Ohio Governor DeWine Signs $86 Billion State Budget with 44 Vetoes

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed the state’s $86 billion biennial operating budget containing tax cuts for individuals and businesses, higher income limits for school vouchers, and a new requirement for parental approval of social media accounts for children under 16.

DeWine vetoed a total of 44 budgetary measures, including a two-week sales tax holiday, legislation that would have prohibited the regulation of tobacco and nicotine products, and legislation that would have prohibited higher education institutions from forcing students to have specific immunizations.

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Ohio Senate Passes State Budget Proposal

The Ohio Senate passed its version of the state’s new two-year $85.7 billion budget bill on Thursday highlighting significant reforms for education policy, tax policy, and home ownership programs.

The latest version of House Bill (HB) 33 passed out of the Ohio Senate by a 24-7 party-line vote. Now approved, the legislation will go to a conference committee to work out differences with the House budget.

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Ohio Senate Introduces Its Version of the State Budget

The Ohio Senate introduced its version of the state’s new two-year $85.7 billion budget bill highlighting significant reforms for education policy, tax policy, and homeownership programs.

The budget includes income tax cuts, universal school vouchers, and a plan to remove the majority of the power of the state Board of Education and superintendent.

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Ohio House Republicans Introduce Legislation to Update School Social Studies Standards

Two Republican Ohio House Representatives have introduced legislation to create new social studies standards through a task force of appointed state officials.

House Bill (HB) 103, sponsored by State Representatives Don Jones (R-Freeport) and Tracy Richardson (R-Marysville), tries to create the Ohio State Social Studies Task Force to craft social studies standards to replace the existing standards in Ohio.

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Ohio Republican Bill Aims to Loosen Requirements on Home Schooling

A Republican Ohio House Representative introduced legislation to make homeschooling approval easier for Ohio families.

House Bill (HB) 127, sponsored by State Representative Sarah Fowler Arthur (R-Ashtabula), aims to only require the superintendent of a school to acknowledge a parent or caretaker’s intent to home school.

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Senate Republicans Renew Push to Reform Ohio Education System After Interim Superintendent’s Resignation

Two Republican Ohio State Senators said that the recent resignation of the interim superintendent of Public Instruction is an opportunity to overhaul the state education system and the Board of Education.

On Friday, Ohio’s interim state superintendent, Stephanie Siddens, announced that she is leaving her job after nearly two years and is set to take a job as deputy superintendent of the Upper Arlington City School District.

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Ohio State Representative Derek Merrin Lays Out His Republican House Priorities

Ohio House Republican Caucus Chairman State Representative Derek Merrin (R-Monclova) and his allied House Republicans released his team’s priority list for House legislation on Wednesday.

This comes a mere week after Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill), along with his Republican supporters, announced their legislative priorities following several weeks without any measures being formally submitted with bill numbers at all.

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Former Congressman Renacci Launches PAC to Fight ‘Woke’ Ohio School Boards

Jim Renacci, a former Ohio Republican congressman, on Thursday unveiled a new political action committee in an effort to elect conservative candidates to Ohio’s school boards.

The new Save Our Schools (SOS) Ohio PAC, according to a news release from Renacci, would aid candidates in raising funds and targeting voters to win these important seats and use data capturing and analysis on all races to identify crucial races to flip control of local school boards.

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Ohio School District Requests Court to Dismiss Lawsuit over Indoctrination and LGBTQ ‘I’m Here’ Badges

Less than a week after parents sued Hilliard City School in federal court because teachers are engaging in “intimate sexual conversations” with pupils as young as 6 years old, school officials are requesting the court to dismiss the lawsuit.

In a motion submitted by Columbus attorney Jessica Philemon in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Ohio on Monday, the district claims that the parents lack standing to launch a lawsuit because they ” have not alleged an actual case or controversy that would invoke the jurisdiction of the federal courts.”

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Parents Sue Hilliard School District over Indoctrination and LGBTQ ‘I’m Here’ Badges

The removal of staff-worn LGBTQ badges is being demanded by a number of parents from central Ohio who are suing Hilliard City Schools in federal court because teachers are engaging in “intimate sexual conversations” with pupils as young as 6 years old. In the case, Ohio Republican Council of Clubs’ attorney Joshua Brown said he represents parents who claim activist instructors are conducting private conversations with their children about sexuality and mental health while keeping those conversations hidden from parents.

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Ohio Board of Education Approves Resolution to Reject LGBTQ Additions to Title IX

The Ohio Board of Education passed a resolution Tuesday that rejects proposed changes to broaden the definition of sex-based harassment and discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation for LGBTQ students.

In a 10-7 vote, board members passed the resolution to “support parents, schools, and districts in rejecting harmful, coercive, and burdensome gender identity policies and to protect federal funding subject to Title IX.”

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Ohio State Senate Passes Plan to Restructure the State’s Education System

The Ohio State Senate passed a 2,144-page Republican-backed bill to “restructure” the Ohio Department of Education on Wednesday.

Senate Bill (SB) 178 sponsored by State Senator Bill Reineke (R-Tiffin) told the Primary and Secondary Education Committee that the bill seeks to “improve the academic achievement and workforce skills of our students, to drive better outcomes in their education, and to prepare for more effective career readiness.”

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Ohio Board of Education Votes in Favor of Resolution to Reject LGBTQ Additions to Title IX

The Ohio Board of Education’s executive committee voted in favor Monday to move forward with a resolution that could reject proposed changes to broaden the definition of sex-based harassment and discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation for LGBTQ students.

The committee voted 5-2 to move ahead with the amendment. With the executive committee’s vote, the entire Ohio Board of Education will debate and potentially voted on the resolution on Tuesday.

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Ohio Secretary of State Announces Board of Education Districts; Democrats Object

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) announced this week that the state Board of Education district boundaries will conform to the plan Gov. Mike DeWine (R) issued in January, spurring objections from Democratic lawmakers.

Nineteen individuals sit on the state Board of Education, with 11 of them standing for election. Five of the elected seats are up in this fall’s general election and those wishing to run must file by August 10.

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Ohio Board of Education Drops Critical Race Theory Resolution

The Ohio Board of Education (BOE) this week dropped its Critical Race Theory (CRT) resolution that activists described as “anti-racist,” and critics described as “divisive.”

According to The Columbus Dispatch, it has been replaced with a new resolution that condemns any curricula that “seeks to divide.”  

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Ohio Village Enacts Mask Mandate, Affects Local School

When a local school district decided not to require masks for students and staff, a small north central Ohio village decided to take matters into its own hands.

Gambier, a town of about 2,500 people about 60 miles northeast of Columbus, enacted a mask mandate during an emergency village council meeting Monday, encompassing nearly all public buildings, including an elementary school.

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