Ohio House Republican lawmakers voted to pass a massive higher education overhaul bill Wednesday that would ban diversity and inclusion efforts and prevent faculty from striking.
State Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, introduced S.B. 1, which passed the Ohio Senate last month.
Now that it’s been passed by the House, it now heads back to the Ohio Senate for concurrence with changes made to the bill by the House.
Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, said Wednesday the Senate will concur with House changes at a later date.
After the Senate concurs with the House changes, the bill will go to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk and DeWine will have 10 days to sign the bill into law or veto it once he receives it. If DeWine vetoes the bill, lawmakers would need three-fifths vote from each chamber to override it.
In addition to the bans on diversity efforts and faculty strikes, S.B. 1 would also set rules around classroom discussion, create post-tenure reviews, put diversity scholarships at risk, create a retrenchment provision that block unions from negotiating on tenure, shorten university board of trustees terms from nine years down to six years, and require students take an American history course, among other things.
For classroom discussion, the bill would set rules around topics involving “controversial beliefs” such as climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion. S.B. 1 would only affect Ohio’s public universities.
The Ohio House Higher Education Committee voted the bill out of committee Wednesday morning with a 9-4 party-line vote after listening to people testify in support of the bill.
The committee also approved amendments to S.B. 1 that would require universities to stop accepting funds for scholarships with diversity and inclusion requirements four years after the bill becomes law.
Another amendment requires the Chancellor of Higher Education to do a diversity study of students enrolled in universities based on race, ethnicity, and biological sex and submit the report to lawmakers within six years.
Outside of the Ohio Statehouse, a mass of college students and protesters rallied against the bill, saying it would destroy freedom of thought and expression on university campuses and push students out-of-state.
(Photos by David DeWitt, Ohio Capital Journal.) Ohio college students and protesters rally at the Statehouse on March 19, 2025, against Senate Bill 1, a higher education overhaul that bans diversity efforts and faculty strikes, and sets rules around classroom discussion, among other things.
Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Marijuana advocates called bills to change Ohio’s weed laws “a slap in the face” to voters.
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws hosted a webinar last week about two bills that are trying to change Ohio’s marijuana laws.
“Whether one believes that cannabis ought to be legal or not is almost a secondary issue,” said NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano. “The primary issue ought to be that elections have consequences, and the results of elections should matter.”
“Ohio looks like it has been rolling along very smoothly, and implementation has been going well,” said NORML Political Director Morgan Fox. “There have been no major complaints from Ohioans, and it’s premature for the legislature to try to interfere with it.”
“It’s not as if this pushback is coming because there have been negative or adverse consequences of Issue Two being implemented,” Armentano said. “The law is working just fine, and Ohioans are happy with it. Lawmakers are trying to meddle with it and act as if there are issues with the law, when in fact, we’re seeing the laws playing out the way voters intended.”
These bills would be dangerous for cannabis users in Ohio, said Cat Packer, director of drug markets and legal regulation at Drug Policy Alliance.
“There are so many ways that if you are a cannabis consumer in Ohio, with either of these bills passed, you should consider that the law will consider you a criminal,” she said.
S.B. 56 would cut the number of Ohio’s home grow plants in half from 12 plants down to six, reduce the THC levels in adult-use marijuana extracts from a maximum of 90% down to a maximum of 70%, and require marijuana can only be used in a private residence.
THC potency caps are a solution in search of a problem, Armentano said.
“Voters, by and large, don’t like potency caps for cannabis,” he said. “If we simply remove these products from the market, we’re not going to get rid of the demand, but what we’re going to do is drive the production of these products to the unregulated market.”
S.B. 56 does allow someone to apply to the sentencing court to have their record expunged, but they would have to pay a $50 filing fee. The bill would require marijuana to only be transported in the trunk of a car when traveling and would limit the number of active dispensaries to 350.
The Ohio Senate passed S.B. 56 last month, which would ban Ohioans from using marijuana that is not either from a licensed Ohio dispensary or cultivated at a consumer’s home — meaning it would be illegal for Ohioans to drive up to Michigan to buy marijuana and bring it back over state lines. The bill has yet to have a hearing in the House.
“If you were to pass a joint or share your home grown cannabis, or share your cannabis with your spouse or your roommate, you would be a criminal again,” said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies at Marijuana Policy Project.
House Bill 160 would keep home grow and tax levels the same, but reduce THC levels and redirect most of the tax revenue to the state’s general fund.
The current tax revenue is divided up in several ways — 36% to the cannabis social equity and jobs fund, 36% to the host community cannabis fund, 25% to the substance abuse and addiction fund and 3% to the Division of Cannabis Control and Tax Commissioner Fund.
“My concern is we wouldn’t be dedicating those monies where voters decided that the money should go,” Packer said.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s budget proposal would increase the tax on marijuana from 10% to 20%. The Ohio House is currently working on the budget, which is due July 1.
Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
State Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, introduced Ohio House Bill 160 during a press conference Thursday. Similar to the Senate’s bill, the House’s bill would reduce the THC levels in marijuana extracts from a maximum of 90% down to a maximum of 70% and caps the number of marijuana dispensaries to 350. The bill, however, would keep the 10% tax on marijuana and keep Ohio’s home grow at 12 plants.
“Our bill preserves the core of Issue Two, while also adding important protections for Ohio’s minors and addressing the issue of intoxicating hemp,” Stewart said, noting his goal is to pass a marijuana bill before the lawmakers go on summer break.
“Every product that is legal today will remain legal under this bill,” Stewart said. “I think we are making very, very few changes here. … We’re not touching any of the core parts of Issue Two.”
The bill deals directly with intoxicating hemp by requiring every THC product to be treated like marijuana and only be sold at the state’s regulated marijuana dispensaries.
“Simply put, if it gets you high, it goes through a dispensary,” Stewart said. “I don’t think Ohioans are excited about the fact that you get essentially the same thing that’s less safe from a local gas station. I don’t want my kids to go walk into your local gas station chain and buy marijuana.”
The bill would change how the marijuana tax revenue is directed, sending a “bulk of tax revenue to Ohio’s general fund,” Stewart said, mentioning he worked closely with House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, on drafting the bill.
Even though legal weed sales started last year, Ohioans could start legally growing marijuana at home shortly after Issue Two passed in 2023.
Ohio state Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville. Official photo.
“I think the longer you wait, the harder it is to make substitute changes,” Stewart said. “I think in the real world, folks who are growing 12 plants today are not likely to grow less than 12 plants just because we passed a law at the Statehouse.”
H.B. 160 prohibits using marijuana in public spaces, but allows for smoking inside a privately owned property, including outside on a residential front porch.
“It’s legal to use these products at your home,” Stewart said.
The bill would also offer expungement for prior convictions for marijuana related offenses.
“As the views of Ohioans have shifted on the issue of marijuana, our laws should reflect that, and allowing people to remove these offenses from their criminal record is good policy,” Stewart said.
Even though the Senate recently passed their own bill, Stewart doesn’t think his bill will create a possible standstill where nothing gets passed.
“I’m going to leave it to the two gentlemen that hold the gavel as to which bill is moving, but it’s one or the other,” Stewart said.
The Ohio Cannabis Coalition (OHCANN) is still digesting this latest piece of legislation, but Deputy Executive Director Adrienne Robbins seemed optimistic about H.B 160.
“We do think this is a really positive step forward,” she said. “When you look at the Senate bill and the different iterations of it that came out, I think this is another step forward, and it does make us feel like lawmakers are one, listening to us, but then, maybe more importantly, listening to consumers’ concerns as well.”
What’s in the Senate marijuana bill?
Senate Bill 56 would significantly change Ohio’s weed laws.
The bill would limit Ohio’s home grow from 12 plants down to six, reduce the THC levels from a maximum of 90% to a maximum of 70%, and mandates that marijuana can only be used in a private residence.
S.B. 56 allows someone to apply to the sentencing court to have their record expunged if they were convicted or plead guilty to possessing 2.5 ounces of marijuana before the state law went into effect. Under the bill, the applicant must pay a $50 filing fee.
The bill would combine the state’s medical and recreational marijuana programs under the Division of Cannabis Control, require marijuana be transported in the trunk of a car when traveling, and would limit the number of active dispensaries to 350.
It would also ban Ohioans from using marijuana that is not either from a licensed Ohio dispensary or cultivated at a consumer’s home. This would make it illegal for Ohioans to drive up to Michigan to purchase marijuana and bring it back over state lines.
The bill originally dealt with taxes and how funds were distributed, but those provisions were removed during committee.
Shortly after Ohioans voted to legalize marijuana, the Ohio Senate quickly passed a bill that would have made major changes to the law that would have affected taxes and home grow, but the Ohio House never brought the bill to the floor.
Instead, state Rep. Jamie Callender, R-Concord, introduced a bill that would have clarified some of Issue 2’s language, but it never made it out of committee.
Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Ohio Democrats peppered Republican state Sen. Jerry Cirino with questions over his higher education overhaul bill this week. The bill would ban faculty strikes and diversity efforts on campus, as well as set rules around classroom discussion.
One Democratic lawmaker called the bill racist.
Cirino gave sponsor testimony on Senate Bill 1 Tuesday afternoon during the Ohio House Higher Education and Workforce Committee meeting.
State Sen. Jerry C. Cirino, R-Lake County. (Photo from Ohio Senate website.)
“S.B. 1 is about more speech, not less,” he said. “It is about creating an environment of continuous improvement. It is about the core value that students come first; they are the customers of these institutions.”
Senate Bill 1 would ban diversity and inclusion efforts, block faculty from striking, set rules around classroom discussion, put diversity scholarships at risk, shorten university board of trustees terms from nine years to six, and require students take an American history course, among other things.
Regarding classroom discussion, it would set rules around topics involving “controversial beliefs” such as climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion.
S.B. 1, which only applies to public colleges, stipulates classroom discussion allows 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.”
State Rep. Desiree Tims, D-Dayton. (Photo from Ballotpedia.)
“I think the bill is very racist,” state Rep. Desiree Tims, D-Dayton, said during Tuesday’s committee meeting.
Tims asked Cirino why he was interested in getting rid of diversity scholarships and Cirino responded by saying Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost addressed race-based scholarships last year.
“We have guidance from the attorney general that we cannot do those,” Cirino said. “Our institutions may not do those things based on race.”
In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment by using race as a factor in applications. The days after the ruling, Yost sent a letter to Ohio colleges and universities saying his office won’t legally protect someone at a college or university who uses race as a factor.
“How is it that you want diversity of thought, but not diversity of people at these public institutions that would bring that diversity?” state Rep. Joe Miller, D-Amherst, asked.
Cirino responded by saying diversity of thought and programs that promote diversity and inclusion are not comparable.
“You cannot discriminate against one group to make up for discrimination of another group,” Cirino said.
Miller also asked about whether limiting speech through legislation, such as this bill, is a slippery slope.
“There’s absolutely not one limitation of what can be talked about in the classroom,” Cirino said in his response. “What we say very specifically and explicitly in the bill is that there has to be an openness to looking at other opinions and welcoming diverse opinions as well.”
State Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna, asked about the retrenchment and collective bargaining parts of the bill.
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“We need to treat our institutions of higher learning a little bit more like a business,” Cirino said. “If we don’t help (university presidents and boards of trustees) with these management tools, we’re going to find a real disadvantage for the state of Ohio.”
Piccolantonio questioned if this bill is giving lawmakers more control over public universities.
“It is clearly not the legislature trying to step in and operate the college or university,” Cirino said. “It’s about empowering the boards of trustees, the governing board and the presidents.”
Piccolantonio also asked if Cirino would be open to making any changes to the bill and he said no, reminding committee members that this bill went through 11 revisions in the last General Assembly.
“This bill is matured and it’s ready to go,” Cirino said. In the version of the bill passed last month by the Ohio Senate, most of the changes made in the last General Assembly were rolled back.
More than 800 people submitted opponent testimony against the bill — significantly outweighing the amount of supporter testimony the bill has received. Several students have said they would leave Ohio if this bill passed.
When state Rep. Munira Abdullahi, D-Columbus, asked about so many students opposing the bill, Cirino said legislation is not developed based on how many people come to testify.
“If we started doing that, it would be a popularity contest, and we should all take a huge pay cut because we’re getting paid, in my view, to make policies sometimes, whether it’s popular or not, if we think it is the right thing to do and good for the state of Ohio,” Cirino said.
Abdullahi also asked why the bill would ban higher education faculty from striking.
“Simply because higher education, all postsecondary education, is absolutely critical to us in Ohio if we’re going to maintain a strong economy in the future and meet the workforce requirements that we need to meet in order to employ people and to provide the workers that our companies are looking for,” Cirino said.
Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has officially asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to approve Medicaid work requirements.
Under the proposal, Ohio Medicaid expansion recipients would need to be at least 55 years old, employed, be enrolled in school or a job training program, be in a recovery program, or have a serious physical or mental health illness.
“As part of our work to empower people to reach their full potential, we have a responsibility to make sure as many Ohioans as possible are on a pathway toward financial independence,” DeWine said in a statement. “Reinstating our work requirement will promote self-sufficiency, it will give more people the purpose and pride that comes with a job, and it will improve the well-being of Ohio’s workforce.”
Medicaid offers health coverage to households making at or below 138% of the poverty line — $44,367 a year for a family of four. About 92% of U.S. adults under age 65 and eligible for Medicaid are already working or are exempt from requirements due to caregiving responsibilities, illness or disability, or school attendance, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
DeWine sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. asking to approve the work requirements on Friday. Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman and Ohio Senate President Rob McColley also signed the letter.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid will now review Ohio’s waiver and then the federal agency will have a 30-day comment period, said Ohio Department of Medicaid Spokesperson Stephanie O’Grady.
Once those steps are completed, Ohio’s Medicaid department will begin talks with the federal agency about setting up state terms and conditions, O’Grady said.
“We are dedicated to delivering high-quality healthcare to millions of Ohioans every day, empowering them to take control of their own health,” ODM Director Maureen Corcoran said in a statement. “By encouraging them to seek employment, we not only enhance their quality of life, but also contribute to healthier communities and a thriving economy in Ohio.”
Ohio’s 2023 budget requires the state Medicaid department to re-apply with the federal government under the new presidential administration for permission to impose work, drug testing, and/or education requirements for adult Medicaid health coverage recipients.
ODM received more than 450 comments on the proposed Medicaid work requirements and an overwhelming majority opposed the requirements with many sharing about their personal experiences with Medicaid.
Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
A new bill proposed by an Ohio Republican lawmaker would ban diversity and inclusion efforts in Ohio K-12 public schools.
State Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, recently introduced Ohio Senate Bill 113 which would require every local board of education in the state to adopt a policy that would end any current diversity and inclusion offices or departments and ban any diversity, equity, and inclusion orientation or training. It would also prevent the creation of any new such offices or departments and using DEI in job descriptions.
Under the bill, each board of education would be required to create a complaint process for an alleged violation of the policy and the board would investigate the complaint with a hearing.
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Ohio teacher unions were quick to critique the bill.
“This is another petty attempt from this legislature to sidestep local control and micromanage every aspect of how public schools operate,” Ohio Federation of Teachers President Melissa Cropper said in an email. “It is objectively a good thing for students of all races when school districts make an effort to hire a diverse teaching staff.”
Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro said S.B. 113 is a distraction.
“Ohio’s General Assembly should be focused on the real issues facing Ohioans and our schools — fully and adequately funding public schools and seeking solutions to help alleviate the economic challenges faced by families and communities,” he said in an email.
Honesty for Ohio Education Executive Director Christina Collins said this is another example of Ohio lawmakers are going after school curriculum and programming.
“This bill uses the vilified acronym ‘DEI’ without offering a definition to advance an agenda that harms our public education system,” she said in an email.
S.B. 113 is not the only bill Ohio lawmakers have introduced that would ban diversity and inclusion efforts in education. Senate Bill 1 would, among other things, ban diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at Ohio’s public universities. The Senate passed the bill earlier this month and is waiting to be heard in the House.
S.B. 113 comes as President Donald Trump’s executive orders attempt to get rid of diversity and inclusion efforts across federal agencies.
On Feb. 14, the U.S. Department of Education sent a Dear Colleague letter to schools nationwide threatening to rescind federal funds for schools that use race-conscious practices in admissions, programming, training, hiring, scholarships, and other aspects of student life.
This would apply to all preschool, elementary, secondary, postsecondary educational institutions and state educational agencies that receive financial assistance. Institutions have until Friday to comply or else they face the “potential loss of federal funding.”
Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
An Ohio Democratic Senator recently introduced a bill in response to last summer’s Ohio Supreme Court ruling saying that a man who ordered boneless wings should have expected bones in them and denied him a jury trial after he sustained significant injuries.
State Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, was outraged by the Supreme Court ruling and introduced Senate Bill 38 last month which would look at how the state determines liability when someone is injured by “negligently prepared food from a restaurant or food supplier,” DeMora said last week in his sponsor testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In 2016, Michael Berkheimer ate boneless wings at a Southwest Ohio restaurant, but felt like he swallowed something wrong. He developed a fever later that night and ended up going to the hospital a couple days later with a 105-degree fever. The doctors discovered a nearly two inch chicken bone in his throat that ripped open the wall of his esophagus.
Berkheimer developed an infection, had to undergo several surgeries, was in two medically induced comas, and had a week-long stay in intensive care.
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He sued the restaurants and their chicken suppliers in 2017, saying “negligence” led to his injuries. The Butler County Court of Common Pleas and the Twelfth District Court of Appeals sided against Berkheimer and didn’t let the case go to trial.
The case went to the Ohio Supreme Court where the majority ruled the lower courts made the right decision. The ruling was four Republicans to three Democrats.
The restaurant wasn’t liable “when the consumer could have reasonably expected and guarded against the presence of the injurious substance in the food,” Ohio Supreme Court Justice Joe Deters wrote in the majority opinion.
“What (Berkheimer) went through was horrific, timeconsuming, and costly,” DeMora said in his testimony.
But the bill doesn’t focus on Berkheimer’s injuries, but rather how judges were the ones who decided his case.
“That’s not just wrong,” DeMora said. “It’s a direct assault on the very foundation of our legal system.”
S.B. 38 is trying to change that.
“It will make sure that future cases like Mr. Berkheimer’s are heard by a jury – as our Constitution demands,” DeMora said. “It will also make sure that when determining liability, we use the reasonable expectations test used by most states.”
Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
As President Donald Trump continues to talk about dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, Ohio educators worry what that could mean for federal funding that school districts across the state rely on.
Trump could issue an executive order targeting the department and he recently told his pick for education secretary, Linda McMahon, “to put herself out of a job.” However, Trump cannot get rid of a federal agency without congressional approval.
Ohio education advocates said that Trump’s efforts would hurt Ohio’s vulnerable schoolchildren the most.
“Students in poverty and students with disabilities are the ones who are most at risk of losing the support they need to succeed,” said Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro.
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The federal department doesn’t determine what is taught in schools. Instead, learning standards are set at the state level and curriculum is adopted by local school boards.
Ohio school districts on average receive about 10% of their revenue from the federal government, DiMauro said. About 90% of Ohio students attended public school during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.
“Districts that have a higher percentage of students in poverty depend even more on the federal government for support,” DiMauro said. “So in higher poverty, rural, and urban districts, we can see those percentages be 20% to 25% or even more.”
It’s unclear what would happen to all that funding if the department was eliminated, DiMauro said.
The department allocates Title I funds, which are federal funds given to school districts with a high percentage of low-income students.
Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be secretary of Education, testifies during her Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“We see Title I dollars go to virtually every single district in the state,” DiMauro said. “Over 808,000 students in Ohio directly benefit from Title I support.”
Central Ohio educator Larry Carey noted how much harm would be caused if the funds were taken away.
“These resources help schools address learning gaps, provide interventions, and create safe, inclusive environments,” Carey said. “Without them, the futures of our most vulnerable students hang in the balance.”
“Losing these protections would strip away vital services from children who depend on them the most,” Carey said.
Traci Arway, a Columbus City Schools special education coordinator, is particularly worried about what this could mean for education funding for those living with disabilities.
“It’s really scary,” she said. “How is that going to impact all of the service providers and employees, like myself, who a portion of our salaries are paid through IDEA funding to provide services?”
About 16% of Ohio public school students had a disability during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Ohio education department.
If the federal education department was eliminated, there would be fewer student support staff members and fewer wraparound services such as reading and math coaches, Arway said.
“I worry about our profession,” she said. “We are trying to prepare the future workforce of our country … It is hard to come in every day and mask the frustrations because the students shouldn’t have to feel that.”
McMahon is best known for her time as the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. She led the U.S. Small Business Administration for about two years during Trump’s first term and served for about a year on Connecticut’s State Board of Education more than a decade ago.
“In some ways it’s like déjà vu all over again,” DiMauro said. “I think it’s important to have somebody who’s got a perspective of what it’s like to work with students in the classroom, or to run a school, or lead an education program. We just don’t have that here.”
Trump appointed Betsy DeVos to be secretary of education during his first term in office, despite her having no previous work experience in education.
“The bar was set pretty low with Betsy DeVos and McMahon just goes right under it,” Arway said. “Who knew the bar could go lower?”
Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Brielle Shorter, a 20-year-old Ohio State University student, protests against Senate Bill 1 on Jan. 22, 2025. (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal).
Senate Bill 1 was passed by a 21-11 vote. All nine democrats and two republicans — Bill Blessing and Tom Patton — voted against the bill.
The Ohio Senate passed a controversial higher education bill that would overhaul the state’s public universities during Wednesday’s session. This came one day after more than 800 Ohioans submitted testimony against it. Fourteen people provided supporter testimony. The sponsor of the bill called those numbers “irrelevant.”
Ohio Senate Bill 1 was passed by a 21-11 vote. All nine democrats and two republicans — Bill Blessing and Tom Patton — voted against the bill, which will go to the Ohio House for consideration.
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For Background:
Senate Bill 1 will ban diversity and inclusion efforts, prevent faculty from striking, set rules around classroom discussion, put diversity scholarships at risk, shorten university board of trustees terms from nine years down to six years, and require students take an American history course, among other things.
Regarding classroom discussion, it would set rules around topics involving “controversial beliefs” such as climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion.
“This is needed reform to enhance and make higher education in Ohio better,” Cirino said. “We have to constantly be moving the goal line here for us to be better, to respond to the changes demographically and in the workforce demands for the jobs that our graduates are taking.”
Protester opposing S.B. 1 erupted in chants moments after the bill passed, shouting, among other things, “Who killed higher ed? The Ohio Senate did! Who killed higher ed? Senator Cirino did!”
The protesters continued their chants with the names of different lawmakers as they exited the Senate chamber.
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When asked why this bill was fast-tracked through the Senate, Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, said the Senate passed a nearly identical bill that Cirino put forward during the last General Assembly.
“Everybody’s minds are pretty much made up as to what we should do in this regard, so we didn’t see the reason to delay this process any further,” he said.
What is in Senate Bill 1?
S.B. 1 would ban diversity and inclusion efforts, prevent faculty from striking, set rules around classroom discussion, put diversity scholarships at risk, shorten university board of trustees terms from nine years down to six years, and require students take an American history course, among other things.
Regarding classroom discussion, it would set rules around topics involving “controversial beliefs” such as climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion.
The bill stipulates classroom discussion allows 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.”
“A lot of it is related to making sure that diversity of thought is practiced as a policy in our universities and community colleges,” Cirino said.
S.B. 1 would affect Ohio’s public universities and community colleges, not private universities.
Senate Democrats tried to make several amendments to S.B. 1 during Wednesday’s Senate Session, but none of the amendments were adopted.
“I wouldn’t view that as a scientific measure of the general support statewide or opposition statewide, to what this actually is,” McColley said when asked about the overwhelming opposition to S.B. 1.
Senate discussion
COLUMBUS, Ohio — JUNE 15: State Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, speaks during the Ohio Senate session, June 15, 2023, at the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal)
There was two hours of discussion about the bill during Wednesday’s Senate session before the vote took place. All nine Senate democrats spoke against the bill while four Republicans voiced their support of the bill.
“Students are going to leave the state and go somewhere else where their abilities to learn and express free speech aren’t subject to this law,” said state Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus. “This bill is the worst bill.”
The quality of education suffers when legislators gain the authority to control what is taught in universities, said state Sen. Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson.
“This bill invites political interference into academic matters,” he said.
Minority Senate Leader Nickie J. Antonio, D-Lakewood, said S.B. 1 is a detriment to Ohio’s higher education.
“The premise of the bill is that somehow public universities are bastions of liberalism trying to indoctrinate our children,” she said. “I think it will make the state of Ohio universities not favorable to students, especially students with diverse backgrounds that are looking for places to be their full, complete selves.”
State Sen. Kristina Roegner, R-Hudson, spoke in favor of the bill.
“We want Ohio’s colleges and universities to be places where students reach their full intellectual potential, where research and critical thinking are promoted, where free speech is encouraged and where innovation is nurtured and performance is rewarded to be the best, we must be a meritocracy,” she said.
Many college students and faculty have said they would leave Ohio if S.B. 1 passed, but Cirino said he doesn’t believe there is going to be a mass migration out of the state.
“I believe that the better we enhance higher education in Ohio, the more attractive we’re going to be to students of all types,” he said. “I would never participate in anything that destroyed higher ed.”
Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel has been officially confirmed by the General Assembly as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s lieutenant governor.
DeWine announced Tressel, 72, as his pick for lieutenant governor on Monday and needed the House and the Senate to confirm the pick. Tressel has never held a political position before.
The Senate voted 31-1 and the House voted 68-27 during Wednesday’s sessions to make Tressel’s appointment official.
State Sen. Beth Liston, D-Dublin, voted against the appointment. All 27 opposed votes in the House were from Democrats, but a handful of Democrats voted in support of Tressel’s appointment.
Tressel replaces former Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, whom DeWine appointed to the U.S. Senate last month to fill Vice President J.D. Vance’s Senate vacancy.
“Congratulations to Jim Tressel on being confirmed by the Ohio General Assembly to become the next lieutenant governor! He brings a wealth of knowledge to the position and will serve Ohio with distinction,” DeWine said in his post.
Tressel is best known for his time as the head football coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2001-2010, including winning the 2002 national championship. He then went on to serve as the president of Youngstown State University from 2014-2023. Before his time at Ohio State, he was the head football coach at Youngstown State for 15 years.
Tressel is from Mentor and graduated with a degree in education from Baldwin Wallace University, where he played quarterback on the football team.
“He’s widely known, obviously, for his activities on the gridiron, being one of the most successful college football coaches of the last 20 years or so,” said Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon. “He’s also widely known, even more importantly, for the mentorship that he provided to countless young men and young women who were part of the Ohio State football program during that time period.”
McColley went on to call Tressel one of the “greatest leaders we’ve had in our state.”
State Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, said he has seen firsthand how Tressel has transformed the part of the state he represents.
“He brings about passion for workforce development and higher education,” Cutrona said. “(Tressel) brings out the very best in every person that he meets, and, I believe, he will bring out the very best in Ohio as our next lieutenant governor.”
Senate Minority Leader Nickie J. Antonio, D-Lakewood, had a chance to talk with Tressel before the Senate vote.
“My caucus is very hopeful that Jim Tressel will provide through his expertise and experiences in higher ed that they’re hopeful that he will bring some balance and some inside experience and expertise on higher ed to the administration,” she said.
Over in the House, state Rep. Phil Plummer, R-Dayton, spoke in favor of Tressel’s confirmation.
“I, along with many of our colleagues, instantly agreed that that was the right pick because Jim Tressel is a winner, he’s a leader and he’s a champion for the people of Ohio,” he said.
State Rep. Juanita O. Brent, D-Cleveland, voted against Tressel’s confirmation due to his involvement in helping pass a 2015 law that allows the state to take control over school districts with low standardized test scores.
“The Academic Distress Commission has kept schools like in my district — East Cleveland, Lorain, Youngstown — under the control of the state, is taking away parental choice … is taking away the voice of our school board members,” Brent said. “And the person behind all of this is the person who’s now trying to be appointed to our lieutenant governor.”
Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
