Yesterday, Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens told reporters that a number of bills, including SB 83, would not make it to the House floor for a vote during the remainder of this calendar year.

As we reported to you last week, SB 83 had passed the House Higher Education Committee by a vote of 8-7, which means that the Speaker could bring it to the floor for a vote at any time. However, Speaker Stephens decided that SB 83 would not be among the many bills to be voted upon during today’s final House session date for 2023.

The Speaker said that members of his caucus need more time to consider the changes that have been made to the bill. As the ultimate gatekeeper, Speaker Stephens has the authority to decide whether SB 83 ever receives a full House vote. He can hold the bill indefinitely in the Rules and Reference Committee (where bills go after passing committee and before going to the House floor) or even re-refer it to another standing committee for further consideration.

Even though we will have a reprieve on any potential SB 83 action until mid to late January when the House is back in session, we must continue to keep up the pressure.

Please take a few moments to contact Speaker Stephens and the entire House Republican leadership team to thank them for their careful consideration of SB 83, and ask them to stand strong for students, labor, and quality higher education by opposing SB 83:

House Speaker Jason Stephens (R), House District 93

Phone: (614) 466-1366

Email: rep93@ohiohouse.gov

Speaker Pro Tem Scott Oelslager (R), House District 48

Phone: (614) 752-2438

Email: rep48@ohiohouse.gov

Majority Floor Leader Bill Seitz (R), House District 30

Phone: (614) 466-8258

Email: rep30@ohiohouse.gov

Assistant Majority Floor Leader Jon Cross (R), House District 83

Phone: (614) 466-3819

Email: rep83@ohiohouse.gov

Majority Whip Jim Hoops (R), House District 81

Phone: (614) 466-3760

Email: rep81@ohiohouse.gov

Assistant Majority Whip Sharon Ray (R), House District 66

Phone: (614) 466-8140

Email: rep66@ohiohouse.gov

SB 83 remains a deeply anti-academic freedom, anti-tenure, and anti-union bill that will hurt educational quality and exacerbate Ohio’s “brain drain” problem. Our united opposition to the bill with many organizations and individuals across the political spectrum has clearly continued to have an impact. As always, we thank you for your persistence throughout this process, and we hope that you have a relaxing holiday season!

SB 83 Passes Committee
Unfortunately, Senate Bill 83 passed the Ohio House Higher Education Committee this morning by a vote of 8-7. As we suspected was going to happen, Rep. Gayle Manning abandoned her long-standing solidarity with unions and flipped her vote to a “yes.” We appreciate that fellow Republican Representatives Gail Pavliga and Justin Pizzulli stood strong with labor and voted “no,” in spite of enormous pressure from their party to vote for the bill. The bill continues to have bipartisan opposition.

We urge you to call and email Reps. Pavliga and Pizzulli to thank them for standing with labor and standing up for quality higher education:

Rep. Gail Pavliga: 614-466-2004; Rep72@OhioHouse.gov

Rep. Justin Pizzulli: 614-466-2124; Rep90@OhioHouse.gov

To give you a sense of the undemocratic nature of this committee meeting, the committee notice was sent on Friday with only HB 183–known as the “bathroom bill”–on the agenda. The day before the committee meeting, the agenda was amended to add SB 83. Chair Tom Young never had any intention of action on HB 183; in fact, it was not taken up at all at today’s hearing. It was merely a red herring to allow him to call for the committee meeting without tipping off the true intention of only passing SB 83.

In addition, Chair Young did not allow for the introduction of amendments and also would not allow any time for committee members to read the testimony that was submitted by interested parties. The entire hearing lasted for all of three minutes, and you can watch it via this link.

It’s Not Over; No Floor Vote Scheduled
We believe there are still plenty of legislators in the House on both sides of the aisle who oppose SB 83, including Speaker Jason Stephens. Speaker Stephens has complete control over whether this bill ever makes it to the floor.

We urge you to call and email Speaker Stephens and ask him to stand strong with labor and oppose SB 83:

Speaker Stephens: 614-466-1366; rep93@ohiohouse.gov

Please also use this link to email Representatives asking them to oppose the bill:
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/vote-no-on-sb-83-stop-the-higher-education-destruction-act/

Keep Calling Gov. DeWine
We also want to continue calls into Gov. DeWine’s office should the bill manage to advance to his desk. The script for Gov. DeWine should be along the lines of: “Hello, I want to make sure that Gov. DeWine is aware of Senate Bill 83, which threatens quality higher education and Ohio’s economic competitiveness. Should this bill reach his desk, I sincerely hope that the governor will exercise his veto power.”

Gov. Mike DeWine: (614) 644-4357

Today is disappointing, especially since it involves a legislative ally flipping their vote on us. Politics won out over the people of Ohio, who have strongly come out in opposition to this bill. But again, this fight is far from over. We will need to maintain pressure to keep SB 83 from advancing any further.

SB 83 Added to Committee Agenda
Earlier today, the House Higher Education Committee sent out a revised committee notice adding SB 83 to the agenda for its hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, December 6 at 10:00 am. The committee is accepting written interested party testimony only. The committee agenda notes that the bill may receive a vote.

Given the vast opposition presented to the bill, as well as the Speaker’s comments last week that the bill doesn’t have the votes and needs more work, we did not expect the committee to move forward on the bill at least for the rest of the calendar year. But as we said in our previous email: “anything can happen.” It is our belief that the Speaker is still not supportive of the bill, but it is difficult to say at this time what he may do in response to this development.

Given the make-up of the committee, we have needed three Republicans to vote “no” in order to stop the bill. Up until last week, we believed those Republican “no” votes to be Rep. Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville), Rep. Gail Pavliga (R-Portage County), and Rep. Justin Pizzulli (R-Scioto County). Unfortunately, we believe that Rep. Manning may be changing her vote.

Call Key Republicans Today and Tomorrow
Please make calls to Speaker Stephens and the Republican members of the House Higher Education Committee to ask them to stop the bill. The starred (*) representatives (especially Rep. Manning) are the most important to contact, but calling the full list is especially helpful.

Here is a sample script: “Hello, I am calling to ask Representative [last name] to oppose Senate Bill 83. SB 83 is an attack on academic freedom and unions and will result in a brain drain for Ohio. It will hurt Ohio’s ability to compete economically. The bill must be stopped.” Keep your comments short and courteous. You should be able to leave a message if no one answers.

*Rep. Gayle Manning: (614) 644-5076

*Speaker Jason Stephens: (614) 466-1366

*Chair Tom Young: (614) 466-6504

*Rep. Gail Pavliga: (614) 466-2004

*Rep. Justin Pizzulli: (614) 466-2124

*Rep. Nick Santucci: (614) 466-5441

Rep. Adam Bird: (614) 644-6034

Rep. Bill Dean: (614) 466-1470

Rep. Derek Merrin: (614) 466-1731

Rep. Josh Williams: (614) 466-1418

Rep. Bernard Willis: (614) 466-2038

We also want to continue calls into Gov. DeWine’s office should the bill manage to advance to his desk. The script for Gov. DeWine should be along the lines of: “Hello, I want to make sure that Gov. DeWine is aware of Senate Bill 83, which threatens quality higher education and Ohio’s economic competitiveness. Should this bill reach his desk, I sincerely hope that the governor will exercise his veto power.”

Gov. Mike DeWine: (614) 644-4357

It’s clear that SB 83 will be an ever-present threat until something definitive happens with it. Even if it passes committee tomorrow, it does not mean that Speaker Stephens has to move it to the House floor for a full vote. We will send another message when we have the outcome of the committee hearing and other information. You can watch the hearing online live starting at 10 am tomorrow and/or watch the recording later via this link. Again, thank you for your continued engagement and activism as we try to save Ohio higher education from this misguided and disastrous bill.

President, Secretary, At-Large Positions to be elected

We are now seeking nominations for the 2024 Ohio Conference AAUP Board of Trustees’ elections. In accordance with our governing policies, nominees must have been a member for at least two years and current on dues to be eligible for a trustee position.

Nominations should be sent to Sara Kilpatrick, Executive Director, at sara@ocaaup.org no later than January 15, 2024. 

Below are the positions to be elected directly through the Conference elections next year. Those who are elected will serve a two-year term beginning September 1, 2024 with one exception.

• President
• Secretary
• At-Large Member: Private Institution (nominee must be a member at a private institution)
• At-Large Member: Public or Private Institution with fewer than 100 members (This is a special election to fill the remainder of a term. The elected member will serve only one year, but will be eligible to run again in 2025 for a full two-year term.)

Below is information about what these positions entail:

The President shall preside at Conference meetings and, with the approval of the Trustees, arrange for the Conference meetings and appoint Chairs of the standing committees; shall execute such matters as are referred to him or her at Conference meetings and by the Trustees; and, in consultation with the Trustees, shall take such other actions as are judged necessary to carry out the objectives of the Ohio Conference, and shall report at the next Conference meeting any actions taken by the Trustees during the time between meetings.

The Secretary shall keep the Ohio Conference records, including minutes of meetings of the trustees and of the Conference.

The At-Large positions are supposed to provide the Conference board with a perspective from faculty at private institutions and public institutions with smaller chapters.

The Conference Board has four Saturday meetings each academic year that trustees are expected to attend, one of which is the Annual Meeting. These have been a mix of in-person and virtual meetings. Trustees also oversee the executive director and provide direction for the organization.

Serving on the Board of Trustees is a rewarding way to engage in statewide AAUP issues and state government advocacy. If you have questions, or would like to submit a nomination, contact Sara Kilpatrick at sara@ocaaup.org. 

Speaker Stephens Comments & Senators React
On the eve of another hearing on Senate Bill 83 in the House Higher Education Committee, House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) told reporters that SB 83 “doesn’t have the votes.” When asked if the bill was dead or if he was going to keep trying, he laughed and said, “I don’t know that I’m trying.” The Speaker has said for months that the bill needs work, and clearly, the latest version of the bill has not moved him to give the greenlight.

In response to these comments from the Speaker, SB 83 sponsor, Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland), as well as Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima), said that they will not compromise any further on the bill and also threatened to pass the bill in worse form if given the chance at a future time. Sen. Cirino even accused Speaker Stephens of not knowing what’s in the bill and made other remarks that likely won’t enhance his bill’s chances with the Speaker.

We find this reaction from the senators deeply troubling, but not terribly surprising. Policymaking should involve bringing together stakeholders to find common ground, not to impose a single narrow-minded viewpoint. Clearly, this bill hasn’t passed because of its vast opposition; instead of offering to collaborate, they have dug in their heels. We appreciate that Speaker Stephens and members of the House Higher Education Committee have given the thoughtful consideration that a bill of this magnitude deserves.

Today’s SB 83 Committee Hearing
Earlier today, the House Higher Education Committee held a hearing for opponents and proponents of SB 83. There were 135 opponent testimonies submitted compared to just 14 proponent testimonies. You can find all of the submitted testimonies here on the committee website. Individual oral testimonies were limited to five minutes, and because Chair Tom Young (R-Washington Twp.) imposed time constraints on total opponent testimony, only eight witnesses had the opportunity to speak and answer questions. You can watch the hearing here on The Ohio Channel.

Prof. Steve Mockabee from the University of Cincinnati, who serves as OCAAUP’s Government Relations Committee Chair, delivered compelling testimony on our behalf that touched upon the problems of the bill as it pertains to academic freedom, tenure, and collective bargaining rights. Other AAUP members including Prof. Matthew Kraus (also from UC), as well as Prof. Angela May Mergenthaler and Prof. Christopher Nichols (both from Ohio State) also had the opportunity to give powerful testimonies about the problematic nature this bill poses for classroom discussions as well as recruitment.

We appreciate that John Plecnik, Cleveland State law faculty member and self-described “most conservative professor in Ohio,” made a persuasive statement about how the speech portions of the bill are very likely unconstitutional, and that the attacks on unions do not behoove the Republican Party. Excellent student representatives called attention to the fact that SB 83 is simply out of touch with what is actually happening on college campuses and raised concerns that the bill threatens the quality of their education.

The supporters of the bill almost exclusively attacked diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, most pointedly at Ohio State, in their defense of the bill, but there was not much discussion about the other facets of the legislation during the proponent portion of the hearing. Today’s hearing once again demonstrated that there is a miniscule amount of support for a miniscule portion of this legislation.

As Prof. Mockabee noted in his testimony, “Despite multiple offers to collaborate, we have not been invited to the table to discuss this bill outside of formal committee meetings. We are puzzled by the sponsor saying repeatedly that he isn’t anti-union, but then failing to engage the unions that would be most impacted by the bill.” The AAUP has made it known from the beginning that we are willing to discuss these issues and try to find common ground, but the legislators pushing the bill have not been willing to sit down with us.

Given Speaker Stephens’ comments this week, we think that we can breathe a sigh of relief for now. However, we have a two-year legislative cycle in Ohio, which means that SB 83 will still be a pending bill until the legislature adjourns in December 2024. Anything can happen, and we will continue to monitor the bill closely and provide any updates.

Once again, we cannot thank our members enough for your activism. We also owe a debt of gratitude to our coalition partners and union colleagues for standing side-by-side with us throughout this process. This has been a hard-fought battle under nearly impossible circumstances, and we have managed to stave off this grave threat to higher education to date. Happy holidays!