Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee made its second round of changes to the budget bill and accepted the omnibus amendment before voting the budget bill, House Bill 33, out of committee. The full Senate voted to approve the budget bill this afternoon. The Senate-passed budget bill will now go back to the House for consideration.
Conference Committee
The House is scheduled to meet Wednesday, June 21, at 2 p.m., when it’s expected to vote not to concur with the Senate’s changes. A conference committee will then be convened to reconcile the differences between the House-passed and Senate-passed versions of HB 33. Click here for a comparison of the changes between the executive, House and Senate versions of the bill. Click here for a summary of the additional changes made in the Senate omnibus amendment.
The conference committee will consist of three members from each chamber. Committee members will be formally announced following the House’s vote of nonconcurrence next week but will include Rep. Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville) and Sen. Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls), each of whom chair the finance committee in their respective chamber. We will update members with contact information when the full committee is announced.
Important Next Steps – Contact Your Legislators
Your legislators must hear from you. We all must stay engaged throughout the conference committee process and help to influence the outcome.
- Speak with legislators. Please contact your House and Senate members as soon as possible. They need to hear from every school district in their region. We have developed talking points and essential questions for you to use when communicating with your legislators. Click here for those talking points.
- Send letter to the House speaker. Send a letter to House Speaker Jason Stephens (R- Kitts Hill) thanking him for his unwavering commitment and years of dedication to craft a fair, equitable and adequate approach to school funding for Ohio’s children. Speaker Stephens needs to know he is supported by our members as he fights for the Fair School Funding Formula and our other budget priorities in the conference committee. Click here for the template.
We will be hosting a webinar to review the differences between the House-passed and Senate-passed versions of HB 33 in anticipation of conference committee on Wednesday, June 21 at 3 p.m. Registration details to come. However, please do not wait to contact your legislators and send the letter to Speaker Stephens. Please do that as soon as possible.
Important Resources
Legislator Lookup Resources:
Legislator Contact Information