Senate Bill 83 Passes Senate

On May 17, the Ohio Senate passed Sub. SB 83 by a vote of 21-10. Three Republicans (Sens. Blessing, Manning, and Reynolds) joined all seven Democrats in opposing the bill. Two Republican members were absent from the vote. The bill still would have to be approved by the House of Representatives and then signed by the governor before becoming law.

Before Sub. SB 83 passed committee, an amendment was accepted that changed several provisions of the bill. Of particular importance to faculty, the amendment removed mention of a specific credit hour requirement for full-time faculty workload. The bill now requires each state institution to include in its faculty workload policy a teaching workload expectation based on credit hours, a definition of all faculty workload elements in terms of credit hours including a full-time minimum standard established by the board of trustees, justifiable credit hour equivalents, and any administrative action that the state institution may take if a faculty member fails to comply with the policy’s requirements.

The amendment also changed the section on annual performance reviews of faculty, but merely to clarify that the reviews are intended for full-time faculty only, not part-time faculty. You can view the full, “as passed by the Senate” version of Sub. SB 83 here.

While we are disappointed in the outcome of the Senate vote, we are not surprised. Unfortunately, despite outreach attempts to Sen. Cirino and other Republicans, they were not willing to seriously talk with faculty about this bill and referred to the bill as “an urgent course correction for higher education.” It seems to us that the only urgent course correction that is needed is redistricting reform that prevents the kind of gerrymandering that enables a hyper-partisan legislature that passes deeply unpopular and widely opposed bills.

The day before the Senate vote, The Ohio State University Board of Trustees released a statement opposing SB 83. The Inter-University Council (IUC) of Ohio also sent a letter to Sen. Cirino outlining their outstanding concerns with the bill. Unfortunately, this last-minute opposition and concern by university administrations came too late to have a sufficient impact.

House Bill 151 Opponent Hearing

Also on May 17, Sub. HB 151–the companion bill to Sub. SB 83–received an opponent hearing in the House Higher Education Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Tom Young (R-Washington Twp.). There were 58 witnesses who showed up to testify in person, with 171 written opponent testimonies submitted. Unfortunately, due to the time restraints imposed by the chairman for the hearing, the vast majority of witnesses who showed up did not have the opportunity to testify. Moreover, Rep. Josh Williams (R-Oregon), a primary sponsor of the bill and member of the committee, failed to show up for any portion of yesterday’s hearing. It is clear that they know this bill is broadly opposed, but they don’t want to listen.

Nevertheless, yesterday’s hearing brought out quality testimony from faculty, students, and allied organizations. Prof. Steve Mockabee gave testimony on behalf of OCAAUP and received a number of questions from committee members about the importance of collective bargaining and tenure and about the ways in which this bill is already hurting faculty recruitment in Ohio.

Another notable witness was Prof. John Plecnik from Cleveland State University’s law school. Prof. Plecnik is a Republican Lake County Commissioner, who testified to the fact that this bill actually would do more to silence conservative voices on campus than it would to promote conservative viewpoints. You can watch the full hearing here on the Ohio Channel.

Next Wednesday, May 24, at 10:30 am, the House Higher Education Committee will hold a third hearing on Sub. HB 151 for interested party testimony. Interested parties are people or groups who have not taken a position on the bill but have a stake in the legislation. Pending formal referral, the committee also will hold a first hearing for sponsor testimony only on Sub. SB 83. It is unclear at this time which bill they ultimately will use as the vehicle moving forward. It may be Sub. SB 83, since it contains the additional amendments referenced above.

TAKE ACTION: Contact House Members & The Governor

We now turn our attention and activism toward the House of Representatives and Gov. DeWine.

You can easily email all of them using Honesty for Ohio Education’s Action Network Page. There is a form letter provided, which you can edit as you’d like. Please take action and share that widely!

You can also start calling Speaker Stephens and the Republican members of the House Higher Education Committee to ask them to stop the bill. Here is a sample script: “Hello, I am calling to ask Representative [Representative’s last name] to oppose House Bill 151 and Senate Bill 83. They are terrible bills that will undermine quality higher education for Ohio’s students. They represent the largest attack on union rights since Senate Bill 5 in 2011. They must be stopped.”

Speaker Jason Stephens: (614) 466-1366

Chair Tom Young: (614) 466-6504

Rep. Adam Bird: (614) 644-6034

Rep. Bill Dean: (614) 466-1470

Rep. Gayle Manning: (614) 644-5076

Rep. Derek Merrin: (614) 466-1731

Rep. Gail Pavliga: (614) 466-2004

Rep. Justin Pizzulli: (614) 466-2124

Rep. Nick Santucci: (614) 466-5441

Rep. Josh Williams: (614) 466-1418

Rep. Bernard Willis: (614) 466-2038

The script for Gov. DeWine should be something along the lines of: “Hello, I want to make sure that Gov. DeWine is aware of House Bill 151 and Senate Bill 83, companion bills that threaten quality higher education in Ohio. Should either of these bills reach his desk, I sincerely hope that the governor will exercise his veto power.”

Gov. Mike DeWine: (614) 644-4357

We will continue to provide updates and action items as the process unfolds. We know that this is a frustrating process, but we must keep up the fight. Please share this information and ensure your colleagues are still paying attention now that we are in summer mode. Lawmakers will take our silence as acceptance; so it’s important that we keep making noise, not only for the sake of our profession, but for the sake of our students and quality higher education!

Wednesday, May 17 at the Statehouse

-9:30 am (North Hearing Room, 2nd Floor)
Sub. SB 83 final hearing (written testimony only)

-10:30 am (Room 017, Ground Floor)
Sub. HB 151 hearing (in-person and written testimony)

-1:30 pm (Senate Chambers)
Senate session, possible vote on Sub. SB 83

What actions can you take?

1) Submit written testimony on Sub. SB 83

You must email the written testimony and your completed witness slip to the chair’s office at lynna.freeman@ohiosenate.gov no later than Tuesday, May 16 at 9:30 am (testimony must be received 24 hours in advance of the hearing).

Witness Slip
Testimony Template

2) Submit testimony on Sub. HB 151

If you are submitting testimony–whether written-only or you plan to testify in-person–you must email the testimony and your completed witness slip to the chair’s office at OHRHigherEducationCommittee@ohiohouse.gov no later than Tuesday, May 16 at 10:30 am (testimony must be received 24 hours in advance of the hearing).

Witness Slip
Testimony Template

In-person witnesses will be limited to five minutes of testimony, and the hearing will have a hard stop at 1:00 pm. Please don’t let that deter you from showing up and being ready to give testimony!

3) Show up to the Statehouse on Wednesday!

We need to have a strong showing at the Statehouse for the following events on Wednesday:

-Sub. SB 83 Senate hearing (9:30 am, North Hearing Room–the committee is likely to favorably report the bill)
-Sub. HB 151 House hearing (10:30 am, Room 017)
-Senate session (1:30 pm, Senate Chambers–the full Senate is likely to vote on Sub. SB 83)

We will have stickers with the graphic in this article to hand out to people to wear into committee rooms and Senate session. Plan to arrive early in Columbus to give yourself enough time to find parking, go through Statehouse security, and make your way to the hearing room.

4) Call Senators on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday

Since there is the impending vote on Sub. SB 83 this week, we want to focus phone calls on Republican Senators.

Call them with a simple message, such as: “Hello, I am calling to ask Senator [Senator’s last name] to vote against Senate Bill 83 this week. This is a terrible bill that will undermine quality higher education for Ohio’s students. This is also the largest attack on union rights since Senate Bill 5 in 2011. SB 83 should be stopped.”

President Matt Huffman: 614-466-7584

Sen. Jerry Cirino:614-644-7718

Sen. Michael Rulli: 614-466-8285

Sen. Bill Reineke: 614-466-8049

Sen. Michele Reynolds: 614-466-8064

Sen. Rob McColley: 614-466-8150

Sen. Theresa Gavarone: 614-466-8060

Sen. George Lang: 614-466-8072

Sen. Niraj Antani: 614-466-4538

Sen. Steve Wilson: 614-466-9737

Sen. Louis Blessing: 614-466-8068

Sen. Bob Hacket: 614-466-3780

Sen. Nathan Manning: 614-644-7613

Sen. Terry Johnson: 614-466-8082

Sen. Stephanie Kunze: 614-466-5981

Sen. Shane Wilkin: 614-466-8156

Sen. Andrew Brenner: 614-466-8086

Sen. Tim Schaffer: 614-466-8076

Sen. Mark Romanchuk: 614-466-7505

Sen. Matt Dolan: 614-466-8056

Sen. Kirstina Roegner: 614-466-4823

Sen. Kirk Schuring: 614-466-0626

Sen. Frank Hoagland: 614-466-6508

Sen. Al Landis: 614-466-5838

Sen. Sandra O’Brien: 614-466-7182

Sen. Steve Huffman: 614-466-6247

You will either speak to an aide or have to leave a voice message. Keep it short and courteous.

Now is the time to take action and encourage everyone you know to take action! Thank you for all that you are doing to push back on these bills. If you have questions, reply to this email.

In addition to the upcoming opponent hearing for Sub. HB 151 next Wednesday, the Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee is accepting final written testimony only on Sub. SB 83 this coming Wednesday, May 17 at 9:30 am. The bill is starred for a vote on the committee notice, which means that it is likely to be voted out of committee that day. It could go to the Senate floor for a full vote by that chamber the same day. This is the final opportunity to weigh in on the changes that were made to Sub. SB 83 and the current status of that bill. If you wrote and submitted testimony on the original version of SB 83, you can simply update it to reflect relevant changes that were made to the bill. You can read about the differences between the original bill and substitute bill here on our website. You can also view the Legislative Service Commission’s comparison document here. If you have been working on testimony for the House hearing on Sub. HB 151, yes, you can submit the same written testimony for this final hearing on Sub. SB 83. To be clear, the House hearing on Wednesday at 10:30 is for in-person and written testimony, while the Senate hearing on Wednesday at 9:30 is for written testimony only. Submitting testimony for Sub. SB 83 by May 16 at 9:30 am You must email the written testimony and your completed witness slip to the chair’s office at lynna.freeman@ohiosenate.gov no later than Tuesday, May 16 at 9:30 am (testimony must be received 24 hours in advance of the hearing).Witness SlipTestimony Template Please plan on being at the Statehouse on Wednesday, if you can. We will send more information next week about additional actions that you can take to combat SB 83/HB 151. In the meantime, we hope that you will prepare and submit testimony expressing opposition to the latest version of the bills. Please share this information with colleagues and others who may want to take action.

HB 151 Opponent Hearing
House Higher Education Committee
Wednesday, May 17 at 10:30 am
Room 017 (Ground Floor), Ohio Statehouse

This coming Wednesday, opponents to Sub. HB 151–the companion bill to Sub. SB 83–will have an opportunity to submit testimony.

This is a hearing for opponent testimony only. However, testimony will be limited to five minutes per witness. There will be a hard stop for the committee at 1:00 pm, meaning that it is very likely that many witnesses will not be able to present testimony.

Don’t let that deter you from showing up! We know they don’t want to hear from us and that they are trying to silence us, but we cannot let that stop us from trying to make our voices heard.

In the Senate, we had hundreds of people show up to the opponent hearing for SB 83 and more than 500 opposition testimonies submitted. Let’s exceed that in the House! We must keep up the pressure and send the message that this bill is still widely opposed!

Submitting testimony by May 16 at 10:30 am
If you are submitting testimony–whether written-only or you plan to testify in-person–you must email the testimony and your completed witness slip to the chair’s office at OHRHigherEducationCommittee@ohiohouse.gov no later than Tuesday, May 16 at 10:30 am (testimony must be received 24 hours in advance of the hearing).

Witness Slip

Testimony Template

If you wrote and submitted testimony on the original version of HB 151/SB 83, you can simply update it with the new committee information (which is in the template above), as well as to reflect relevant changes that were made to the bill. You can read about the differences between the original bill and substitute bill here on our website. You can also view the Legislative Service Commission’s comparison document here.

And don’t forget, we have a forum tonight, Thursday, May 11 at 6:00 pm, to discuss the changes and to hold another testimony workshop. Register here.

Sub. SB 83
We have heard that there also will be another hearing on Sub. SB 83 next week, but we have not seen an official committee notice yet. Until we see a notice, we are not sure if Sen. Cirino will be accepting testimony on the substitute bill. We will send more information when it is available.

Early next week, we will send an additional email with more information about Wednesday and more ways to take action. Again, thank you for all that you are doing to push back on HB 151/SB 83! If you have questions, reply to this email.

Substitute Senate Bill 83 (“Sub. SB 83”) A substitute version of Senate Bill 83 was released by sponsor Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) and formally adopted today, May 9, by the Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee, of which Sen. Cirino is chair. Despite several changes that make clarifications and water down certain provisions, the bill is still deeply flawed and represents vast government overreach that undermines academic freedom, workers’ rights, and institutional autonomy. In fact, the bill has become even more detrimental in terms of new language that would place more limitations on collective bargaining. Below are details about what changed, what is new, and what stayed the same from the original bill to the “sub bill.” What changed? -The bill no longer applies to private institutions of higher education. -The section banning required diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) was revised to allow for certain exemptions. Exemptions must be approved by the chancellor and be required for compliance with federal law, licensure, accreditation, grants, or cooperative agreements. -The workload provision was changed from language that mandated 30 credit hours for faculty on 12-month appointments to say that full-time faculty shall have a mandated 30 credit hour workload, and that faculty with less than a full-time appointment shall have their workloads prorated based on the 30 hour formula. It mandates boards of trustees to approve a definition of full-time faculty as part of the institution’s workload policy. Workload policies are to include a definition of all faculty workload elements in terms of credit hours. -The requirement for syllabi to contain biographical information about faculty was changed to require “professional qualifications” of faculty. -The bill now clarifies that Chinese students can attend and pay tuition and fees to Ohio institutions. Ohio institutions also can have academic relationships with Chinese institutions; however, “safeguard requirements” have to be met and relationships must have approval from the Chancellor in consultation with the Attorney General. -The substitute bill revokes the language mandating intellectual diversity rubrics for classes, and clarifies that the bill is not meant to prohibit faculty or students from classroom instruction, discussion or debate, so long as faculty are committed to expressing and allowing the expression of intellectual diversity. However, the bill still requires institutions to develop a range of disciplinary measures against faculty and staff who interfere with “intellectual diversity rights.” -The new version revises language to clarify that prohibitions on policies designed to segregate based on race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression apply only to credit-earning classroom settings, formal orientation ceremonies, and formal graduation ceremonies. While this still is problematic and leaves aspects open to interpretation regarding certain courses that deal with the aforementioned subjects, it does remove the concern that the bill’s language would have applied to student organizations and athletic teams. -The bill no longer requires faculty evaluation results to be posted on institutional websites. What is new? -New language was added to require boards of trustees to develop policies on tenure and retrenchment and to update those policies every five years. The bill goes further to specify that tenure, retrenchment, faculty evaluations, and workload are not appropriate subjects for collective bargaining for future contracts, and that the policies developed by boards of trustees would prevail over any conflicting provision of a collective bargaining agreement. -The substitute bill includes new language in regards to endowments and donor intent. This is similar language to what Sen. Cirino attempted to include in a bill he sponsored during the previous legislative session (SB 135). -The new version of the bill would reduce trustee terms from nine years to four years. What stayed the same? -As mentioned above, the bill still requires institutions to discipline faculty and staff for interference with intellectual diversity rights. It also still contains language that faculty shall not seek to “inculcate” students. It still fails to provide any detail about process for anyone accused of interfering with intellectual diversity rights or inculcation. -Ban on required DEI outside of the abovementioned exemptions. -Ban on strikes by faculty and other unionized campus employees. -Specific syllabi requirements and making syllabi public and searchable. -Annual faculty evaluations for all faculty, which weight student evaluations as 50% of the teaching assessment. -Post-tenure review (PTR), which gives broad authority to administrative officials to call for PTR, which may lead to termination. Under the bill, a tenured faculty member’s academic freedom is only protected in terms of “allowable expression” under Ohio law, meaning if SB 83 becomes law, accusations of inculcation or lack of intellectual diversity could result in PTR and termination. This renders tenure meaningless and academic freedom unprotected. -Prohibition on using diversity statements in hiring and promotion decisions. -Various unfunded mandates that will require resources, but add no value to higher education. In short, the changes to the bill fail to assuage our very serious concerns. In fact, this new version, in some respects, is worse than the original draft, particularly as it pertains to proposing new constraints on collective bargaining. It couldn’t be clearer that Sen. Cirino is trying to take away bargaining power from faculty unions. This is the worst assault on union rights since Senate Bill 5 in 2011, and the worst assault on academic freedom that we have ever seen. We are still staunchly opposed to SB 83, and will continue to do everything in our power to prevent its passage. Next Steps for Sub. SB 83 In terms of next steps, we have heard that the Senate plans on passing Sub. SB 83 next week. It is possible that some or all of the bill is amended into HB 33, the state operating budget bill. Sen. Cirino has not yet stated whether any testimony will be accepted on Sub. SB 83 before it is passed from committee. First Hearing for HB 151 Tomorrow, May 10, House Bill 151–the companion legislation to SB 83–will get its first hearing in the House Higher Education Committee. The hearing is for sponsor and proponent testimony, which signals that this House Committee may be attempting to fast-track the bill (typically sponsor and proponent testimonies are held separately). It appears that the committee also plans to adopt the substitute version of SB 83 for its own substitute version of HB 151.We do not yet have confirmation, but Wednesday, May 17 may be the opportunity for opponent testimony on HB 151. We will inform members as soon as we have confirmation of these details. What we are sure of, no matter when the opponent hearing for HB 151 might be, is that we want as much opponent testimony submitted to the committee as possible. In person testimony is always most effective, but even submitting written testimony is important. In the Senate, there were more than 500 pieces of opponent testimonies submitted, and we want to exceed that in the House. We must keep up the pressure and impress upon legislators that these bills are widely opposed. Another Cirino Higher Ed Bill: Senate Bill 117 In addition to Sub. SB 83, Sen. Cirino recently introduced another piece of higher education legislation, Senate Bill 117, which would establish new institutes at Ohio State University and University of Toledo to study civics and American constitutional thought. Similar to SB 83, the purported goal is to promote “intellectual diversity.” The bill prescribes appropriations to fund the institutes, which lends itself to ultimately being folded into HB 33, the state operating budget bill. You can find the text and analysis for SB 117 here. Thursday, May 11 Forum on Sub. SB 83/HB 151 This Thursday, May 11 at 6:00 pm, in conjunction with the Honesty for Ohio Education coalition, there will be a forum to discuss the substitute version of Senate Bill 83/House Bill 151. The forum also will include a testimony workshop. Join us and spread the word! You can register for the forum here.