By Will Vorys
The Ohio General Assembly remained active during the month of February, introducing and considering numerous pieces of legislation while also tackling the state’s transportation, Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, and operating budget bills. We expect the Ohio House to finalize the Transportation and BWC budget bills and focus primarily on the main operating budget throughout the month of March.
The Senate Education Committee has continued to consider Senate Bill 1–legislation that would restructure the Ohio Department of Education into the new Department of Education and Workforce, and shift policy making responsibility from the State Board of Education to the DEW. Last week the House Education Committee began its consideration of House Bill 12–a companion to SB 1 with identical provisions. OACTS has testified in support of the legislation in the Senate and intends to do the same in the House.
We will seek to guide certain OACTS members in offering budget testimony before the Ohio House Finance Subcommittee on primary and secondary education, as well as the Ohio House Finance Subcommittee on Higher Education. We expect opportunities to testify to emerge as soon as next week.
OACTS, Ohio CCS and Ohio ACTE are convening an internal workgroup to begin the evaluation process for potential construction projects as part of the Governor’s $200M allocation for facilities improvements. We will update Association members in the coming months. Please continue to express support for this allocation to your legislators as the budget bill moves through the Ohio House and Senate.
