On Wednesday, the Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill 96, the state operating budget bill for Fiscal Years 2026-27. Gov. DeWine has until July 1 to sign the bill. He can veto line items. Here are some of the key provisions in the bill for higher education as it came out of conference committee:

• Increases the State Share of Instruction (SSI) by approximately 2.8% over the biennium, which fails to keep pace with inflation.
• Reserves 5% of the amount earmarked for traditional SSI for universities in each fiscal year to support College Credit Plus (CCP) pathways and accelerated ninety-hour degree programs.
• Earmarks $100,000 in SSI for each fiscal year to be distributed based upon employment and wage outcomes of graduates.
• Guarantees admission to a state institution of higher education for each high school graduate in the top 10% of the graduate’s graduating class. Also guarantees admission to main campuses for the top 5% of the graduate’s graduating class.
• Increases the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG), the program providing aid to low-income students, nearly 12% in FY 26, but then decreases the funding 6% from that amount in FY 27.
• Sets aside $75 million in SSI for SB 1 compliance in FY 27.
• Allocates $35 million for the five “civics centers” over the biennium.
• Grants extensive authority to the directors of the “civics centers” for approving all curricular matters, including the centers’ courses that will count toward university general education requirements.
• Establishes a board for the “civics centers” directors and requires the board to establish an office and hire employees.
• Sets a tuition cap of 3% for universities; allows community colleges to increase tuition by a maximum of $10 per credit hour.
• Reinserts the anti-shared governance language that had been inserted by the House but removed by the Senate. But, importantly, whereas the House’s language gave boards of trustees “unilateral and ultimate” authority on all curricular and programmatic matters, the latest version removes the word “unilateral,” bringing the provision more in line with existing practices. We would, however, still prefer the language were removed completely.
• Removes the special earmark for Cleveland State wrestling programs.
• Eliminates the mental health support line item.
• Includes a late-hour overhaul of the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Board intended to wrest control from elected educators. The language would begin a transition for the 11-member board from seven elected seats to three. Two slots would expire in 2026, one in 2027 and another in 2028 on the dates those current terms expire. In their place, the board would see added: a designee of the chancellor of higher education; two appointees of the state treasurer; and four investment experts appointed respectively by the governor, the House speaker, the Senate president and jointly by the speaker and president. While not exclusively a higher education issue, this maneuver will directly affect the pensions of contributing faculty.

We are working with our partners at the Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT) on a joint letter to Gov. DeWine that will outline our line-item veto requests. OCAAUP is asking for the elimination of: 1) the anti-shared governance language; 2) the “civics centers” directors’ board; 3) the civics centers directors’ control over general education course approval; and 4) the outrageous changes to the STRS Board.

HB 96 is rightfully being called one of the worst budgets in Ohio history. Although state budgets tend to earn bipartisan support, for the first time in 20 years, the budget bill didn’t garner a single Democratic vote. It is a sign of the hyper-partisan nature and lack of accountability from a gerrymandered legislature.

At a time when public schools desperately need resources, libraries are struggling, and homeowners are being hit with property tax increases, this budget gives a $600 million handout to billionaires for a new football stadium, takes huge steps backwards on adequately funding public services, and fails to solve pressing issues for Ohioans.

We must continue to push our elected officials to do better, and we need to develop strategies for how we can help to shift the tide in the 2026 elections. In the meantime, if you’d like to contact the governor with a personalized message to help push for our line-item vetoes, you can use the form here. Here is a sample message:

Gov. DeWine:

I am requesting that you veto budget items BORCD106, BORCD107, and BORCD121 from the higher education portions of HB 96. We must allow the experts to maintain real input into the most basic matters of our colleges and universities. These provisions require short-sighted and unworkable governance requirements for our public institutions and the newly formed civics centers, exacerbating administrative bloat and wasteful spending.

In addition, you must veto budget item PENCD9, which is an unacceptable attack on the STRS Board without any opportunity for public input. Shoving such a significant change to the structure of the board that serves our retired educators into a massive budget bill at the 11th hour is simply bad policy and bad politics. Any changes to the STRS system should be introduced in a standalone bill and undergo full public participation.

Thank you for your consideration.