On December 11, OCAAUP President Martin Kich sent a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine regarding the next biennial state budget.

As you can see in the letter, we are urging the Governor (and will be urging the next General Assembly, too) to restore SSI funding levels to original allocations in the current budget, as well as increases to SSI beyond that.

Higher education took more than its fair share of cuts this year when DeWine had to rebalance the budget in the wake of reduced tax revenue due to fallout from the pandemic.

We need the governor and legislators to seriously consider new revenue options so that Ohio has the resources it needs to invest in public services at all levels, including public higher education.

The period of time between the election and the end of the calendar year — known as “lame duck” session — often sees a flurry of legislative activity. In spite of the pandemic, 2020 is no different, and the Ohio General Assembly has been full steam ahead on numerous pieces of legislation.

Two bills that we have weighed in on during this lame duck session are Senate Bill 40 and House Bill 248.

Senate Bill 40, called the “Forming Open and Robust University Minds” (FORUM) Act, would require public institutions of higher education to adopt new campus free speech policies and report on those policies to the state, prohibit designated free speech zones, and require institutions to host any speaker invited by any member of the campus community.

We opposed this legislation, because it amounts to yet another unfunded mandate by the state in a year when the state has twice cut its funding to higher education. We also believe that campuses have adequately handled issues of free speech without interference, and that this bill invites more problems than it could possibly solve.

Dr. David Jackson, President of the BGSU chapter of the AAUP, testified against the legislation on behalf of OCAAUP to the Senate in the spring, and again to the House in November. You can read his full testimony here, and watch his testimony in the House Higher Education Committee here (the date of the hearing was November 19, and he is called up to testify around 2:05 into the video).

Despite our efforts, the legislation was passed unanimously by the Senate (33-0), although Senate Democrats refused to concur in House amendments, and passed along party line votes (65-27) in the House. It now goes to Gov. DeWine for his signature, which is expected.

House Bill 248 hadn’t been on our radar. In its original form, it strictly dealt with antique firearm sales. However, as bills often do during the lame duck session, it became a “Christmas tree” bill for a host of changes to further relax Ohio’s gun laws.

In a substitute bill that was adopted by the House Federalism Committee on December 2, HB 248 contained numerous amendments, including one that would prohibit colleges and universities from punishing a student who “lawfully” carries a weapon on campus. In other words, if a student with a conceal/carry permit was discovered to have a gun on college/university property, the student could not be disciplined, even if their actions go against the institution’s policies regarding weapons on campus.

Currently, Ohio law leaves the issue of weapons on campus up to each individual institution. We believe that this is the way it should be, so that our colleges and universities can decide what they believe is best based on input from students, staff, and faculty. We are opposed to efforts like this amendment to HB 248, which takes these matters out of local control.

OCAAUP President Martin Kich submitted opponent testimony for the December 2 House Federal Committee hearing outlining our full position, which you can read by clicking here. The legislation is still pending in the committee. We will keep our members apprised of further developments.

Federal Elections
While President Trump and his legal team continue to challenge election results in several states, presumptive President-Elect Joe Biden built on his electoral victory last week. Biden already has put together his own COVID-19 task force and named long-time Democratic operative Ron Klain as his chief-of-staff.

Biden has signaled that there will be many changes at the Department of Education, undoing policies put in place by controversial Secretary Betsy DeVos. While DeVos’ replacement is to be determined, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is rumored to be on the short list. Superintendents of major U.S. school districts, as well as presidents of HBCUs are also being considered, according to reports.

While Democrats in the U.S. House lost seats, they will be in the majority for the next two years with at least 218 of the 435 seats. All 16 of Ohio’s congressional incumbents won re-election. Control of the U.S. Senate is still up for grabs as the two Georgia Senate races head to run-off elections on January 5, 2021. Both Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff need to win their races in order to give Democrats (plus the Independents who caucus with them) 50 seats, which would allow Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris to break ties.

State Elections
In Ohio, all 99 House seats and 16 of the 33 Senate seats were on the ballot this year. In the House, Republicans netted a gain of three seats, which will give them a 64 to 35 supermajority for the next General Assembly. Speaker Bob Cupp, who took over for Larry Householder after Householder was arrested by the FBI, will remain Speaker. Householder, who never was removed by the House, won reelection, since he had no formal opponent and only faced write-in candidates.

The Republicans also will retain their supermajority in the Senate, although the number of Republicans to Democrats remains to be determined. While Republicans picked up one seat that had been held by a Democrat, there is a close race in suburban Columbus in which an automatic recount will occur. Depending on the outcome of this race, the Ohio Senate either will remain at a 24 to 9 split, or Republicans could have an additional seat. Sen. Matt Huffman was chosen as the new Senate President last week, as current Senate President Larry Obhof is term-limited.

This is supposed to be the last election with heavily gerrymandered districts. In 2015, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment that is intended to make state legislative redistricting more of a bipartisan effort with new requirements for district boundaries that make gerrymandering more difficult to accomplish.

When the new Ohio General Assembly commences in 2021, the Fiscal Year 2022-23 state budget will be the major focus. State officials already are tempering expectations in regards to discretional funding (which includes higher education), as state tax receipts are still recovering, and any small revenue increases are likely to be absorbed by Medicaid.

While some institutions have weathered this storm better than others, colleges and universities cannot keep delivering high-quality education with high-quality faculty with fewer resources. It is going to be an uphill battle, but we will be making a strong case that higher education funding needs to be restored and increased, and we will need our members to help make this case. Stay tuned for more information and ways to take action early next year.

In accordance with our Code of Regulations, this will serve as our call for nominations for the 2021 OCAAUP elections. The positions to be elected in 2021 are: -Vice President -Treasurer -At-Large Member from a public institution with less than 100 members or a private institution The Vice President serves in the absence of the President. The Treasurer is responsible for overseeing the Conference’s finances. The At-Large Member represents public institution chapters with fewer than 100 members, as well as private institution chapters. Each position serves a two-year term commencing September 1, 2021. Board members are expected to attend four quarterly Board meetings each academic year and generally oversee the direction and interests of the Conference. To nominate yourself or another member, or if you have any questions, e-mail sara@ocaaup.org. Nominations are due by January 15, 2021.

On November 12, the Wright State University administration informed our Wright State AAUP chapter that they would be invoking the retrenchment article in the faculty collective bargaining agreement (CBA). This comes not long after the WSU faculty went on strike for 20 days in January/February of 2019 after an impasse in contract negotiations.

According to the CBA: Retrenchment is defined as the termination of a Bargaining Unit Faculty Member(s) during any appointment as a result of any of the following three circumstances: (1) financial exigency; (2) significant reduction in enrollment of a College, Department, or Program (here and elsewhere, meaning a program offered for credit) continuing over four or more academic semesters (not counting summer) and which is expected to persist; or (3) discontinuation of a College, Department or Program.

Our Wright State chapter has questioned the university’s finances. Not unlike the situation at the University of Akron, worst case financial projections are being put forward. The financial issues that WSU does face are a result of administrative mismanagement, not faculty, who are the ones generating revenue and profit for the institution.

If the WSU administration follows the retrenchment article in the contract, there may be nothing that the union can do to protect faculty jobs; nevertheless, the chapter has pledged to do everything legally within their power to fight these moves. Because striking is not a possibility, the focus is on making a case against retrenchment and garnering support from the Dayton community.

We will keep our members posted on anything they can do to support the Wright State faculty during this process.