Massive Higher Education Bill Is Not on the Last Ohio House Agenda Before Summer Break

The Ohio House will be voting on more than 30 bills during Wednesday’s session, but a massive higher education bill isn’t on the agenda.

Senate Bill 83 — known as the Enact Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act to supporters and the Higher Education Destruction Act to those who oppose it — is not among the 32 bills listed on the agenda for the House’s last session before summer break.

“It’s not on the floor,” Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, said when asked about the bill.

He went on to say he doesn’t know if there is going to be an attempt to add S.B. 83 to another bill through a House floor amendment during session.

S.B. 83 passed out of the House Higher Education Committee in December , but it has yet to be brought to the House floor for a vote. As House Speaker, Stephens is the only thing that stands in the way of the bill not being brought to the floor for a vote.

“It’s a bill that’s been introduced a year ago,” Stephens said. “A lot of events in the world have changed and I think some of the things could be changed on it, but right now we’ve got 32 bills that are going to be on the floor (Wednesday). We’ve got a lot of really good things. So we’re looking forward to (Wednesday’s) session.”

House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, said it’s always a possibility there could be a floor amendment for SB 83, but reiterated she opposes the bill.

“My caucus is opposed to Senate Bill 83 because this is an unprecedented attack on organized labor and it has very concerning anti-labor provisions,” she said. “I think Ohio has shown over and over again that we are a state that values collective bargaining and values, labor and workers. Every version of S.B. 83 that we have seen so far still has that major concern for us.”

What would SB 83 do?

Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, introduced S.B. 83 in March 2023 and it has gone through 11 revisions. The bill has received overwhelming opposition — especially from college students, faculty and staff  — and more than 100 people testified against the bill for more than seven hours last year during a marathon Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee meeting.

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.

An anti-striking provision was taken out of S.B. 83, but now the bill has a new retrenchment provision that would block unions from negotiating on tenure.

Under the bill, universities could fire tenured professors for a broad list of reasons including reduction in student population. Faculty with between 30 and 35 years of tenure would be protected.

S.B. 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.”

Cirino’s office did not respond to questions from the Capital Journal.