The Ohio House of Representatives recently approved Senate Bill (SB) 1, the Enact Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, a bill aimed at overhauling “diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), intellectual diversity, and other concepts.” The bill, which had previously passed the Ohio Senate in mid-February, passed the Ohio House with a 58-34 vote, largely along party lines.
The House made final adjustments to the bill including two amendments from Representatives Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville, OH) and Josh Williams (R-Oregon, OH). Those amendments include:
- AM0231-2, specifies diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) prohibitions do not prohibit compliance with laws on services for people with disabilities, and exempts students from the required civics course if they have three credit hours from an American history or government course.
- AM0269-2, lets institutions ask the chancellor for an exemption from prohibitions on DEI orientation and training requirements if necessary to comply with state and federal laws, professional licensing requirements, or accreditation. Rep. Williams said this responded to opposition testimony from students who feared their degree programs would lose accreditation under SB 1.
As SB 1 awaits concurrence from the Senate and then will be sent to Governor Mike DeWine‘s office, he is expected to sign the bill into law upon final approval.
The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians took a position of opposition to SB 1.