From OHIO CAPITAL JOURNAL
Ohio lawmakers pass forced outing bill with religious release time amendments during lame duck
A bill that would require school districts to create a mandatory religious release time policy and require educators to out a students’ sexuality to their parents is on its way to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk for his signature.
During a marathon day of sessions, the Ohio Senate voted 24-7 to pass House Bill 8 and the Ohio House voted 57-31 to concur with changes made to the bill. (BGIN: State Sen Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green and State Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, R-Perrysburg both voted in favor of the bill.) Once DeWine receives the bill, he has 10 days to sign H.B. 8 into law or veto it.
State Reps. D.J. Swearingen, R-Huron, and Sara Carruthers, R-Hamilton, introduced H.B. 8 last year. The bill was known as the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” to supporters while opponents called it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
“What we’re trying to do with the ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights’ is to preserve that critical relationship between a parent and their child in the school system,” Swearingen said.
H.B. 8 would require public schools to let parents know about sexuality content materials ahead of time and give them the option to request alternative instructions.
It would also prohibit any sexuality content from being taught to students in kindergarten through third grade. H.B. 8 defines sexuality content as “oral or written instruction, presentation, image or description of sexual concepts of gender ideology.” READ MORE
Bill to address issues from Ohio’s infant mortality to early childhood education passes legislature
Legislation to make improvements to systems ranging from infant care to early childhood education throughout the state of Ohio was passed by the Ohio General Assembly on Wednesday.
House Bill 7 made it through the lame duck session with passage the day after the measure was favorably passed in the Senate Finance Committee with amendments to remove funding provisions within the bill. (BGIN: State Sen Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green and State Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, R-Perrysburg both voted in favor of the bill.)
“We raised awareness, and we are asking to up our game next year,” said co-sponsor state Rep. Andrea White, R-Kettering, when the House concurred in Senate amendments late on Wednesday night.
Co-sponsor state Rep. Latyna Humphrey, D-Columbus, called it “a good step in the right direction,” and said supporters would be pushing for the funding in the budget.
“We want people to know that we’re not done,” Humphrey said.
Other amendments to the bill eliminated doula services for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, and though advocates were disappointed to see funding removed, they expressed hope that next year’s budget would include items to help move forward with improvements to infant and maternal mortality and community resource engagement to bring about better child outcomes in the state. READ MORE
School expulsion bill passes during lame duck, goes to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk
A bill that would require Ohio school districts to make a policy to expel a student that poses an “imminent and severe endangerment” for 180 days and potentially longer has been passed by the state legislature and is going to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk.
The Ohio Senate passed House Bill 206 with a 23-7 vote and the Ohio House voted 61-25 to concur with changes made to the bill. Once DeWine receives the bill, he has 10 days to sign it into law or veto it. (BGIN: State Sen Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green and State Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, R-Perrysburg both voted in favor of the bill.)
State Reps. Gary Click, R-Vickery, and Monica Robb Blasdel, R-Columbiana, introduced H.B. 206.
The bill defines “imminent and severe endangerment” as bringing a firearm or a knife “capable of causing serious bodily injury” to school, making a bomb threat to a school building, causing serious physical harm to someone at school or making an “articulated or verbalized threat, including a hit list, threatening manifesto, or social media post, that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the pupil poses a serious threat,” according to the bill’s language.
“The goal is not to deprive the child of their education rather than stop unintentionally readmitting every student who may still pose an imminent threat to a school full of other students and faculty,” said State Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware. READ MORE
