(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – January 2, 2023 – Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed the following bills into law:
- Senate Bill 33, sponsored by Senators Jay Hottinger and Andrew O. Brenner, modifies the law governing community reinvestment areas and expands the income tax deduction allowed for contributions to Ohio’s 529 education savings plans to include contributions to 529 plans established by other states.
- Senate Bill 63, sponsored by Senator Sandra O’Brien, creates the D-9 liquor permit, which authorizes an establishment to sell beer, wine, and mixed beverages for on-premises consumption under specified circumstances; allows a board of county commissioners to authorize a county department of probation to accept payments by credit card; and makes multiple designations.
- Senate Bill 131, sponsored by Senators Kristina Roegner and Rob McColley, requires an occupational licensing authority to issue a license or government certification to an applicant who holds a license, government certification, or private certification or has satisfactory work experience in another state under certain circumstances; specifies that individuals may not register as credit services organizations; specifies that individuals may not be licensed as manufacturers or wholesalers of fireworks; and maintains State Teacher Retirement System membership for certain school psychologists.
- Senate Bill 164, sponsored by Senators Jay Hottinger and Kenny Yuko, revises the law and penalties associated with companion animal cruelty; generally prohibits an animal shelter from destroying a domestic animal by the use of a gas chamber; and authorizes Cuyahoga County to convert its existing cigarette tax to a wholesale tax and levy a new wholesale tax on vapor products.
- Senate Bill 202, sponsored by Senators Bob D. Hackett and Nickie Antonio, prohibits a person’s disability from being the basis to deny or limit custody, parenting time, visitation, adoption, or service as a guardian or foster caregiver, regarding a minor; provides that a civil action to challenge a state administrative order issued in a state of emergency be brought in the Court of Claims or an appropriate local court depending on the nature of the action; makes changes concerning the validity of real property instruments and fiduciary signature errors; makes changes to the law related to the disinterment of bodies buried in cemeteries, presentment of claims against an estate, Guardianship Law, and the Ohio Trust Law; creates the Task Force on Bail; allows a county prosecutor to provide legal services to certain entities; conveys state-owned land in Lucas County; modifies the qualifications for office for judges of municipal courts, county courts, courts of common pleas, courts of appeals, and justices of the Supreme Court; and to converts one part-time judgeship of the Fulton County County Court to a full-time judgeship effective January 1, 2023, until that court is abolished on January 1, 2024.
- Senate Bill 302, sponsored by Senators Bob D. Hackett and Bill Reinecke, makes changes to the Unemployment Compensation Law.
- House Bill 23, sponsored by Representatives Phil Plummer and Thomas West, requires emergency medical service personnel and peace officers to undergo dementia-related training and increases the maximum allowable age for new state highway patrol troopers.
- House Bill 35, sponsored by Representatives Jeff LaRe and Gary Click, permits mayors to solemnize marriages anywhere within Ohio.
- House Bill 66, sponsored by Representative James M. Hoops, revises the tax laws and to makes certain operating appropriations for the biennium ending June 30, 2023, and capital appropriations for the biennium ending June 30, 2024.
- House Bill 107, sponsored by Representative Brian Baldridge, subsequently eliminates licensure of elevator contractors and mechanics in ten years.
- House Bill 150, sponsored by Representatives Brett Hudson Hillyer and David Leland, establishes the Rural Practice Incentive Program; establishes a task force to study Ohio’s indigent defense system, and makes an appropriation.
- House Bill 178, sponsored by Representatives Jean Schmidt and Adam C. Miller, limits the water pressure of water features at swimming pools and names this act Makenna’s Law.
- House Bill 254, sponsored by Representatives Kristin Boggs and Cindy Abrams, provides for the establishment of domestic violence fatality review boards.
- House Bill 353, sponsored by Representatives Gary Click and Jessica E. Miranda, enacts “The Testing Your Faith Act” to require each state institution of higher education to adopt a policy providing students with religious accommodations.
- House Bill 392, sponsored by Representatives Ron Ferguson and Kevin D. Miller, authorizes ambulance transport of an injured police dog when the dog is injured in the line of duty; clarifies when a person may ride in a moving fifth wheel trailer; and revises the law governing the mounting of a vehicle safety device on the windshield of a motor vehicle.
- House Bill 405, sponsored by Representatives Brian Stewart and Mark Johnson, makes changes to county hospital trustees law; allows the coroner’s office to access the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway; and allows a county treasurer to electronically deliver tax bills.
- House Bill 423, sponsored by Representatives Bill Roemer and Bob Young, designates the All-American Soap Box Derby as the official state gravity racing program and designates “Eugene ‘Gene’ F. Kranz Day,” “Ohio Burn Awareness Week,” “Ohio Public Lands Day,” “Pollinator Week,” and “Ulysses S. Grant Day.”
- House Bill 462, sponsored by Representative Kevin D. Miller and former Representative Rick Carfagna, prohibits swatting, adds swatting to the definition of an offense of violence, and makes changes regarding exempt employee pay ranges and pay ranges for certain State Highway Patrol officers.
- House Bill 487, sponsored by Representative Tom Young, changes the bidding process for contracts for ballot printing and eliminates the requirement that all contracts for ballots for Ohio elections are rewarded to vendors within the state and printed within the state.