Innovation Ohio

What you need to know about Ohio Politics and Policy

At The Statehouse: Lawmakers Look To Grant Business Immunity

Both chambers are working on legislation to limit the ability for businesses to be sued for liability during the COVID pandemic emergency. A Senate committee will hold a third hearing and vote on that chamber’s version of the bill (SB308) while the House plans two hearings this week to consider the House Bill (HB606). 

Lawmakers last week introduced new legislation (SB311) to rescind current health emergency orders and limit the power of the Director to enact new orders. 
The House and Senate have session scheduled for Wednesday with an additional meeting of the House penciled in for Thursday if necessary.

New Legislation This Week

Several new bills were introduced last week that we will be monitoring. You can also view the complete list of bills we’re tracking.

  • House Bill 633 (Boggs) – Workers Compensation – To make COVID-19 contracted by specified types of employees an occupational disease under the Workers’ Compensation Law under certain circumstances and to declare an emergency.
  • House Bill 634 (Denson, Upchurch) – Marijuana – To allow for the cultivation and possession of marijuana, to modify possession and cultivation penalties, and to allow for the expungement of certain marijuana convictions.
  • House Concurring Resolution 27 (Russo) – Health Insurance – To urge the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to immediately issue a special enrollment period through HealthCare.gov for uninsured Ohioans who may be unable to access COVID-19 testing and treatment.
  • Senate Bill 311 (McColley, Roegner) – Health Orders – To rescind certain orders of the Director of Health regarding COVID-19, to require the approval of the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review for Department of Health orders to be effective for more than fourteen days, to require statewide Department of Health orders to include the Governor’s signature, to modify the Department’s rulemaking authority, to allow in-person high school graduation ceremonies, and to declare an emergency.

Statehouse Meetings and Events

Tuesday, May 12

Wednesday, May 13

  • 9 am – House Civil Justice – 4th hearing (all testimony, possible amendments, and substitute) on HB606 (Civil Immunity). Statehouse Room 116 (overflow in 114). Watch online at ohiochannel.org.
  • 9:15 am – Senate Judiciary – 3rd hearing (all testimony, possible amendments, and vote) on SB308 (Civil Immunity). Senate South Hearing Room. Watch online at ohiochannel.org.
  • 11 am – Senate Rules and Reference – meeting to set agenda for May 20 Senate session. Senate Majority Conference Room. No broadcast.
  • 11:45 am – House Rules and Reference – meeting to set agenda for May 21 House session. Statehouse Room 017 (overflow in Room 018). No broadcast.
  • 1 pm – House Session – agenda TBD. Watch online at ohiochannel.org.
  • 1:30 pm – Ohio Senate – agenda TBD. Watch online at ohiochannel.org.
  • 2 pm – Gov. DeWine Briefing on COVID-19 – Watch online at ohiochannel.org.
  • 3 pm – Senate Local Government – 2nd hearing (all testimony, possible amendments & vote) on HB242 (Plastic Bag Ordinances). Senate South Hearing Room. Watch online at ohiochannel.org

Thursday, May 14

  • 1 pm – House Session – agenda TBD. Watch online at ohiochannel.org.
  • 2 pm – Gov. DeWine Briefing on COVID-19 – Watch online at ohiochannel.org.

Friday, May 15

  • 2 pm – Gov. DeWine Briefing on COVID-19 – Watch online at ohiochannel.org.

Higher Education in Ohio’s State Budget

Historically large investments in higher education, not enough yet to overcome a decade of neglect.

The July passage of House Bill 166, the state’s two-year operating budget, included record funding for higher education. However, much work remains to make Ohio’s public colleges and universities more accessible and affordable for more of Ohio’s students, especially those from traditionally underrepresented populations most at risk for not exploring post-secondary educational options.

As we reported last year, Ohio faces large and widespread challenges to achieve its stated goal of 65 percent post-secondary degree or credential attainment by 2025. In response, we authored a report identifying 10 ways the state budget could help alleviate these barriers.

House Bill 166 adopted many of those recommendations and put our state on a more hopeful path toward achieving this goal, helping to reduce barriers for students to attain these post-secondary degrees. However, there’s much more that needs to be done to move our state toward reaching the 65 percent goal on time.

Here are the primary benefits provided in the budget:

  1. Ohio’s Higher Education budget grew by 8.3% – a record $220 million increase.
  2. Of the 75 budget line items for higher education, 63 either stayed the same or increased. – Of the 12 line items cut, some were simply relocated elsewhere in the budget.
  3. Ohio’s State Share of Instruction (SSI) – the state’s higher education funding formula – will see a two-year increase of 3.1 percent to $2.04 billion a year, a strong reversal for a line item that had been funded at lower levels than 2010, adjusted for inflation.
  4. The amount of funding provided to students who qualify for the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG) – the state’s primary need-based aid program – will nearly double from a $1,500 maximum award to $2,500 by the second year of the budget thanks to a 51.6% increase.
  5. In one of several examples of micro-targeting more investment to at-risk populations, a program focusing on educating rural, Appalachian members of the workforce will see a $3 million a year increase, helping rural adults attain more certificates and degrees to aid in their career advancement.
  6. For the first time in state history, specific funding was set aside for state investment to increase the state’s FAFSA completion rate, a key driver of college participation among lower-income students.

While many of these victories for Ohio students and families will undoubtedly make a difference in their ability to afford and maintain their post-secondary educational options, Ohio had fallen so far behind that it will take a concerted, well-coordinated, long-term effort to build upon these initial foundations. This budget, while signaling a welcome shift in higher education policy focus, remains well short of the investment necessary to achieve our state’s lofty post-secondary attainment goal.

Download the full Report

10 Things Ohio’s Budget Needs to Get Right for College Students

Ohio is lagging far behind its stated goal of having 65 percent of our citizens attain post-secondary degrees or certificates. These post-secondary options must be more attainable for more of our students, especially those from at-risk populations. We will not reach the goal without significant improvement in attainment among our economically-disadvantaged, minority and first-generation students. These recommendations would all cut to the core of these issues, making colleges and universities more accessible and attainable for more students.

Our approach has the support of local, state and national advocates who see and recognize Ohio’s need to invest in its workforce through these types of initiatives. In addition, Ohio organizations representing professors, administrators, and students, support these efforts to expand workforce opportunities. Innovation Ohio offers these 10 recommendations for the state’s two-year budget that, if adopted, would make attaining the most valuable post-secondary credentials and degrees significantly more attainable.

Good News. But Not Good Enough

The most recent report from the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education gave us Ohio higher education advocates some hopeful news. Between 2005 and 2015, Ohio had the nation’s seventh-largest percentage increase of 25 to 64 year olds attaining bachelor’s degrees or higher. The 13 percent increase was only outdone by Oregon, South Carolina, North Carolina, Indiana, Tennessee and Kentucky, which topped the nation at a 17 percent increase.

Here’s the problem: Ohio is so far behind that reaching the national average attainment level in the next 10 years would require Ohio to nearly double that improvement rate. And while we did improve our national standing between 2005-2015, the “jump” was from the nation’s 37th highest college attainment rate to its 35th highest.

So we’re better, but still not great.

If we want to catch up with the nation’s top attaining state, Massachusetts? We’d need to improve our attainment rate over the next 10 years by more than 5 times the rate we achieved over the last 10 years. In other words, keeping the same improvement rate doesn’t move the needle a whole lot compared with the nation’s highest performing states.

The bottom line is this: We’ve seen nice improvement in degree attainment, but we have started from so far behind that we have to do significantly better to leverage a greater talent advantage over other states in the coming years. This is why we must insist on more meaningful state investment to improve Ohioans’ access to, and affordability of post-secondary options.

New Report Sheds Light on Post-Secondary Challenges Facing Ohioans

A new report from the Innovation Ohio Education Fund titled, “The Heart of it All: How Ohio’s Lagging Investment in Post-Secondary Education Must Be Reversed For Its People to Prosper in Today’s Economy” has examined rarely analyzed state education data to reveal a stark picture of Ohio’s urgent need to invest in its post-secondary education and workforce development systems.

Ohio is at the vanguard of a number of national problems concerning higher education access and attainment. Fewer and fewer Ohioans are upwardly mobile, earning more than their parents. As more jobs require a post-secondary credential, Ohioans continue to lag behind the rest of the country in obtaining them. The number of Ohioans enrolled in post-secondary programs is shrinking primarily due to the increased financial burdens students and families must shoulder because of continued state divestment from the necessary post-secondary programs required for the 21st century knowledge economy. This is especially true for students from poorer communities and students of color.

Key findings from the report include:

  • Ohio had the ninth lowest per student financial commitment to higher education in the United States – nearly $2,100 less than the national average.
  • Ohio’s higher education enrollment drop of over 17% between 2011 and 2017 was the largest drop in the country. While Ohio’s 2015 enrollment was higher than before the 2008-2009 Great Recession, the difference was only 0.8%, which was the nation’s sixth lowest increase.
  • Overall, 44% of Ohio adults aged 25-64 have at least an associate’s degree or a high-quality workforce credential, compared to 47% of the country. Less than 7% of the Class of 2018 received industry recognized credentials, which can be an effective and far less costly alternative for non-college bound students.
  • Over three decades, the state’s investment in higher education has dropped by 25%, which, coupled with cuts to need-based aid, has made Ohio 45th in college affordability. This financial divestment appears to disproportionately impact college access for poor students in both urban and rural districts.
  • Socioeconomic status impacts not just enrollment, but also completion. Students from poor school districts are twice as likely to fail to complete their programs. A similar gap exists between suburban and rural districts.

The solution to our state’s talent challenge requires investing in Ohioans so they may more readily obtain college degrees or other post-secondary certificates. This will require additional resources for Ohio’s higher education and workforce development systems, as well as stepped up need-based aid from a state that has spent the last 20 years doing the opposite. Ohio must also work to narrow the gap between wealthy students, white students, and suburban students, and poor students, students of color, and urban and rural students.

Over the coming months, Innovation Ohio Education Fund will be developing specific policy initiatives that can help policymakers develop a better trained, more educated workforce to ensure a prosperous future for all Ohioans.

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