No Need For HB 698/Overcompliance Of SB 1

· There is no need for HB 698. The ink was barely dry on SB 1 before HB 698 was introduced and there surely wasn’t enough time to evaluate compliance.

· Many of the SB 1-related policies were not required to be adopted by boards of trustees until Dec. 31, 2025. Yet, this bill was introduced on February 12, 2026.

· The SSI Compliance Report, which is the existing mechanism by which the Chancellor of the Board of Higher Education can withhold funds, wasn’t due until Feb. 1, 2026—less than two weeks before HB 698 was introduced.

· Widespread non-compliance is actually a myth. Faculty report that there is strong compliance, more often overcompliance, with SB 1. For example, administrations are using SB 1 to delay contract negotiations, refuse to bargain on permitted subjects, expand retrenchment and erode tenure, and ignore decades of shared governance.

Unfunded Mandates/Increase Cost of Education

· There is no need for millions of dollars to be spent on creating surveillance and compliance systems. The massive red tape and unfunded mandates will drive up tuition costs.

· Playing political games with higher education doesn’t make college more affordable or grow the economy. Investing in it does.

· Administrators already outnumber faculty 3:1. HB 698 should be called the Employ Administrators And Compliance Officers Act.

· HB 698 will lead to further disinvestment in education, like instruction and curriculum, to support the bureaucracy that the legislation requires.

· Investing in education and instruction would be an exponentially better use of taxpayer dollars and help advance the missions of Ohio’s colleges and universities. HB 698 does not improve the quality of education.


Retrenchment & Program Elimination

· HB 698 greatly expands the conditions for retrenchment which historically has only been triggered by financial exigency—or severe financial crisis.

· Programs that have steady enrollment will be eligible for retrenchment under HB 698. Program growth is required. A program can be eliminated even if it continues to have the same number of students as it did in the past.

· The number of students accepted into a program is based on many things—workforce needs, the rigor of the program, and the number of students that can be served within existing resources such as classroom space, lab space, and the number of faculty.

· Not all programs should be growing. HB 698 encourages, actually requires, artificial and unnecessary growth; rather than alignment with market demand or resource allocation.

DEI Provisions

· HB 698 would require universities to publicly provide the names, job responsibilities, and salaries of certain employees and to produce “justification reports” defending those positions.

· When lawmakers targeted programs that have historically employed minorities, as they did with SB 1, it raised serious concerns about equity and fairness.

· HB 698 is much worse as it requires the singling out of specific categories of employees for special scrutiny and basically puts them on a watch list which raises serious constitutional questions.

· HB 698 creates intentional barriers to the employment of minorities and people from marginalized communities and creates different working conditions for them.


Attack on Higher Education

· When legislators target higher education — by cutting funding, restricting academic freedom, undermining shared governance, weakening collective bargaining protections, and politicizing what can be taught — it raises a troubling question about motive. The passing of SB 1and the introduction of HB 698 shows a pattern that is difficult to ignore.

· An informed public asks hard questions, challenges those in power, and actively participates in civic life. Weakening education weakens that foundation.


Negative Consequences/Ripple Effect

· Policies like SB 1 and HB 698 don’t just affect campus culture — they affect workforce development, research capacity, and our ability to attract and retain top faculty, students, and employers.

· Public education has long been a proven pathway to economic mobility and opportunity, particularly for working families and first-generation students.

· Strong public colleges and universities strengthen our economy, our workforce, and our democracy. Undermining them weakens us all.