Last week, OPLC presented testimony to several committees about our priorities for the state operating budget. The Ohio Senate has had the budget for over a month and there has been robust committee discussion surrounding the changes made by the Ohio House. OPLC has been working diligently with our legislative partners to advance policies that would benefit low-income Ohioans. To that end we provided testimony urging members of the Ohio Senate to do the following:

• Restore funding that was cut for lead poisoning prevention.
• Remove unvetted and potentially harmful Earned Wage Access provisions.
• Remove change reporting requirements for SNAP beneficiaries and other harmful SNAP provisions.
• Remove unnecessary changes to Unemployment Compensation eligibility.
• Restoring continuous eligibility for children aged 0-3 in Ohio’s Medicaid program.
• Altering language around proposed “trigger language” that could cause Ohio’s Medicaid expansion population to lose coverage.

The Ohio Senate has finished its initial budget deliberation and will take the next two weeks to craft their own version of the state operating budget. We expect the new substitute version of the budget to be released during the first full week of June, with a vote on the budget taking place on June 12. OPLC will keep you up-to-date with changes throughout each step of the budget process.

Ohio Senate Considers Comprehensive Shared Parenting Legislation

New legislation moving through the Senate committee process would make significant changes to Ohio’s laws regarding allocation of parental rights and responsibilities. Senate Bill 174, sponsored by Senator Paula Hicks Hudson (D-Toledo) and Senator Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) is long-awaited legislation focused on modernizing parenting plans.

Unlike other more recent legislation introduced on allocation of parental rights that would create a presumption in favor of equal parenting time, S.B. 174 centers the analysis on a list of factors to be considered in determining what is in the best interests of the child. The legislation has been in development by the Supreme Court of Ohio, judges, and family law attorneys for more than a decade and is supported by the Ohio Judicial Conference, the Ohio State Bar Association, and the Ohio Domestic Violence Network.

Proponents of S.B. 174 testified in support of the bill on Tuesday of last week in Senate Judiciary Committee. Eric Johnson, representing the OSBA, told the committee “this legislation takes a ‘child-centered’ approach, with the best interests of the child in mind, without affecting the primary rights of parents to raise their children.” OPLC will continue to monitor S.B. 174 as it moves through the committee process.

“Ohio Medical Debt Fairness Act” Introduced

Representative Michele Grim (D-Toledo) and Jean Schmidt (R-Loveland) introduced House Bill 257 to provide Ohioans with more protection against medical debt. House Bill 257 would be titled as the Ohio Medical Debt Fairness Act. The bill language would do the following:

• Caps interest rates at 3%
• Prohibits wage garnishment and
• Prevents reporting to credit agencies

The bill has been referred to the House Health Committee, but has not yet received a hearing. OPLC has been involved in a group of organizations working on the medical debt issue and this legislation and will continue advocacy on the issue.