Terra Goodnight · February 5, 2024

Statehouse Preview for Feb. 5, 2024: Anti-Trans “Bathroom Bill” Set For Committee Vote

A House committee is set to vote this week on a bill that would require the use of bathrooms that correspond to the sex assigned at birth in primary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education. House Bill 183 would also prohibit schools from establishing multigender restrooms. HB183 has had four hearings, with the majority of witnesses testifying in opposition to the bill, calling it impractical and dehumanizing to trans people.

A full run down of the bills and hearings we are watching this week follows.

New Legislation This Week

We will be keeping an eye on the following bills, introduced in the last two weeks at the Statehouse:

House Bill 387 (McNally, Brent) – Academic Distress Commissions – to dissolve existing academic distress commissions, to repeal the law tha crates new commissions, and to declare an emergency.

House Bill 394 (Holmes) – Higher Education – to prohibit state institutions of higher education from requiring individuals to commit to specific beliefs, affiliations, ideals or principles.

Senate Bill 215 (Gavarone, McColey) – Ballot Issue Campaigns – to prohibit foreign nationals from making contrbutios or expenditures regarding ballot issue campaigns.

Senate Bill 216 (Lang, Huffman) – State Tax – to phase-out the state income tax on nonbusiness income over six years and to repeal the commercial activity tax after 2029.

You can always view the full list of the bills we are monitoring here.

Statehouse Meetings & Events

Tuesday

10:30am – House Finance – 1st hearing (sponsor) of HB2 (Economic Growth and Development). Statehouse Room 313 or watch online.

12:00pm – House Government Oversight – 2nd hearing (proponent) on HJR3 (Consitutional Convention of the States). Statehouse Room 121 or watch online.

Wednesday

9:30pm – House Higher Education – 5th hearing (possible vote) on HB183 (Single-Sex Bathroom Facilities). Statehouse Room 017 or watch online.

10:00am – House Finance – 2nd hearing (possible vote) on HB2 (Economic Growth and Development). Statehouse Room 313 or watch online.

2:00pm – House Session – agenda TBD – webcast

Because schedules change, every weekday morning activities are planned at the Statehouse, we post an update on Twitter. Follow the #OHLeg hashtag for more updates.

Full House Committee ScheduleFull Senate Committee ScheduleFull Ohio Channel Broadcast Schedule Sign up for legislative alerts and other updates at innovationohio.org/signup