Week in Review 3-9-26

Week in Review > Week in Review 3-9-26

Posted by Buckeye Association of School Administrators on March 09th, 2026

FY27-28 CAPITAL APPROPRIATIONS

School systems in the pipeline for state assistance with construction and renovation could expect the same amount of funding as in recent cycles under the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission’s (OFCC) capital budget request. OFCC has requested $600 million for inclusion in the capital budget legislation now under development in the General Assembly. That total matches money requested and provided in the past few capital budget cycles.

State finances are on solid footing as lawmakers and the administration prepare a new capital budget, Office of Budget and Management (OBM) Director Kim Murnieks told House and Senate finance committee members Tuesday during presentations of the companion biennial capital reappropriations bills. Murnieks testified on HB730 (Stewart) in the House Finance Committee and SB371 (Cirino) in the Senate Finance Committee, telling the legislators the legislation would continue funding for projects approved in prior capital budgets but not yet completed. She said the $1.93 billion in the proposal is lower than the total appropriated in the prior cycle’s capital reappropriations measure. Public works, K-12 and higher education projects account for the bulk of the total.

The Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) is seeking $54.2 million for several programs supporting technological innovation, efficiency and workforce development, according to ODHE’s capital budget request letter to the Office of Budget and Management.

CHILDREN/FAMILIES

The Ohio Commission on Fatherhood (OCF) plans to award organizations $150,000 per county per state fiscal year to implement the Responsible Fatherhood Initiative (RFI) across Ohio starting this summer. OCF announced it had posted the FY27 RFI Request for Grant Application, seeking to fund organizations across the state to provide fathers “resources, support and encouragement” in their parenting role. Applications are due on Tuesday, April 14, at 1 p.m. OCF said funds will start going out on Wednesday, July 1. More information is HERE.

EDUCATION

Two House members told colleagues Tuesday that major vendors providing database services to schools and libraries across Ohio are not providing the child-safe experience they promise, prompting the legislators to propose a three-strikes framework to gain compliance. Reps. Kevin Ritter (R-Marietta) and Johnathan Newman (R-Troy) presented sponsor testimony on HB583 to the House Finance Committee. They said educational databases from Cengage and EBSCO, used in Ohio under the names INFOhio and OWL, are allowing harmful, age-inappropriate content on to platforms marketed for use by K-12 students. That includes pornography, dating websites and advertisements for tobacco products or marijuana, for example, they said.

A resolution urging Congress to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) had its first hearing Tuesday during the Senate Education Committee. Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware), also the committee chair, provided sponsor testimony on SCR16 (Brenner), the resolution he said would return authority over education to where it “constitutionally belongs” — in the hands of the states, local communities and families.

ETHICS

The executive director of the Ohio Ethics Commission told the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) Monday that the commission has no plans to reintroduce its requirement for board members of charter school governing authorities to file disclosure forms after receiving pushback from legislators and members of those governing authorities. Members of the commission and Executive Director Paul Nick were called before JCARR Monday to have a discussion over the commission’s decision in December to require the board members of charter governing authorities to file the disclosures if those members were serving on the board on Jan. 1. After receiving pushback, the commission paused the rule and then rescinded it during its January meeting after lawmakers informed the commission they were prepared to step in quickly if the commission did not take that action.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY/STATEHOUSE

The House Technology and Innovation Committee adopted a substitute bill for HB646 (Click-Deeter) on Tuesday, with changes to the proposed Data Center Study Commission’s membership, elimination of a compensation provision for members and removal of the bill’s emergency clause. The substitute bill also adds an examination of data center wastewater discharge to the commission’s duties.

Wednesday’s Senate session included concurrence with House amendments on tax conformity measures SB9 (Blessing) and ranked-choice voting ban SB63 (Gavarone-DeMora), sending both on to the governor, as well as passage of SB87 (Johnson), regarding antisemitism; HB229 (Deeter), which sets up a licensing structure for pharmacy benefit managers; SB262 (Blessing), regarding construction contracts; and SB263 (Roegner), regarding professional employment organizations and unemployment compensation.

Wednesday’s House session included passage of HB437 (Schmidt-Rader), requiring student athlete health examinations before participation; HB25 (Jarrells-Ray), regarding education services for foster youth; HB507 (Newman-John), to criminalize receiving proceeds from prostitution; HB292 (T. Mathews-Santucci), to establish the Ohio Defense and Space Commission; HB650, to create the Frontier Technologies and Quantum Commission; SB244 (Roegner-Timken), designating Aug. 26 as “Abbey Gate Remembrance Day”; and HB37 (Stewart), a road naming bill.

In other legislative action, House Technology and Aviation Committee reported out HB84 (Demetriou-Williams), regarding age requirements for obscene materials; Senate Financial Institutions, Insurance and Technology Committee reported out SB306 (Lang), regarding insurance; House Energy Committee reported out HB173 (D. Thomas), regarding behind-the-meter utility services; Senate Armed Services, Veterans Affairs and Public Safety Committee reported out SB214 (Koehler), regarding firearms suppressors and mufflers; and Senate Transportation Committee reported out SB302 (Johnson), a license plate bill.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Ohio can begin preventing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) enrollees from using their benefits to buy full-sugar soft drinks starting in October, following federal approval Wednesday of a waiver ordered by lawmakers in the biennial budget. The waiver will be in effect for two years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s approval letter, though it can be extended in year-long increments to a total of five years’ duration.

PENSIONS

Key lawmakers are urging the two pension systems still holding assets of companies doing business in Iran and in Sudan to fully divest, as they pledged to do nearly two decades ago. Rep. Adam Bird (R-Cincinnati) and Sen. Mark Romanchuk (R-Ontario), respectively chair and vice chair of the Ohio Retirement Study Council (ORSC), this week wrote a letter to the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) and School Employees Retirement System (SERS) on divestment. Those systems were the only two to report remaining holdings at the most recent ORSC meeting, and Romanchuk expressed hope at the time they would have no such assets to report in their next annual update next year. Bird and Romanchuk took a hard line in their letter, dated Tuesday. “The ORSC has displayed, at this point, an extraordinary amount of patience and constraint regarding certain direct investments in Iran and Sudan made by the state retirement systems. Candidly, our patience is spent,” they wrote.

TAXATION

Two local government sectors heavily reliant on property taxes say a new poll shows high levels of voter satisfaction with their services and support for maintaining their funding. Survey results from Public Opinion Strategies conducted for the Ohio Township Association and Ohio Library Council come as campaigners continue a ballot drive that would eliminate property taxes, the predominant funding source for both groups. More than half of overall library funding and about two thirds of township revenue derives from property taxes, according to the two organizations.