Public Policy Advocates

Health Care Legislation

House Bills

HB 8   AUTISM COVERAGE  (Celeste, Garland)  To prohibit health insurers from excluding coverage for specified services for individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.

HB 51   BREAST CANCER  (Miller)  To create the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Commission.
HB 67   BLOOD DONATIONS  (Carney)  To permit persons who are sixteen to donate blood with parental consent.
HB 74   NURSING PROFESSION  (Weddington)  Regarding limits on mandatory overtime for nurses, tuition reimbursement for nursing education, tax credits for nursing professors, and tax deductions for nurse aides.
HB 101   SICKLE CELL COMMITTEE  (Miller)  To create the Sickle Cell Anemia Advisory Committee.
HB 102   UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD  (Book)  Regarding umbilical cord blood donations.
HB 125   MEDICAID PROGRAM  (Williams, S)  To require the Director of Job and Family Services to seek federal permission to establish the Family Health Plus component of the Medicaid program, to impose a new assessment on hospitals, and to earmark the proceeds from the new assessment for the Family Health Plus component.
HB 159   UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE (Skindell, Hagan) To establish and operate the Ohio Health Care Plan to provide universal health care coverage to all Ohio residents.
HB 163   SICKLE CELL TREATMENT  (Miller)  To establish five Ohio Sickle Cell Anemia Comprehensive Treatment Centers.
HB 185   HEALTH CARE CONTRACTS  (DeGeeter, Book)  To specify that a material amendment to a health care contract does not become part of the contract unless agreed upon by both parties.
HB 190   ORAL HYGIENE  (Fende)  To modify certain licensing procedures for dentists and dental hygienists and to establish the Public Oral Health Supervision Program for the provision of dental hygiene services.
HB 198   MEDICAL HOME DEMONSTRATION  (Lehner, Ujvagi)  To establish the Medical Home Model Demonstration Project; to provide for Choose Ohio First Scholarships to be awarded to medical students who agree to practice primary care; to repeal section 3901.90 of the Revised Code, effective March 1, 2012; and to make an appropriation.
HB 213   SPIRITUAL MEDICINE  (Hagan)  To eliminate the exemption from the tuberculosis treatment requirements for minors of parents who rely exclusively on spiritual treatment through prayer, to eliminate the exemption in Chapter 2151. of the Revised Code from criminal prosecution for persons who fail to provide medical treatment for children because of religious beliefs, to similarly limit the exemption for treatment of mentally retarded and developmentally disabled persons, and to eliminate the exception to endangering children for persons who treat a child’s physical or mental illness through prayer alone in accordance with the tenets of a recognized religious body.
HB 237    CANCER MEDICATIONS  (Newcomb)  Regarding health insurance coverage for orally administered cancer medications and the procedures insured persons are required or permitted to use in acquiring certain non-self-injectable and compounded medications.
HB 240   MEDICAID PROGRAM  (Sears)  To modify the Medicaid program.
HB 256   HEALTH CARE  (Gardner)  To create the Small Business Health Care Affordability Task Force.
HB 267   PRESCRIPTION PROGRAM  (Luckie)  To create the Ohio Official Prescription Program.
HB 281   MENTAL HEALTH CUSTODY  (Yuko)  To permit additional health care professionals who provide mental health services to take certain persons into custody and transport those persons to a hospital.
HB 287   MEDICAID COVERAGE  (Burke, Sears)  To require the Medicaid program to cover
HB 310  PROSTHESES COVERAGE (Garland, Driehaus)  To require health insurers to provide coverage for prostheses.
HB 331  MEDICAID EMPLOYER INFORMATION (Hagan)  To require applicants for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicaid, Ohio Works First, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to provide information about their employers and to require quarterly reports identifying the employers. 
HB 332  CONTRACEPTION COVERAGE (Stewart, D.)  To prohibit sickness and accident insurance policies, public employee benefit plans, and health insuring corporation policies, contracts, and agreements from limiting or excluding coverage for prescription contraceptive drugs and devices and outpatient services related to the provision of such drugs and devices. 
HB 357  MUTUAL AID (Carney)  Regarding the Intrastate Mutual Aid Compact, the authority of certain emergency medical services personnel to dispense drugs during an emergency that affects the public health, the authority of the Governor to declare the existence of a health exigency, and information and guidelines issued by the Department of Health concerning health exigencies, and to declare an emergency. 
HB 384  DRUG COVERAGE (Bolon)  To use the compendia adopted by the United States Department of Health and Human Services to determine whether an insurer may exclude coverage for off-label drug usage. 
HB 398  HOME CARE  (Newcomb, Lehner)  To revise the waiting list provisions of the PASSPORT and Assisted Living programs, to revise the law governing the collection of long-term care facilities’ Medicaid debts, and to revise the law governing the reasons for denying a Certificate of Need application.

Senate Bills

SB 108   HEMOPHILIA COUNCIL  (Miller, R.)  To create the Hemophilia Advisory Council.
SB 134   HEALTH CARE DEPARTMENT  (Miller, R.)  To create the Department of Health Care Administration; to transfer the Medicaid Program, Children’s Health Insurance Program, Children’s Buy-In Program, Hospital Care Assurance Program, Disability Medical Assistance Program, Ohio’s Best Rx Program, and Residential State Supplement Program to the new department; to require the new department to create a central pharmaceutical purchasing office; and to make an appropriation.
SB 136   TELEMEDICINE  (Miller, R.)  Regarding insurance and Medicaid coverage of telemedicine services.
SB 24   SCHOOL NUTRITION  (Kearney)  To establish nutritional standards for food and beverages sold in vending machines in public schools.
SB 57   BLOOD DONATION  (Gibbs)  To permit persons who are sixteen to donate blood with parental consent.
SB 64   COLORECTAL EXAMS  (Coughlin)  To require certain health care policies, contracts, agreements and plans, as well as the state’s Medicaid program, to provide benefits for colorectal examinations and laboratory tests for cancer.
SB 66   VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS  (Faber)  To provide health insurance benefits to dependents of volunteer firefighters killed in the line of duty.
SB 69   STUDENT VACCINATIONS  (Cates)  To require that students living in on-campus housing and institutions of higher education be vaccinated for meningococcal meningitis and hepatitis B or obtain a waiver.
SB 86   PHYSICIAN IMMUNITY  (Buehrer)  To grant qualified civil immunity to a physician who provides emergency medical services, first-aid treatment, or other emergency professional care in compliance with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act or as a result of a disaster.
SJR 2   HEALTH CARE  (Coughlin)  Proposing to enact Section 43 of Article II of the Constitution of the State of Ohio to prohibit the General Assembly from enacting certain laws regarding health care.
SB 158   HEALTH CARE TRAINING  (Miller, R.)  To require certain health care professionals to complete instruction in cultural competency.
SB 159   HEALTH INSURANCE PAYMENTS  (Miller, R.)  To prohibit health insurers from denying payment for a service during or after the performance of the service if the insurer provided prior written authorization for the service.
SB 176   PREGNANCY PREVENTION  (Fedor)  Regarding assistance for pregnancy prevention.
SB 200   NURSE ANESTHETISTS  (Morano)  To authorize certified registered nurse anesthetists to issue prescriptions for the administration of drugs during certain phases of patient care.
SB 210   HEALTHY BEHAVIORS  (Coughlin)  To establish nutritional standards for certain foods and beverages sold in public and chartered nonpublic schools; to require public school students to have periodic body mass index measurements; to require daily physical activity for public school students and to make other changes regarding physical education; and to establish the Healthy Choices for Healthy Children Council.
SB 214   MEDICAL SERVICES  (Carey)  To revise the waiting list provisions of the PASSPORT and Assisted Living programs, to require the Director of Budget and Management to make certain cash transfers and expenditure authorizations regarding long-term care budget services, to revise the law governing the collection of long-term care facilities’ Medicaid debts, and to revise the law governing the reasons for denying a Certificate of Need application.
 

Environmental and Natural Resources Legislation

House Bills

HB 54   DITCH MAINTENANCE  (Morgan)  To allow a board of county commissioners to adjust the permanent base of a ditch improvement that is used for maintenance fund assessments and to allow a board to use certain ditch maintenance procedures to maintain soil and water conservation district improvements.
HB 107   OIL & GAS LEASES  (Jordan)  To create the Oil and Gas Leasing Board and to establish a procedure by which the Board may enter into leases for oil and gas production on land owned or under the control of a state agency for the purpose of providing funding for capital and operating costs for the agency.
HB 110   LAKE ERIE DRILLING  (Adams, J.)  To authorize the Director of Natural Resources to issues permits and make leases to take and remove natural gas and oil from under the bed of Lake Erie.
HB 301   ADVANCED ENERGY FUND  (Foley)  To replace the current Advanced Energy Fund revenue rider on retail electric distribution service rates with a new rider that will terminate on January 1, 2025 and to permit aerospace institutes to receive Advanced Energy Fund money for advanced energy projects and economic development.
HB 324   ERAC DEADLINES  (Yates)  To eliminate the schedule in accordance with which the Environmental Review Appeals Commission must issue written orders concerning certain actions that were filed with the Commission and to make an appropriation.
HB 341   LIVESTOCK CARE BOARD  (Yates)  To create the Livestock Care Standards Board and to require the Board to adopt rules that establish standards of care for livestock and poultry, including rules that prohibit specified practices.
HB 344   WATER/SEWAGE FEES  (Goyal, Harris, M.)  To limit recovery of rate-case expenses for certain water-works and sewage disposal system companies.
HB 363   ANIMAL FEEDING FACILITIES  (Okey, Newcomb)  To revise the Concentrated Animal Feeding Facilities Law, to specify that certain provisions amended by this act do not become operative until the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency approves the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program submitted by the Director of Agriculture, and to declare an emergency.
HB 368   OHIO TREE FUND  (Yates)  To create the Ohio Tree Fund to be used to reforest land that is owned by the state.

Senate Bills

SB 18   ENVIRONMENTAL FINES  (Gibbs)  To require the proceeds of fines paid by certain political subdivisions under environmental laws to be expended by the state in the county that incurred the fine or in which the political subdivision that incurred the fine is located and to require the proceeds of fines paid by private entities under environmental laws to be deposited in the General Revenue Fund.
SB 27   BALLAST WATER  (Miller, D.)  To establish requirements governing oceangoing vessels on the state waters of Lake Erie in order to control aquatic nuisance species.
SB 29   DITCH IMPROVEMENTS  (Roberts)  To allow a board of county commissioners to adjust the permanent base of a ditch improvement that is used for maintenance fund assessments and to allow a board to use certain ditch maintenance procedures to maintain soil and water conservation district improvements.
SB 73   COAL MINING  (Niehaus)  To revise the laws governing coal mining with regard to the imposition of a portion of the severance tax on coal and performance security and reclamation, and to declare an emergency.
SB 100   HOUSEHOLD SEWAGE   (Grendell) To revise the Household Sewage and Small Flow On-Site Sewage Treatment Systems Law, to establish the Household Sewage Treatment System Revolving Loan Program and the Household Sewage Treatment System Grant Program in the Department of Health, to make appropriations, and to declare an emergency.
SCR 8   LIVESTOCK EMISSIONS   (Grendell)  To memorialize the administrator of the U.S. EPA to refrain from adopting any new regulations governing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock that would impose permit fees on livestock producers, and to enact legislation introduced by U.S. Senators John Thune and Charles Schumer that proposes to amend Title V of the Clean Air Act to establish appropriate exemptions for livestock producers.
SB 165   OIL/GAS DRILLING  (Niehaus)  To revise the Oil and Gas Law.

Commerce and Labor Legislation

House Bills

HB 32   COMPETITIVE BIDDING  (Ruhl)  To increase the competitive bidding threshold for contracts entered into by a board of park trustees for certain municipal park improvements.
HB 37   COMPETITIVE BIDDING  (Dyer)  To require the Department of Administrative Services to maintain a web site database including apparent low bidders who failed to be awarded a contract because they were found not to be “responsible,” and to require public entities to conduct investigations when apparent low bidders are suspected of failing or fail to meet the “responsible” prong of the “responsive and responsible” competitive bidding threshold.
HB 71   RAIL EMPLOYEES  (Hagan, Batchelder)  To establish requirements for contract carriers that transport railroad employees.
HB 170   EMPLOYER RETALIATION  (Murray)  To prohibit an employer from retaliating against the employer’s employees for testifying or otherwise participating in an unemployment compensation proceeding or hearing.
HB 216    PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYER ORGANIZATIONS  (Carney)  To establish certain financial capacity requirements for professional employer organizations, clarify rights and liabilities of professional employer organizations and client employers, and make other changes to the professional employer organization law.
HB 227   IMMIGRATION STATUS  (Domenick)  To require in specified situations the verification of immigration status of persons who are not United States citizens, to impose state income taxes at a rate of six per cent per annum on the compensation of specified independent contractors who fail to document such verification, and to restrict the employment of persons who are not legal residents of the United States.
HB 247   UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS  (Moran)  To include any child that an individual claiming benefits has been granted custody of by court order in the calculation of dependents for the purpose of determining unemployment benefits.
HR 58   PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS  (Yuko)  To encourage state agencies to use project labor agreements on public improvement projects.
HCR 23   CHINESE CARS  (Hagan)  To urge the Congress and President of the United States to strongly oppose all efforts by the General Motors Corporation to restructuring its operations by manufacturing cars in China for export to the United States.
HB 254   UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS  (Balderson)  To allow an individual to claim unemployment benefits for a dependent who is a child in the legal custody of the individual.
HB 272   LIQUOR PERMIT FEES  (Williams, S.)  To increase the annual fee for the C-1, C-2, and C-2x liquor permits to $2,500.
HB 273   LIQUOR PERMIT TRANSFERS  (Williams, S.)  To prohibit the transfer of ownership or the transfer of location of a C-1, C-2, or C-2x liquor permit in, or to a premises located in, a municipal corporation or the unincorporated area of a township in which the number of that class of permits actually issued exceeds the number of that class of permits allowed to be issued under population quota restrictions.
HB 277   EMPLOYER TAX CREDIT  (Snitchler, Jordan)  To authorize a $2,400 income tax withholding credit for an employer that hires and employs a previously unemployed individual.
HB 282   STATE GRANTS  (Snitchler)  To transfer the responsibility of maintaining a state awards web site from the Department of Administrative Services to the Office of Budget and Management, to alter and expand the information to be included on the web site, and to repeal the Attorney General’s responsibility to monitor state award compliance.
HB 283   BIOSCIENCE GRANTS  (Williams, S.)  To require the Director of Development to administer a grant program to provide funding to specified entities to provide training for employees in the fields of biotechnology and bioscience or any other field in which critical demands exist for certain skills.
HB 285   SALES TAX HOLIDAY  (Bacon)  To provide a three-day period in August and in December each year during which sales of clothing, footwear, school supplies, personal computers and computer-related items, and sporting equipment are exempt from sales and use taxes.
HB 288   PAWNBROKERS  (Harwood)  To make changes in laws regulating pawnbrokers and precious metal dealers to revise item information furnished to local law enforcement agencies and, under the Precious Metal Dealer Law, specify which local law enforcement agencies are to receive item information; to restrict the type of property received or purchased; to require specified proof of identity of persons pledging, redeeming, or from whom property is purchased; to increase property retaining periods, including the period an item must be retained if there is probable cause that it is stolen property; and to modify procedures and authorized civil actions in connection with returning pledged or purchased property to its true owner.
HB 294   LIQUOR SALE PENALTY  (Bacon)  To authorize community service or, in certain circumstances, a driver’s license suspension as an additional penalty for selling or furnishing beer or liquor to, or buying beer or liquor for, an underage person.
HB 311   BUSINESS OMBUDSPERSON  (McGregor, Balderson)  To require a rule-making agency to prepare cost-benefit and regulatory flexibility reports for rules that may have any adverse impact on small businesses and submit them to the new Ohio Small Business Ombudsperson in the Office of Small Business, to create the Small Business Regulatory Review Board to review objections to those rules and make recommendations to the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review regarding the rules, and to require the Ombudsperson annually to submit a rule impact report to the Governor and General Assembly. 
HB 317   CREDIT UNIONS  (Heard, Ujvagi)  To authorize credit unions to be eligible public depositories, to make credit union loans eligible for certain economic development assistance programs, and to permit certain public investments to be made through a credit union.
HB 325   PAYDAY LENDING  (Yates)  To repeal the Short-Term Loan Act and to prohibit payday lending by entities other than traditional financial institutions.
HB 328   TAX DEDUCTION  (Williams, S.)  To authorize an income tax deduction for small business owners’ reinvestment of undistributed profits in business property, employee training, or research and development.
HB 329   JOB CREATION  (Williams, S.)  To include employees working from home as employees employed in the project for purposes of the job creation and retention credits.
HB 346   WORKFORCE REPORT  (Boose, Hall)  To require the Department of Job and Family Services to submit annually to the leaders of the General Assembly a copy of the report submitted to the United States Department of Labor pursuant to the federal Workforce Investment Act.
HB 348   VENTURE CAPITAL  (Goyal, Williams, S.)  To increase the annual and aggregate limit on the amount of tax credits the Ohio Venture Capital Authority may authorize. 
HB 353   SCHOOL BUS ADVERTISING  (Huffman, Letson)  To authorize school districts to sell commercial advertising space on school buses. 
HB 360   JOURNEYPERSON TAX CREDITS  (Snitchler, Morgan)  To grant an income tax credit eliminating tax liability for five years for individuals who obtain journeyperson status and who reside in Ohio and to prohibit the Apprenticeship Council from adopting standards for apprenticeship ratios that are stricter than those requirements specified in the federal regulations governing apprenticeship programs and from discriminating against open or merit shops.
HB 362   BUILDING SAFETY  (Chandler)  To require fire extinguishers and carbon monoxide detectors in residential buildings and residential units, to direct the Board of Building Standards to adopt rules that establish product and installation standards for fire extinguishers and carbon monoxide detectors, to require transferors of residential real property to disclose whether fire extinguishers and carbon monoxide detectors are installed in their property, and to prohibit a transferor of residential real property from entering into a transfer agreement unless fire extinguishers and carbon monoxide detectors are installed as the bill requires.
HB 365   COLLECTIVE BARGAINING  (Chandler)  To eliminate an exemption from the Public Employees’ Collective Bargaining Law for specified educational employees.
HB 381   WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT  (Williams, S.)  To create the Workforce Development Intermediary Committee.

Senate Bills

SB 14   HOME INSPECTORS  (Miller, D.)  To require the licensure of home inspectors and to create the Ohio Home Inspector Board to regulate the licensure and performance of home inspectors.
SB 17   COMPENSATORY TIME  (Coughlin)  To afford to private sector employers the option to offer and to employees the option to accrue and use compensatory time off.
SB 31   TESTIMONIAL PRIVILEGE  (Patton)  To create a testimonial privilege for communications between a representative of an employee organization and a bargaining unit member.
SB 72   RAIL COMPANIES  (Patton)  To require railroad companies to maintain certain meeting, housing and food service facilities according to certain specifications.
SB 98   PHYSICIAN DESIGNATIONS  (Patton)  To establish standards for physician designations by health care insurers.
SB 129   PUBLIC EMPLOYEE BARGAINING  (Strahorn)  To eliminate an exemption from the Public Employees’ Collective Bargaining Law for specified educational employees.
SB 162   TELEPHONE REGULATION  (Buehrer)  To revise state regulation of telephone companies, remove telegraph companies from utility regulation, and revise law concerning confidential information of public utilities.
SB 193   BUSINESS TAX CREDIT  (Gibbs, Schuring)  To authorize a $2,400 income tax withholding credit for an employer that hires and employs a previously unemployed individual.
SB 195   EMPLOYEE DETERMINATION  (Patton)  To create a uniform standard to determine whether an individual performing services for an employer is an employee of that employer. 
SB 208   CASINO OPERATORS  (Grendell)  To require criminal records checks of certain persons involved in the operation of casino facilities or video lottery terminals and to prohibit any person convicted of a felony from being involved in these operations. 
SB 213   WORKERS COMPENSATION  (Faber)  To require the Administrator of Workers’ Compensation to make specified changes concerning workers’ compensation premium rates.