OSCA Legislative Update
By Amanda Sines, OSCA Lobbyist | March 2019
Bill Would Compensate School Counselors for Out-of-Pocket Costs
Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R – Hilliard) recently introduced a bill that acknowledges the out-of-pocket costs teachers and school counselors so often pay to provide supplemental supplies for their students. Her bill, SB 26, would give teachers, counselors and other school personnel a state income tax deduction up to $250 per tax year for any unreimbursed expenses. Qualifying expenses include classroom supplies and professional development initiatives. Any amount claimed for the already existing federal deduction for these expenses would count against what can be claimed on the state level (so if a counselor has $350 in expenses and claims $250 in their federal deduction, they would only claim the remaining $100 for their Ohio deduction, since Ohio uses the federal income as a starting point for its income tax calculations). The bill looks to be on a fast track out of committee as it has received three hearings already in the Senate Ways and Means Committee since late February.
New Administration’s Agenda Places Strong Emphasis on Children and Mental Health
Governor DeWine delivered his State of the State address on March 5, laying out his priorities for the new administration and providing hints about what would be proposed in the administration’s upcoming state budget – set for release March 15. DeWine has been adamant since before his inauguration that children’s issues would be a priority for him over the course of his term. One of his first executive orders was to create the Governor’s Children’s Initiative, which tasks the state and its partners with maximizing investments in early childhood education and health and wellbeing services to improve long-term outcomes. On the campaign, he pledged to ensure every Ohio school had access to a mental health professional.
In his State of the State speech, DeWine reiterated his pledge to invest in early childhood education programs. He promised to create educational curricula on drug use prevention for K–12 students with an emphasis on social and emotional learning. He also advocated for an expansion in wraparound services in schools and treatment capacity for children struggling with mental illness and addiction. Home visiting programs would also be a target of increased investment under the administration’s stated agenda. Finally, the Governor pledged to prop up mentoring services, after-school programs and other efforts dedicated to social, mental and physical health. As the State of the State is usually a precursor to the administration’s proposed state budget, look for many of these programs to have money behind them in the budget that is released on March 15. The Legislature has always been wary of increased spending, so it will likely be a battle of priorities up through June 30 when the budget must be passed.
School Safety Legislation Introduced
Representatives Gayle Manning (R – North Ridgeville) and Glenn Holmes (D – McDonald) have introduced legislation to create a statewide standard for school safety and violence prevention training in grades six through 12. The bill is based on model legislation from the organization Sandy Hook Promise. The bill would provide for standards in threat assessment team training, suicide prevention training, student safety and violence prevention training, and student social inclusion training, and would create a statewide anonymous reporting system. This legislation has yet to be assigned to a House Committee.
Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R – Hilliard) recently introduced a bill that acknowledges the out-of-pocket costs teachers and school counselors so often pay to provide supplemental supplies for their students. Her bill, SB 26, would give teachers, counselors and other school personnel a state income tax deduction up to $250 per tax year for any unreimbursed expenses. Qualifying expenses include classroom supplies and professional development initiatives. Any amount claimed for the already existing federal deduction for these expenses would count against what can be claimed on the state level (so if a counselor has $350 in expenses and claims $250 in their federal deduction, they would only claim the remaining $100 for their Ohio deduction, since Ohio uses the federal income as a starting point for its income tax calculations). The bill looks to be on a fast track out of committee as it has received three hearings already in the Senate Ways and Means Committee since late February.
New Administration’s Agenda Places Strong Emphasis on Children and Mental Health
Governor DeWine delivered his State of the State address on March 5, laying out his priorities for the new administration and providing hints about what would be proposed in the administration’s upcoming state budget – set for release March 15. DeWine has been adamant since before his inauguration that children’s issues would be a priority for him over the course of his term. One of his first executive orders was to create the Governor’s Children’s Initiative, which tasks the state and its partners with maximizing investments in early childhood education and health and wellbeing services to improve long-term outcomes. On the campaign, he pledged to ensure every Ohio school had access to a mental health professional.
In his State of the State speech, DeWine reiterated his pledge to invest in early childhood education programs. He promised to create educational curricula on drug use prevention for K–12 students with an emphasis on social and emotional learning. He also advocated for an expansion in wraparound services in schools and treatment capacity for children struggling with mental illness and addiction. Home visiting programs would also be a target of increased investment under the administration’s stated agenda. Finally, the Governor pledged to prop up mentoring services, after-school programs and other efforts dedicated to social, mental and physical health. As the State of the State is usually a precursor to the administration’s proposed state budget, look for many of these programs to have money behind them in the budget that is released on March 15. The Legislature has always been wary of increased spending, so it will likely be a battle of priorities up through June 30 when the budget must be passed.
School Safety Legislation Introduced
Representatives Gayle Manning (R – North Ridgeville) and Glenn Holmes (D – McDonald) have introduced legislation to create a statewide standard for school safety and violence prevention training in grades six through 12. The bill is based on model legislation from the organization Sandy Hook Promise. The bill would provide for standards in threat assessment team training, suicide prevention training, student safety and violence prevention training, and student social inclusion training, and would create a statewide anonymous reporting system. This legislation has yet to be assigned to a House Committee.