Week In Review 11-18-24

Week in Review > Week In Review 11-18-24

Posted by Buckeye Association of School Administrators on November 18th, 2024

BALLOT ISSUES

Attorney General Dave Yost Friday cleared the summary language for a proposed constitutional amendment that would enshrine certain voting rights in the Ohio Constitution after he was ordered by the Ohio Supreme Court to review the language. Yost had previously rejected the proposal based on the title, first submitted as “Secure and Fair Elections” and then as “Ohio Voters Bill of Rights.” Backers of the amendment challenged Yost’s authority to reject a petition summary over the amendment title, and the Ohio Supreme Court agreed, finding the attorney general does not have the authority to review the title of proposed ballot initiatives.

The Ohio Supreme Court Thursday ordered Attorney General Dave Yost to review the petition summary for a proposed ballot initiative that would end qualified immunity for certain government employees. The order was expected after both sides of the case had jointly filed a motion asking the Court to pause the case in the wake of a separate ruling that found Yost did not have the authority to reject a proposed petition summary based on its title. The parties had also requested the limited order, which the Court obliged on Thursday. Under Thursday’s order, Yost has 10 days to review the summary and rule on whether it is a fair and accurate representation of the proposed amendment. If he determines the summary meets the criteria under the law, he must certify it and forward it to the Ohio Ballot Board for the next step in the process, which is to determine whether the proposal contains one or more amendments.

FY24-25 BUDGET

Variances in major tax sources balanced out to an on-target revenue haul in October, according to preliminary figures from the Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM). Monthly tax collections of $2.3 billion were $6.9 million or 0.3 percent above estimates. For the year so far, tax collections are $570.4 million or 6.7 percent ahead of estimates, although much of that total stems from the understated effects of Ohio’s first expanded sales tax holiday. State leaders set aside more than $700 million to offset revenue losses from the holiday, but the actual effect on sales tax collections was nowhere near that figure. For October, the sales tax brought in $1.18 billion, up $13.6 million or 1.2 percent versus estimates. Better than expected non-auto sales tax performance, which is up almost $18 million or 1.8 percent, offset a dip in auto sales taxes, which were down $4.3 million or 2.5 percent versus estimates. The income tax saw the biggest variance by dollar amount, reaching $737.9 million, which was $70.4 million or 8.7 percent below estimates.

EDUCATION

Lawmakers and education advocates have a difficult situation to navigate in the upcoming biennial budget cycle as revenue expectations come back down to earth, property values skyrocket and vouchers take up a larger chunk of school spending, economist Howard Fleeter said Monday. Fleeter, a consultant for the Ohio Education Policy Institute (OEPI), gave his annual overview of state revenue and school finance trends at the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA) conference in Columbus. He noted the Office of Budget and Management’s (OBM) billion-dollar downward revision in FY25 revenue estimates and the hundreds of millions of dollars in increased EdChoice outlays from the expansion of voucher eligibility to all families. “They added almost $400 million in voucher spending, and then our revenues are going in the other direction … you can see the math problem that the Legislature is facing/has created for itself,” he said. One revenue bright spot, Fleeter said, is the massive overperformance of the sales tax in late summer, tied to understated effects of the expanded sales tax holiday lawmakers included in the budget.

The working group of school superintendents and treasurers who’ve shepherded Ohio’s school K-12 funding formula through its partial enactment said Monday they’ll emphasize finishing the phase-in and striving for annual rather than biennial updates to cost input data, as well as a permanent formula for educational service center funding. The Fair School Funding Plan Workgroup, convened several years ago by former Reps. Bob Cupp (R-Lima) and John Patterson (D-Jefferson) to develop and advocate for the new formula, hosted a session at the OSBA conference.

The State Board of Education adopted rules Tuesday to create an interim teaching license, available to teaching candidates who are struggling with subject-matter licensure exams but have the confidence of a local superintendent. Board staff brought the proposal forward recently as members look to address pipeline challenges for the teaching workforce. Superintendent Paul Craft and Jim Wightman, associate director in the Office of Educator Licensure and Effectiveness, brought the proposal forward in October. Teaching candidates would still need to have a passing score on licensure assessments related to professional teaching knowledge and pedagogy but could be within one standard error of the current passing score of 220 for subject-area exams — a score of 206. The rules were approved with no discussion.

The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) will take feedback for about the next month on a draft framework for a principal apprenticeship program, something Gov. Mike DeWine called for in his 2024 “State of the State” speech. Lawmakers bolstered DeWine’s idea months later with a provision in education omnibus SB168 (Reynolds) requiring DEW to issue recommendations on such a program to the General Assembly by Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. Feedback is due by Friday, Dec. 6. DEW developed a page on its website where those interested can read the 21-page proposal and a four-page summary and complete a survey.

At least two separate bills from this General Assembly, a special working group assembled by Gov. Mike DeWine on school bus safety, and input given to bill sponsors for well over a year all produced sub bill HB279, which was accepted Tuesday by the House Transportation Committee. The bill has undergone major changes since recommendations by Gov. DeWine’s Ohio School Bus Safety Working Group offered 17 potential Ohio Administrative Code rule changes to the Department of Education and Workforce in May. A main change in sub HB279 that was accepted Tuesday is the removal of a seat belt requirement on school buses in Ohio. While the bill was originally introduced before DeWine assembled the School Bus Safety working Group in 2023, subsequent hearings on the bill followed a string of traffic accidents involving school buses and focused on the feasibility of putting safety belts on every Ohio school bus.

The OSBA and the T. D. Rutan Military Interstate Children’s Compact State Council of Ohio announced that they have created resources to help school districts recognize an educator, employee, staff member, coach, booster or volunteer who has served or is currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. Those resources can be found HERE. All districts are urged to recognize these individuals during Military Family Appreciation Month at a November board meeting.

The OSBA Delegate Assembly Monday elected Mary Cleveland, a member of the Princeton City Schools Board of Education and Great Oaks Career Campuses Governing Board, as its president-elect, putting her on the path to leading the association as president in 2026. Thomas Patterson, a Sandusky City Schools Board of Education member, is the current president-elect and will become president of the association in January.

Ohio placed 32nd nationally in a recent report on best states for teachers from personal finance website WalletHub, putting it second-to-last among neighbor states. Indiana led at 10th nationally, followed by Pennsylvania, 17th; Kentucky, 21st; Michigan, 28th; and West Virginia, 36th. Ohio was 32nd in two subcategories as well, ranked second-to-last among neighbors for “opportunity and competition” and last for “academic and work environment.” The top five states were New York, Washington, Virginia, Utah and Maryland. The five lowest were Tennessee, Nevada, New Hampshire, Hawaii and Maine.

ELECTIONS 2024

Most of the former members of the Ohio General Assembly on the ballot saw success Tuesday. In congressional races, former state lawmakers Joyce Beatty (D-Columbus), Jim Jordan (R-Urbana), Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green), Michael Rulli (R-Salem), Troy Balderson (R-Zanesville) and Emilia Sykes (D-Akron) all won re-election to their seats. However, former lawmaker Kevin Coughlin lost his bid to unseat Sykes, and current Rep. Derek Merrin (R-Maumee) trails U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Toledo), although that race is headed to recount. Two current members of the General Assembly won their races for local office. Rep. Richard Brown (D-Canal Winchester) was unopposed for judge on the Franklin County Common Pleas Court, and Rep. Scott Wiggam (R-Wooster) won his race for Wayne County clerk of courts.

The 2024 General Election has come and gone, and boards of elections are now working to complete their official counts after Saturday’s deadline to receive absentee ballots by mail postmarked no later than Nov. 4. Elections officials must complete their official canvass of general election ballots no later than Wednesday, Nov. 20. The following are numbers from the General Election as they stand now, according to unofficial results provided by the secretary of state’s office:

– 8,159,946 – Registered voters in Ohio for the 2024 General Election.

– 8,073,829 – Registered voters for the 2020 election.

– 5,974,121 – Ballots counted in the 2020 election.

– 5,686,302 – Ballots counted in the 2024 election as of Friday, Nov. 8.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY/STATEHOUSE

A bipartisan measure introduced in both chambers of the General Assembly seeks to extend the State Capital Improvement Program (SCIP) with the issuance of $2.5 billion in general obligation bonds. Under SJR4 (Chavez-Craig) and HJR8 (Oelslager-Troy), voters would decide whether to approve the 10-year extension during the election on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. “This resolution increases the annual amount of the program to $250 million per year, for a total increase of $625 million from the previous iteration,” Sen. Brian Chavez (R-Marietta) said during a Statehouse press conference on Tuesday. “The increase is due to rising costs of materials, labor and construction for projects.” Chavez noted that the proposal would not result in a tax increase.

House Majority Floor Leader Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) held a wide-ranging gaggle with reporters Tuesday after the House Rules and Reference Committee meeting, discussing topics including bills that may move during lame duck session and how the decision on a next speaker is up to new and returning legislators. Seitz, who is leaving the General Assembly after 24 years, said he doesn’t have a stake in the competition between current Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) and Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima), who will be a representative next term, over the speakership as he considers both “very fine individuals.” He also said he did not think that issue would affect progress during lame duck, as there have been past instances of Senate presidents and House speakers “who were not exactly best buddies.” Seitz added the straw vote for speaker is on Wednesday, Nov. 20 and that should result in letting “bygones be bygones.” There are around 99 House bills and 40 Senate bills pending in the opposite chamber, according to Seitz, and the General Assembly faces “a very truncated schedule” that will be further crowded with farewell speeches. He added he hopes they will work through as many of them as possible in lame duck.

While Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) was careful not to overpromise which legislation the General Assembly may pass before the new year, she did offer a peek Tuesday at where legislators might find some common ground during the lame duck session. On the Legislature’s first day back at the Statehouse, Antonio said one point of order she was confident the Legislature would address is public works. Reps. Scott Oelslager (R-North Canton) and Rep. Dan Troy (D-Willowick) have proposed a statewide vote for next May to renew bonding authority for the State Capital Improvement Program (SCIP). Antonio seemed Tuesday to be willing to help pave the way for such a vote.

On a party-line vote Wednesday, the Senate agreed to amendments to SB104 (Cirino-Brenner), legislation that originally dealt with College Credit Plus but was amended by the House to include provisions requiring single-sex bathrooms at K-12 schools as well as colleges and universities. The bill prohibits public and private K-12 schools from allowing a “member of the female biological sex to use a student restroom, locker room, changing room or shower room that has been designated by the school for the exclusive use of the male biological sex.” Likewise, it bans a “member of the male biological sex” from using such facilities “designated by the school for the exclusive use of the female biological sex.” Gov. Mike DeWine told reporters earlier this year that he would likely sign the bill. Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland), speaking on the House addition of the single-sex bathroom language originally introduced as HB183 (Bird-Lear), said it would improve safety and security, and called it “common sense.” He said it will protect children and grandchildren “where they are most vulnerable” and ensures safe environments. He said the bill is offered “with no animus towards students experiencing gender issues,” adding that it makes as many accommodations as possible.

All five of the bills on the Senate’s regular agenda passed unanimously, including omnibus highway designation bill HB81 (Blasdel-Jones); HB338 (White-Sweeney), allowing child support orders to be issued, modified, or extended for children over 18 with a disability; SB32 (Schaffer), granting civil immunities 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 guest of a nonprofit corporation under certain circumstances; SB233 (DeMora-Kunze), requiring vehicle operators to watch, listen and stop for on-track equipment that may be approaching a railroad crossing; and SB323 (Reynolds), designating Sept. 28 as “Speaker Jo Ann Davidson Day.”

Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said Wednesday that he would like to address Delta-8 products before the end of the session, and said higher education omnibus SB83 (Cirino) is still a priority for his caucus despite it having seemingly stalled in the House. Speaking after Senate session Wednesday, Huffman pointed to a number of bills moving through committees this week and next as priorities for his caucus to get done. He expects that legislation coming to the floor to include an adoption reform bill, and legislation putting a bond issue for infrastructure on next May’s ballot. On Delta-8 and synthetic hemp products, Huffman said he wants to resolve it before the end of the year, but added it is a complex issue. He said it is reminiscent of the Legislature’s efforts to address bath salts previously.

The four state agencies that failed to meet their regulatory reduction requirements under 134-SB9 (McColley-Roegner) appeared before the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) on Tuesday. Representatives of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA), Ohio Department of Insurance (ODI), Ohio Lottery Commission (OLC) and Ohio Department of Development (DOD) all said they had plans to come into compliance with the 20 percent reduction deadline they missed, and to meet the forthcoming 30 percent reduction deadline next year.

Nearly two weeks after former Ohio House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson lay in state at the Statehouse after her death at the age of 97, the Senate quickly passed legislation to recognize her birthday, Sept. 28, as “Speaker Jo Ann Davidson Day” in Ohio. The Senate General Government Committee sent SB323 (Reynolds) on to the Senate floor after just one meeting hearing from those who saw Davidson, the first woman to become speaker of the Ohio House, as a mentor. Davidson died Friday, Oct. 25, and lay in state in the Statehouse Rotunda for several hours on Thursday, Oct. 31 before a funeral service in the Statehouse Atrium.

Minority Legal Counsel Sarah Ingles will be the new chief of staff to the House Minority Caucus, according to House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington). Ingles replaces outgoing Chief of Staff Jordan Plottner, who will take a position at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Additional staff changes to the House Minority Caucus announced Wednesday include the following:

– Bethany Sanders will replace Ingles as minority legal counsel. Sanders is currently the director of policy and strategic initiatives at the Franklin County Auditor’s Office, and previously served as legal counsel and policy advisor to the Ohio Senate Minority Caucus.

– Current Minority Policy Director Nick Muccio was promoted to deputy chief of staff for policy and finance in the upcoming 136th General Assembly.

– Current Deputy Budget Director Riley Alton was promoted to minority director of finance for the 136th General Assembly.

More than a year after the bill was referred, the Senate Government Oversight Committee held its first hearing on legislation that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity/expression in employment, housing and public accommodations. Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) offered sponsor testimony on SB132, the latest iteration of the Ohio Fairness Act, which she has introduced every session since joining the Legislature in 2011. Antonio said the protections included in SB132 are “long overdue.”

In other legislative action, the House Transportation Committee voted out a series of commemorative bills including HB510 (Cutrona), HB611 (Ghanbari), HB631 (Cross), SB141 (Sykes) and SB183 (Antonio); and the Senate Transportation Committee reported out license plate bills SB290 (Antonio), SB248 (Hackett) and SB125 (Sykes).

HIGHER EDUCATION

“Excellence is not a destination. It’s the expectation.” Walter “Ted” Carter set those expectations high for his tenure as the 17th president of Ohio State University (OSU) at his investiture on Friday. After taking the job of OSU president on Jan. 1, 2024, Carter has spent the last 10 months learning about not only the current state of the university in addition to its history, but also laying out a vision of what he wants the university to accomplish in the next 10 years. In remarks introducing Carter at the investiture ceremony, Gov. Mike DeWine said, “We live in a time when it’s essential that universities continue to change and to adapt.” Carter called his 10-year plan for OSU “Education for Citizenship 2035,” referring to the Latin words inscribed on the university’s seal. In listing the plan’s strategic themes, Carter spoke of reinforcing OSU’s strength and reputation as a center for academic excellence and opportunity for Ohioans, but also the university’s role in the general welfare of the public in Central Ohio and its role in the region’s future.

OSU’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs was recently selected as one of 12 institutions for a national initiative to connect veterans and military families with public service education pathways and careers in public leadership. Service to Service, launched by the Volcker Alliance and We the Veterans and Military Families, aims to recruit military-connected students into master’s degree programs as fellows in the fall of 2025, provide them cross-campus experience to encourage networking and professional development, and facilitate their placement in state and local government jobs upon graduation.

The Eric and Jane Nord Family have committed $15 million to Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) for capital support and program improvements, CWRU announced. According to the release, that $15 million will be split among the following:

– $8 million in capital support of the forthcoming Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building to integrate humanities and STEM research.

– $4 million in endowed funds to increase the reach of the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities, renaming it the Baker-Nord Institute for the Humanities; and

– $3 million in endowed funds to elevate the impact of the Emerging Scholars Program and rename it the Nord Family Emerging Scholars Program.

PENSIONS

Attorney General Dave Yost’s office is seeking to lead a lawsuit accusing software company ZoomInfo of misleading investors and spurring tens of millions of dollars in losses for the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) and State Teachers Retirement System (STRS). Yost’s office recently filed a motion in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington laying out STRS’ and OPERS’ status as plaintiffs with the largest financial interest in the case and as parties who can adequately represent the interest of other plaintiffs. Their losses total $75.9 million, according to Yost’s office.

Ohio teachers near the end of their careers will have a three-year window in which they can retire a bit earlier while still securing full pension benefits, under a plan adopted Thursday by the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Board of Trustees. The board’s action will allow teachers to retire with full benefits after 33 years of service instead of 34 years, for a three-year period. The resolution approving the change is in effect from June 2025 through July 2027, but actual dates of the eligibility window will be hashed out in the future. Mike Noble of the firm Cheiron, the board’s outside actuary, explained that for actuarial purposes, the resolution needed to cover three annual valuation cycles. Valuations happen at the turn of the fiscal year. In addition, teachers will be able to retire with reduced pension benefits at 28 years of service and at any age during that window.

In other action, the STRS board Aaron Hood as interim executive director, succeeding Acting Executive Director Lynn Hoover who is retiring.

POLITICS

In a statement released in the wake of the defeat of redistricting amendment Issue 1, the Ohio Forward Party said it will begin to petition for it to have ballot access beginning in the 2026 election cycle. The group accused Republicans and Democrats of consistently failing “to put the interests of people and our communities ahead of their own partisan agendas. Neither party has shown genuine interest in fighting the corruption that has plagued Ohio for decades. Real progress will only come from outside the traditional party structure. The Ohio Forward Party believes that a viable new party, committed to practical solutions and reform, is the only way to achieve lasting success.” The Ohio Forward Party said it plans to gather signatures and build a statewide movement “that can win in two years and that is focused on transparency, independent redistricting, electoral fairness, and restoring accountability to government.” It estimated that it will need to collect about 57,000 signatures by 2026 in order to appear as an established third party in 2026.

WORKFORCE

A program to encourage job growth for Ohio’s commercial drivers awarded $2.54 million to 33 schools statewide for students who enroll in approved commercial driver’s license (CDL) training programs. The Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) collaborates on the Commercial Truck Driver Student Aid Program with the Ohio Department of Public Safety, which reviews CDL programs to ensure they are qualified and eligible to receive a financial award. The program will provide financial aid to in-state students who complete a CDL program and agree to reside and be employed in Ohio for a minimum of one year upon completion. A map of schools throughout Ohio that participate in the program can be seen HERE.