Senate Bill 83 Expected in State Budget Bill

This week, the Ohio Senate will unveil their version of House Bill 33, the state operating budget bill. We anticipate that at least some, but likely all, of SB 83 will be amended into HB 33.

It is less clear what may happen in the Ohio House. It is our understanding that SB 83 as it is currently written likely does not have sufficient support in the House Higher Education Committee. We would expect the bill to undergo further revisions before that committee would call for a vote. At this juncture, it appears clear that SB 83 will be the vehicle and HB 151 (the companion bill) will be sidelined. Even if SB 83 were to pass from the House Committee, we believe it ultimately will be dealt with in the budget bill conference committee.

Last week, unions across the labor spectrum united on a letter that was sent to all members of the Ohio House of Representatives. It sends an important message to House Republicans, who are less anti-union than Senate Republicans, that all of labor is watching and will not tolerate anti-union legislation. Feel free to share that letter far and wide, especially with your own State Representative.

TAKE ACTION: Contact House Republicans & The Governor

We ask you to take the time to make calls and send personalized emails to House Republican members and Gov. DeWine. Click here for a spreadsheet of targets and contact information. For the Representatives, use both email addresses. We highly recommend that you use your personal email address for these communications.

Remember to keep your communications concise and courteous. Phone calls likely will be answered by an aide or go to voicemail. Personalize your message with how the bill would negatively impact your teaching, students, and institution.

Here is a sample script for calls and emails to State Representatives:

I am calling/writing today to urge Representative [last name] to oppose Senate Bill 83. This is a dangerous bill that not only attacks union rights for campus employees, but also attempts to micromanage classroom instructions and college and university operations. The bill will drive up costs for students and deter quality faculty and students from choosing Ohio institutions. SB 83 isn’t salvageable. Please also reject any attempts to put the contents of SB 83 into the state operating budget.

Here is a sample script for calls and emails to Gov. DeWine:

I want to make sure that Gov. DeWine is aware of Senate Bill 83, legislation that threatens quality higher education and workforce development in Ohio. Should this bill reach his desk, I sincerely hope that the governor will exercise his veto power. Should any of the components of SB 83 make it into the state operating budget, I hope that Gov. DeWine will exercise his line-item veto authority.

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 during the summer. Lawmakers will take our silence as acceptance; so it’s important that we keep making noise, not only for the sake of our profession and academic freedom, but for the sake of our students and quality higher education!

Senate Bill 117 Receives Third Hearing

On Wednesday, May 31, Prof. Steve Mockabee delivered interested party testimony on behalf of OCAAUP to the Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee about SB 117. You can find our testimony here and watch the entire hearing here. This was the third hearing of the bill at which all testimony–proponent, opponent, and interested party–were accepted.

SB 117 would create two institutes–one at the University of Toledo, the other at The Ohio State University–that would “conduct teaching and research in the historical ideas, traditions, and texts that have shaped the American constitutional order and society.” The purported goal of these institutes is to create “intellectual diversity” on these campuses.

The institutes would be overseen by academic councils and run by directors. Mockabee noted that OCAAUP fundamentally disagrees with the “need” for such institutes, but more pointedly addressed the many issues with the proposed compositions of the academic councils, the lack of process for hiring faculty at the institute, and other pieces of the bill that are vague and require clarifications.

This Wednesday, SB 117 will receive its fourth hearing and likely will be voted out of committee and head to the Senate floor for a full vote by the chamber. Due to the appropriations that are attached to this bill to initially fund the institutes, we expect that this bill also is primed to be amended into the state budget bill.

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.