Implications of Senate Bill 83

Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act

In May, the Ohio Senate passed a massive higher education bill that would significantly alter college campuses. If SB 83 had passed by the GOP-supermajority House, university staff and employees would be banned from striking, college students would be required to take certain American history courses, professor tenure would be based around “bias,” and Board of Trustees terms would be reduced from nine years down to four.

This past summer Senate Bill 83 was in a state of animated suspension in the House Education Committee.  At the end of October, a new version of the bill was released, with the expectation that it will be voted out of the Committee in early November and will be sent to the House floor for a full vote sometime in mid-November.

This latest version has two major changes regarding collective bargaining:

(1) the strike prohibition has been removed; and

(2) the retrenchment provision contains a carve-out for faculty (they remain subject to any contractual retrenchment provision) who have between 30-35 years of service credit toward retirement.

Senate Bill 83 could be signed into law by Governor DeWine before our next quarterly meeting with an expected effective date 90 days after the Governor signs it.  It remains to be seen whether the effective date will be delayed either by a successful petition drive to place a repeal on the ballot (per Senate Bill 5) or a lawsuit seeking a court injunction (per Florida).

Featured Speakers

Attorney George Crisci, Zashin & Rich (bio)

Ohio Education Association Vice President Jeff Wensing (bio)

Professor of Law and Values at University of Toledo Joseph E. Slater (bio)

Agenda

5 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. Social hour and heavy appetizers
5:45 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. Speakers and Q & A

Venue

Holiday Inn
6001 Rockside Road
Independence, OH 44131

Registration and Pricing

Complete the form below, and you can either 1) pay online now, 2) mail a check, or 3) bring payment to the event.

Cost is $35 per ticket.