Ohio House passes higher ed overhaul

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. Twenty-four people submitted testimony in support of S.B.1, including students from Miami University. A handful of students from Ashland University testified in favor of the civics education provisions in the bill, but S.B. 1 would not affect Ashland since it's a private university. "Senate Bill 1 represents a pivotal step forward in restoring balance, accountability, and intellectual diversity within Ohio's public higher education system," said Spencer Mandzak, a senior at Miami University. "For too long, our colleges and universities have become environments where one-sided political ideologies dominate the academic discourse, often at the expense of open dialogue and differing perspectives." 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. "(S.B. 1) is harmful for students," said Bobby Arthur McAlpine, Ohio State's undergraduate student body president. Ohio House All Democrats present and three Republicans — Reps. Cindy Abrams, Scott Oelslager and former speaker Jason Stephens — voted against the bill for a 59-34 vote. Lawmakers discussed S.B. 1 for more than two and a half hours during Wednesday's House session. Various provisions of the bill were discussed — including DEI, collective bargaining, board of trustees term length, civics education, and striking. "Let's be clear, this is not an anti-labor bill," said state Rep. Josh Williams, R-Sylvania Twp. "Our students here at our universities are not tools to be used by faculty." The original purpose of DEI was to create fairness in education and workforce, said state Rep. Tom Young, R-Washington Twp. "For decades, it worked, but somewhere along the way, DEI changed," he said. "Instead of fostering inclusion, it has become a tool for division, enforcing ideological conformity rather than true fairness." State Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, spoke out against DEI. "DEI flips the script and judges people by the color of their skin rather than the content of their character," he said. Ohio Democrats offered a handful of floor amendments that were all tabled, including state Rep. Erika White's amendment related to the bill's strike provision. "A strike represents a heart wrenching decision," she said. "Nobody wants to go on strike. Workers lose money. It's the last decision that workers have to choose, and when they do that, that means they reach the point of desperation, of attending every single avenue of dialogue and resolution." State Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna, questioned why this bill is the focus of lawmakers instead of legislation dealing with issues such as property taxes and affordable housing. "This bill legislates away rights for working people and rights for students," she said. "It will muzzle free speech, and it will create a weaker Ohio job market. It is mystifying to me what we are doing today." Opposition S.B. 1 has received overwhelming opposition. More than 1,500 people have submitted opponent testimony against the bill. Hundreds of students around the state have protested against the bill. Students and faculty have said they would leave Ohio if the bill becomes law. More than 900 medical students, residents and attending physicians in Ohio signed a letter on Tuesday asking lawmakers to reject S.B. 1. "Should diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) be restricted or prohibited in higher education, we would not be adequately prepared to care for patients from all backgrounds and may be more likely to cause unintentional harm to our patients," the letter said. "We cannot adequately be prepared to care for all patients, all Ohioans, without DEI in our medical schools." Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors Executive Director Sara Kilpatrick said S.B. 1 will drive students and faculty out of Ohio and lower the quality of research. "S.B. 1 is a slow motion wrecking ball aimed at Ohio's public colleges and universities," she said in a statement Wednesday night. Ohio Federation of Teachers Melissa Cropper hopes DeWine carefully considers the bill, if it ends up on his desk. "S.B. 1 will sabotage Ohio's public colleges and universities with unfunded mandates, politicized directives, and restrictions on workers' rights, leaving higher education in Ohio unable to compete with neighboring states," she said in a statement Wednesday night. Read more news from Columbus at ohiocapitaljournal.com.