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SB83 Returns as SB 1/HB 6

Urgent action on bills that dices common sense in higher education

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• Introduced Jan. 22: State Senator Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland), the sponsor of SB 83, reintroduced the bill on Jan. 22 as Senate Bill 1. On Jan. 23, Rep. Tom Young (R-Washington Twp.), chair of the House Higher Education Committee, introduced a companion bill: House Bill 6.
• What is in SB 1/HB 6? Here is a synopsis of the bills, grouped by issue and listed in the order they appear in the bill. You’ll find page numbers so that you can read it yourself!
• SB1/HB6 = SB83+unfunded mandates: The new bills are nearly identical to SB 83 with extra mandates added. There are 25 issue areas in the bills including:
• Faculty strikes banned and prohibited subjects for bargaining: The bill would not only prohibit faculty from striking, but inserts language on course load policies, post-tenure review, retrenchment, and evaluations — then prohibits them as topics we can even bargain on!
• Complete ban on DEI: All diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) activities, including scholarships, would all be prohibited. The bill not only prohibits renaming programs, but requires snitching and discipline if anyone continues DEI practices.
• Intellectual diversity: The bills contain contradictory and confusing language about ensuring “intellectual diversity,” which raises serious academic freedom concerns and would open faculty to unsubstantiated complaints.
• Retrenchment: The bills retain overly broad definitions of retrenchment, which would allow for retrenchment to be invoked at nearly any time.
• Timeline: Leaders in both chambers want to fast-track the legislation to minimize potential opposition. We expect votes in early-mid February with hearings starting the week of Jan. 27.
  • First hearing in the Senate Higher Education Committee is scheduled for 2:15pm on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

Take action ASAP

E-mail Senate and House members: Use this easy online form to send messages to all state legislators asking them to vote no on the bills. We need to contact all legislators immediately given the bill’s quick timeline.

E-mail Gov. DeWine: Due to the bill’s fast-track nature, we need to ask the governor to veto the bill now. We believe the governor understands the importance of a higher education system that maintains integrity.

Talk to your state legislators: Talk to legislators you know, and get to know the lawmakers who represent you, if you don’t already. Regardless of party affiliation, they need to hear from you that SB 1/HB 6 will harm higher education and its economic impact on Ohio. Visit https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/ to find your legislators.

Dust off your SB 83 testimony and/or op-ed: Please have your testimony ready to update and submit. If you didn’t write testimony on SB 83, we will need even more voices this time, so please consider starting to draft testimony. We will send more information about testimony submissions when the time comes.

Please stay engaged as this process unfolds, and do what you can to aid our efforts. Thank you!