Signed by Governor Mike DeWine

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to concur with senate amendments and pass a bill that extends the mail-in ballot deadline for the presidential primary election, and waives high school testing requirements, among other provisions, in response to the COVID-19 emergency.

Highlights:

• Extends the date an elector is eligible to mail an absent voter ballot to April 28, 2020 (Sec. 32).

• Specifies that any city, exempted village, local, joint vocational, or municipal school district, any community school, any STEM school, any chartered nonpublic school, and the State School for the Deaf and the State School for the Blind will not be required to administer testing assessments, including the Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (Sec. 17).

• Specifies that the absence of report card ratings for the 2019-2020 school year will not have an effect in determining sanctions or penalties (Sec. 17).

• Requires a city, exempted village, local, joint vocational, or municipal school district, a community school, a STEM school, a chartered nonpublic school, and the State School for the Deaf and the State School for the Blind to grant a high school diploma to any student enrolled in the twelfth grade in the 2019-2020 school year or on track to graduate in the 2019-2020 school year, if the student’s principal, in consultation with teachers and counselors, reviews the student’s progress toward meeting the requirements for a diploma and determines that the student has successfully completed the curriculum in the student’s high school at the time the student’s school closed pursuant to the order issued on March 14, 2020 (Sec. 17).

• Authorizes the board of education of a school district, the governing authority of a community school that is not an internet or computer based community school, the governing body of a STEM school, or the governing authority of a chartered nonpublic school to require students to access and complete classroom lessons posted on the district’s or school’s web site in order to make up days or hours schools were closed due to the order issued on March 14, 2020, or any local board of health order, and any extension of any order (Sec. 15).

• Prohibits the Department of Education from accepting, processing, or awarding first time performance-based Educational Choice scholarships for the 2020-2021 school year, excepting certain cases (Sec. 31).

• Authorizes the Director of Agriculture to exempt a school from regulation as a food processing establishment if the school (Sec. 10):

• Has been issued a food service operation license; and

• Is transporting food only for purposes of the Seamless Summer Option Program or the Summer Food Service Program.

• Authorizes the Director of Environmental Protection, during the period of emergency declared by the order issued March 9, 2020, to issue an order that (Sec. 8):

• Requires a public water system to restore service to any customer whose service was disconnected as a result of nonpayment of fees and charges;

• Requires a public water system to waive all fees for connection or reconnection to the public water system; and or

• Prohibits a public water system from disconnecting customers because of nonpayment of fees and charges.

• Specifies that during the period of the emergency declared by the order issued March 9, 2020 (Sec. 19):

• The requirement that an individual serve a waiting period before receiving benefits does not apply to a benefit year beginning after the effective date of this section;

• The Director of Job and Family Services can waive the requirement that an individual be actively seeking suitable work for any claim for benefits filed during the duration of this section; and

• An individual will not be disqualified from being paid benefits if the individual is unemployed or is unable to return to work because of an order, including an isolation or quarantine order.

• Authorizes members of a public body to hold and attend meetings, and to conduct and attend hearings by means of teleconference, video conference, or any other similar electronic technology during the period of emergency (Sec. 12).

• Requires the public body to ensure that the public can observe and hear the discussions and deliberations of all members of the public body in these meetings, whether the member is participating in person or electronically (Sec. 12).

• Authorizes the Director of Budget and Management to request approval from the Controlling Board for a transfer of cash from the Budget Stabilization Fund to the General Revenue Fund to help ensure that the available revenue receipts and balances in the General Revenue Fund are not less than the expenditures for fiscal year 2020 (Sec. 36).

• Specifies that a Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) retirant or other system retirant employed by any of the following public employers, during the period of the emergency, will not be required to forfeit the retirant’s retirement allowance as described in specified provisions of the Revised Code (Sec. 13):

• The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction;

• The Department of Youth Services;

• The Department of Mental Health and Addic tion Services;

• The Department of Veterans Services; and

• The Department of Developmental Disabilities.

• Authorizes the Board of Nursing, during the period of emergency, to grant to an applicant who has passed the board accepted examination, a temporary license to practice nursing as a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse (Sec. 30).

• Specifies that a license otherwise expiring pursuant to law during the period of the emergency remains valid until the earlier of either 90 days after the date the emergency ends or December 1, 2020 (Sec. 11).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to amend and pass a bill that extends the mail-in ballot deadline for the presidential primary election, and waives high school testing requirements.

Highlights:

• Extends the date an elector is eligible to mail an absent voter ballot to April 28, 2020 (Sec. 32).

• Specifies that any city, exempted village, local, joint vocational, or municipal school district, any community school, any STEM school, any chartered nonpublic school, and the State School for the Deaf and the State School for the Blind will not be required to administer testing assessments, including the Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (Sec. 17).

• Specifies that the absence of report card ratings for the 2019-2020 school year will not have an effect in determining sanctions or penalties (Sec. 17).

• Requires a city, exempted village, local, joint vocational, or municipal school district, a community school, a STEM school, a chartered nonpublic school, and the State School for the Deaf and the State School for the Blind to grant a high school diploma to any student enrolled in the twelfth grade in the 2019-2020 school year or on track to graduate in the 2019-2020 school year, if the student’s principal, in consultation with teachers and counselors, reviews the student’s progress toward meeting the requirements for a diploma and determines that the student has successfully completed the curriculum in the student’s high school at the time the student’s school closed pursuant to the order issued on March 14, 2020 (Sec. 17).

• Authorizes the board of education of a school district, the governing authority of a community school that is not an internet or computer based community school, the governing body of a STEM school, or the governing authority of a chartered nonpublic school to require students to access and complete classroom lessons posted on the district’s or school’s web site in order to make up days or hours schools were closed due to the order issued on March 14, 2020, or any local board of health order, and any extension of any order (Sec. 15).

• Prohibits the Department of Education from accepting, processing, or awarding first time performance-based Educational Choice scholarships for the 2020-2021 school year, excepting certain cases (Sec. 31).

• Authorizes the Director of Agriculture to exempt a school from regulation as a food processing establishment if the school (Sec. 10):

• Has been issued a food service operation license; and

• Is transporting food only for purposes of the Seamless Summer Option Program or the Summer Food Service Program.

• Authorizes the Director of Environmental Protection, during the period of emergency declared by the order issued March 9, 2020, to issue an order that (Sec. 8):

• Requires a public water system to restore service to any customer whose service was disconnected as a result of nonpayment of fees and charges;

• Requires a public water system to waive all fees for connection or reconnection to the public water system; and or

• Prohibits a public water system from disconnecting customers because of nonpayment of fees and charges.

• Specifies that during the period of the emergency declared by the order issued March 9, 2020 (Sec. 19):

• The requirement that an individual serve a waiting period before receiving benefits does not apply to a benefit year beginning after the effective date of this section;

• The Director of Job and Family Services can waive the requirement that an individual be actively seeking suitable work for any claim for benefits filed during the duration of this section; and

• An individual will not be disqualified from being paid benefits if the individual is unemployed or is unable to return to work because of an order, including an isolation or quarantine order.

• Authorizes members of a public body to hold and attend meetings, and to conduct and attend hearings by means of teleconference, video conference, or any other similar electronic technology during the period of emergency (Sec. 12).

• Requires the public body to ensure that the public can observe and hear the discussions and deliberations of all members of the public body in these meetings, whether the member is participating in person or electronically (Sec. 12).

• Authorizes the Director of Budget and Management to request approval from the Controlling Board for a transfer of cash from the Budget Stabilization Fund to the General Revenue Fund to help ensure that the available revenue receipts and balances in the General Revenue Fund are not less than the expenditures for fiscal year 2020 (Sec. 36).

• Specifies that a Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) retirant or other system retirant employed by any of the following public employers, during the period of the emergency, will not be required to forfeit the retirant’s retirement allowance as described in specified provisions of the Revised Code (Sec. 13):

• The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction;

• The Department of Youth Services;

• The Department of Mental Health and Addic tion Services;

• The Department of Veterans Services; and

• The Department of Developmental Disabilities.

• Authorizes the Board of Nursing, during the period of emergency, to grant to an applicant who has passed the board accepted examination, a temporary license to practice nursing as a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse (Sec. 30).

• Specifies that a license otherwise expiring pursuant to law during the period of the emergency remains valid until the earlier of either 90 days after the date the emergency ends or December 1, 2020 (Sec. 11).

Full Bill Text