SOME LAWMAKERS WANT JUNE 26 VOTE ON SB 83

As we reported last week, a small group of lawmakers are trying to pressure House Speaker Jason Stephens to hold a vote on Senate Bill 83–The Higher Education Destruction Act–this Wednesday, June 26.

It could not be clearer that members of campus communities and the public at large oppose this bill. But some legislators care more about politics than they do policy; and make no mistake that if SB 83 becomes law, it will impose policies that take away job protections for all faculty, gut faculty collective bargaining rights, impinge upon academic freedom, and take away support mechanisms for students.

We are asking our members and allies to fight back once again and encourage the House of Representatives to reject SB 83!

Use this form to contact House members, and call Speaker Stephens to thank him for keeping SB 83 off of the House floor: 614-466-1366.

If you are able, it also would be very helpful to call these Representatives and ask them to reject SB 83:

Thomas Patton: 614-466-4895

Cindy Abrams: 614-466-9091

Sara Carruthers: 614-644-6721

Scott Oelslager: 614-752-2438

Brett Hillyer: 614-466-8035

Al Cutrona: 614-466-6107

Mike Loychik: 614-466-3488

Kevin Miller: 614-466-2500

Gail Pavliga: 614-466-2004

Jeff LaRe: 614-466-8100

Haraz Ghanbari: 614-466-8104

Monica Robb Blasdel: 614-466-8022

Jon Cross: 614-466-3819

Bob Peterson: 614-466-3506

Jay Edwards: 614-466-2158

Don Jones: 614-644-8728

Justin Pizzulli: 614-466-2124

Dave Dobos: 614-466-9690

Andrea White: 614-644-6008

Scott Lipps: 614-644-6023

Adam Mathews: 614-644-6027

Jamie Callender: 614-644-6074

Sharon Ray: 614-466-8140

Jim Hoops: 614-466-3760

Bill Roemer: 614-644-5085

The message to these Representatives is simple: Do not support SB 83. It is an anti-union, anti-free speech, big-government, bureaucratic bill that will make it difficult to keep and attract faculty and students. This will hurt Ohio’s economic competitiveness.

As a reminder, SB 83 passed the Ohio Senate in May 2023 and then passed the House Higher Education Committee in early December by an 8-7 vote. The bill has since lingered in the House Rules and Reference Committee, but Speaker Stephens has not brought it to the floor for a full vote of the House, citing that the bill lacks sufficient support.

Last week, two State Representatives began circulating a sign-on letter to show that SB 83 does have the support to pass, if brought to the floor. We have encouraged Representatives to decline to sign that letter and vote No if SB 83 is brought up for a full vote.

Use this form to email State Representatives to ask them to reject the bill and call Speaker Stephens (614-466-1366) to thank him for holding strong for unions and higher education.

THANK YOU for continuing to take action! The phone calls and emails are making a difference. Despite the odds against us, our collective activism has kept this bill at bay for more than a year, but we have to keep up the pressure through House session on Wednesday!

The Ohio Conference AAUP Board of Trustees has endorsed Michelle Flanigan for the open contributing member seat that is up for election this year on the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Retirement Board.

For 26 years, Michelle has taught government, economics and financial literacy at Brunswick High School. Prior to her teaching career, she was a financial analyst. She has been actively engaged with STRS for many years.

During the candidate interview, Michelle demonstrated a command of the issues facing STRS and articulated pragmatic approaches to addressing them. As an educator who began her career later than most teachers, she is sensitive to how pension age and service requirements impact college and university faculty differently than they impact most K-12 teachers.

We encourage our members to vote in the upcoming election and to consider voting for Michelle Flanigan. We will have more information about voting in the election in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can visit Michelle’s campaign website for more information about her candidacy and STRS issues: https://www.michelleflaniganforstrs.com/.

1) Status of Senate Bill 83

Late last year, SB 83 passed the House Higher Education Committee by a vote of 8-7. Typically, this committee vote would tee up the bill for a vote by the full House of Representatives, but we continue to hear that the legislation in its current form does not have sufficient support among all representatives. As such, SB 83 sits in the House Rules and Reference Committee, which decides what bills will make it to the House floor. If the bill remains in this committee, it could be moved to the floor for a vote at any time. As we already have experienced with this bill, anything can change at any time.

We will continue to provide relevant updates. In the meantime, you can quickly send a message to State Representatives through this link to urge them to reject SB 83. We must continue to fight this bill, which threatens academic freedom, tenure, union rights, and which promises to siphon even more money away from instruction and to administrative bloat.

2) 2024 OCAAUP Elections

We are pleased to announce the candidates for this year’s elections:

President: Gretchen McNamara (Wright State University)

Secretary: Cassandra Fetters (University of Cincinnati)

At-Large–Private Institutions: Peter Tandler (Walsh University)

At-Large–Public or Private Institutions: Naykishia Darby (Central State University)

In March, all Ohio AAUP members will receive an email containing a secure link to access an electronic ballot. Despite there being only one candidate per position, we must still run a securely balloted election. We encourage all members to take a minute to vote!

3) Honoring Dr. John T. McNay

Last fall, we shared the unfortunate news of the passing of University of Cincinnati history professor and long-time OCAAUP President, Dr. John T. McNay. In honor of John’s legacy, the OCAAUP board made a contribution to the John McNay Memorial – Young Scholars Fund at the University of Cincinnati.

The fund will award two $500 scholarships each year to students majoring in history, liberal arts, or English at the University of Cincinnati-Blue Ash, where John taught for 23 years.

Many members have asked what they can do in John’s memory; so, if you would like to make a personal contribution to this fund, checks should be made out to “University of Cincinnati Foundation” with “John McNay Memorial – Young Scholars Fund” in the memo line and sent to the following address:

UC Blue Ash College
Attn: Andrew Baker – Director of Development
9555 Plainfield Rd. Muntz Hall, 140M
Blue Ash, OH 45236

4) BEWARE: Anti-Union Group Spreads Lies in “Opt-Out” Campaigns

Members of at least two Ohio AAUP unions have been targeted by “opt-out” campaigns encouraging union members to drop their memberships. These campaigns also have targeted a number of other Ohio unions over the last few years.

The group behind these efforts is called “The Freedom Foundation.” It is funded by billionaires who want to undermine worker power.

In these U.S. mail and e-mail communications, they spout outright lies about unions that try to create the sense that unions are on the decline when the exact opposite is true. Labor unions across the board are enjoying high approval in public opinion polls, and AAUP membership in Ohio has never been stronger and continues to grow–thanks to all of your efforts!

Please beware of these messages and make sure your colleagues know to ignore this drivel from organizations that seek to destroy union power! If you receive such a communication, please let us and your local chapter know.

5) AAUP Statement on Academic Freedom in Polarizing Times

The ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in the Middle East has led to debate and in some cases unrest on college and university campuses around the country, including here in Ohio.

Often in times of war, we are confronted with complicated questions about free speech and academic freedom, but it is important that we do not allow politicians and others to capitalize on these moments to misuse them to suppress open and honest debate.

National AAUP released the statement, “Polarizing Times Demand Robust Academic Freedom.” We encourage you to read the statement and, in these very challenging times, to be defenders of AAUP principles on your campuses.

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.