohibits landlords from listing a minor as a defendant in a forcible entry and detainer action.

– 135-HB7 (White-Humphrey), which addresses services for infants, children and parents.

– 135-HB29 (Humphrey-Brewer), which makes changes to the laws governing driver’s license suspensions and to the laws governing penalties for failure to provide proof of financial responsibility.

– 135-HB37 (Johnson-K. Miller), which modifies the law related to OVI-related offenses.

– 135-HB74 (Hall), which requires state approval of voter registration systems and ballots-on-demand voting systems for use in Ohio, limits the circumstances in which a person may fill out an election-related form on behalf of another, requires a post-election audit of every election, establishes a temporary board to make recommendations regarding cybersecurity and fraud prevention efforts across state agencies, modifies the procedures for registering electors through the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, requires the attorney general to certify the title of a statewide initiative or referendum petition along with its summary, and to modify the requirements for petitions filed by new political parties.

– 135-HB77 (Willis), which establishes requirements and prohibitions governing the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles in Ohio and to establish a process by which an abandoned or derelict aircraft may be sold.

– 135-HB106 (Jarrells-Lipps), which enacts the Pay Stub Protection Act requiring employers to provide earnings and deductions statements to each of the employer’s employees.

– 135-HB206 (Click) which deals with public school expulsion for actions dangerous to others, the automatic closures of charter schools and the storage and use of drugs used to treat seizures. It also increases the earmarked funding for school choice program administration.

– 135-HB238 (Fowler-Klopfenstein), which revises the state’s occupational regulations, revises the law governing the Ohio Board of Nursing’s Doula Advisory Group, revises the membership of the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, implements the recommendations of the Sunset Review Committee, and eliminates certain Ohio insurance laws that have been suspended since the enactment by Congress of the Affordable Care Act.

– 135-HB257 (Hoops-Claggett), which authorizes certain public bodies to meet virtually.

– 135-HB265 (Wiggam), which revises the Public Records Law.

– 135-HB322 (Seitz-Abrams), which imposes a civil penalty, rather than a criminal penalty, on a person who fails to register with the childhood sexual abuse civil registry, eliminates the residence restriction on such person, creates the offense of “grooming,” and extends the limitation period for prosecuting a violation of the law requiring certain persons to report child abuse or neglect under certain circumstances.

– 135-HB331 (Mathews-Young), which modifies the laws regarding village dissolution and official public notice requirements.

– 135-HB364 (Dobos), which exempts certain non-commercial seed sharing activities from the laws governing seed labeling, inspection and advertising. It also alters the requirements specifying which noxious weeds must be destroyed on a toll road, railroad or electric railway.

– 135-HB366 (Ghanbari), which enacts the Fight Organized Retail Crime and Empower Law Enforcement (FORCE) Act to create the Organized Retail Theft Advisory Council and an investigative task force. It also creates the crime of theft of mail, and modifies theft offenses and penalties related to retail property.

– 135-HB403 (Cutrona), which creates new causes of action in relation to commercial motor vehicles towed after an accident, exempts motor vehicle dealers from the prohibition against selling vehicles that have been tampered with under certain circumstances, expands an exception to existing window tinting prohibitions, and requires transportation network companies to conduct an annual background check on their authorized drivers.

– 135-HB452 (White-Baker), which addresses hospital violence prevention and related training, security plans, and incident reporting and to generally grant civil immunity for certain injuries to a person who acts in self-defense or defense of another during the commission, or imminent commission, of an offense of violence to protect the members or guests of a nonprofit corporation under certain circumstances.

– 135-HB496 (Hoops), which revises the law governing property and lodging taxes and county auditors.

– 135-HB497 (Stewart-Klopfenstein), which makes various changes regarding county law.

HIGHER EDUCATION

A strategic agreement between Gannon University and Ursuline College will create the largest Catholic system of higher education along Lake Erie after the Boards of Trustees for both schools approved agreements in December to merge the institutions by Dec. 15, 2026. The two schools had signed a letter of intent in September 2024 to enter a strategic partnership, which will combine the two institutions under Gannon University. The definitive agreement is still subject to regulatory approvals.

Capital University (CU) is expected to have a new president appointed by summer of 2025 after university President David L. Kaufman announced in December his plans to retire at the end of the current academic year. Capital’s Board of Trustees has hired Washington D.C.-based executive search firm Academic Search to lead a nationwide search for the university’s next president following Kaufman’s announcement on Dec. 11. The university’s search committee will be led by vice chair of the Board of Trustees and former dean of Capital University Law School Steve Bahls.

PENSIONS

President Joe Biden on Sunday signed the Social Security Fairness Act, which ends policies dating back decades that reduce the Social Security benefits of people who’ve worked in both the public and private sectors and draw public pensions. Congress before the holidays passed the law, which ends the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) for workers with time in both the Social Security and public pension systems, as well as their survivors. Ohio public pension systems say they generally don’t have firm numbers on how many of their beneficiaries are affected by repeal of the policies because they don’t keep track of beneficiaries’ non-public employment. The Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) pointed to Congressional Research Service reports giving an estimate of the total effect on Ohio workers, though not by system. Those reports show that, for the WEP, over 167,000 Ohioans are affected — 162,005 retirees, 1,409 workers who are disabled, and 4,201 spouses and children. For the GPO, an estimated 103,492 Ohioans are affected — 56,063 spouses and 47,429 widows and widowers.