OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 197 Final Analysis
133rd General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 197’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Passed by the General Assembly
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Powell and Merrin
Effective date: Emergency: March 27, 2020; one item vetoed
Effective Date:
LSC Staff
SUMMARY
Extension of absent voting in 2020 primary election
 Voids Secretary of State directive 2020-06, issued on March 16, 2020.
 Extends absent voting in the March 17, 2020, primary election through April 28, 2020.
 Allows an elector who has not already cast a ballot in the election, and who was
registered to vote in Ohio as of the February 18, 2020, deadline, to cast absent voter’s
ballots in the election through 7:30 p.m. on April 28.
 Requires ballots already cast in the election before or after the March 27, 2020, also to
be counted after 7:30 p.m. on April 28.
 Requires the Secretary of State to mail a postcard to each elector in Ohio with
information about voting.
 Requires generally that an elector apply for absent voter’s ballots by mail to the board
of elections by noon on April 25.
 Requires the board daily to compile a list of the applications received and to transmit
the list to the Secretary, who must make it available to the public upon request.
 Requires the board to prepay the return postage on absent voter’s ballots sent to
electors under the act.
 Allows a person whose application for absent voter’s ballots under the act is denied to
cast a provisional ballot by mail in the same manner as casting absent voter’s ballots.
 Requires the board to provide assistance in casting ballots and an extended application
deadline for electors who are ill, have disabilities, or are confined, in the same manner
as under permanent law.
April 1, 2020
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 Permits an elector instead to cast ballots in person at the office of the board on April 28
by 7:30 p.m. if (1) the elector has a disability and wishes to use an accessible voting
machine, or (2) the elector is unable to receive mail.
 Requires the board to place a secure receptacle outside the board’s office for the return
of absent voter’s ballots under the act.
 Requires all ballots to be received at the office of the board not later than 7:30 p.m. on
April 28 in order to be counted, but includes a ten-day grace period for ballots to arrive
by mail after that time, the same as under the permanent statute.
 Allows an absent voter or provisional voter to cure an incomplete ballot statement or
provide additional information, if required, not later than May 5.
 Requires the Secretary of State and the boards of elections to conduct all post-election
procedures by adding 42 days to the statutory deadlines (the number of days between
March 17 and April 28).
 Specifies that for the purpose of contribution limits that apply during a primary election
period, the primary election period ended on March 17.
 Extends the filing deadline for candidates and political entities to file their post-primary
campaign finance statements to 4:00 p.m. on June 5, 2020.
Purchasing and contracting requirements
 Suspends the state purchasing and contracting requirements, such as competitive
bidding, that otherwise would apply to the Secretary of State, to implement the act’s
election provisions.
 Requires the Secretary to file a report with the President of the Controlling Board
describing all purchases for which the Secretary did not follow the state purchasing and
contracting requirements.
Appropriation
 Appropriates $7 million to the Secretary of State in FY 2020 to pay for expenses related
to implementing the election provisions.
Unemployment compensation
 Specifies that, during the period of emergency declared by Executive Order 2020-01D,
dated March 9, 2020, but not beyond December 1, 2020, an individual is not disqualified
from receiving unemployment benefits if the individual is unable to work because of an
order issued by the individual’s employer, the Governor, or a state or local health
authority.
 Charges benefits paid to an individual who is unable to work due to an order described
above to the mutualized account, unless the benefits are chargeable to a reimbursing
employer.
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 Suspends, during the period described above, a requirement that an individual serve a
waiting period before receiving unemployment benefits.
 Allows the Director of Job and Family Services, during the period described above, to
waive the requirement that a person actively search for suitable work as a condition of
receiving unemployment benefits.
K-12 education
State assessments
 Exempts all public and chartered nonpublic schools from administering the state
achievement assessments for the 2019-2020 school year.
Report cards; sanctions and penalties
 Prohibits the Department of Education from publishing and issuing ratings for overall
grades, components, and individual measures on the state report cards and submitting
preliminary data for report cards for school districts and buildings.
 Establishes a safe harbor from penalties and sanctions for districts and schools based on
the absence of state report card grades for the 2019-2020 school year.
Third-grade reading guarantee
 Exempts schools from retaining a student under the third-grade reading guarantee
based solely on the student’s academic performance in reading in the 2019-2020 school
year, unless the student’s principal and reading teacher determine the student is not
reading at grade level and is not prepared for fourth grade.
High school graduation
 Permits public and nonpublic schools to grant a diploma to any student on track to
graduate and for whom the principal, in consultation with teachers and counselors,
determines has successfully completed the high school curriculum or individualized
education program at the time of the order to close schools.
 Permits a district or school that previously adopted a resolution to exceed the state
minimum high school curriculum requirements to elect to require only the minimum
curriculum for the purpose of determining high school graduation for the 2019-2020
school year.
 Declares the intent of the General Assembly that school districts and schools continue to
find ways to keep students actively engaged in learning opportunities for the remainder
of the school year and to grant needed in-person instructional experiences as soon as
reasonably possible.
Other education provisions
 Prohibits the use of the value-added progress dimension from the 2019-2020 school
year to measure student learning for teacher performance evaluations.
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 Prohibits use of certain components for community school sponsor ratings for the 2019-
2020 school year.
 Permits a district board of education to elect not to conduct evaluations of district
employees, including teachers, administrators, or a superintendent for the 2019-2020
school year, if the board determines that it would be impossible or impracticable to do
so.
 Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction to adjust deadlines for certain
annual requirements.
 Permits the Chancellor of Higher Education, in consultation with the state
Superintendent, to extend, waive, or otherwise modify requirements of the College
Credit Plus Program.
 Permits the state Superintendent to waive or extend deadlines, or otherwise grant
providers and students flexibility, for completion of adult education program
requirements.
 Permits the Department, on behalf of the State Board of Education, to issue one-year,
nonrenewable, provisional licenses to educators that have met all other requirements
for the requested license except for the requirement to pass a subject area exam.
Ed Choice performance-based scholarships
 Prohibits the Department of Education from generally awarding first-time, performance-
based Educational Choice (Ed Choice) scholarships for the 2020-2021 school year to
students who were newly eligible for those scholarships for that year.
 Requires the Department to continue awarding performance-based scholarships to
students who received them in the prior year and to award first-time scholarships to:
 Students with siblings who received those scholarships in the 2019-2020 school
year, if the students also meet other eligibility criteria;
 Students who were eligible for those scholarships for the 2019-2020 school year,
regardless of whether they received them, and who remain eligible for the 2020-
2021 school year; and
 Students, including those entering kindergarten or high school or recently relocated,
who did not receive a scholarship in the 2019-2020 school year, but are enrolled or
would be newly enrolled for the 2020-2021 school year in a district school building
that meets certain conditions.
 Specifies that performance-based scholarships for the 2020-2021 school year will be
financed through deductions from the students’ resident school districts.
Services to special needs students
 Permits nonclassroom personnel providing professional services to students with
disabilities, for the duration of the Director of Health’s order to close schools for the
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COVID-19 outbreak or until December 1, 2020, if the order or extension of the order has
not been rescinded, to provide services electronically or via telehealth communication.
Distance learning make up
 For the 2019-2020 school year, permits school districts, STEM schools, community
schools that are not internet- or computer-based schools (e-schools), and chartered
nonpublic schools to make up through distance learning any number of days or hours
necessary due to school closures for the COVID-19 outbreak.
Summer food programs
 Authorizes the Director of Agriculture, during the period of the emergency declared by
Executive Order 2020-01D, but not beyond December 1, 2020, to exempt a school or
other entity from regulation as a food processing establishment if:
 It has been issued a food service operation license; and
 It is transporting food only for purposes of the Seamless Summer Option Program or
the Summer Food Service Program (both programs are administered by the
U.S.D.A.).
Public water systems
 Authorizes the Director of Environmental Protection to issue an order to a public water
system that does any of the following:
 Requires the system to restore service to any customer whose service was
disconnected as a result of nonpayment of fees and charges;
 Requires it to waive all fees for connection or reconnection; or
 Prohibits it from disconnecting customers because of nonpayment of fees and
charges.
 Specifies that the order may be enforced under the Safe Drinking Water Law.
 Specifies that the order may be issued and is valid during the period of the emergency
declared by the Governor under Executive Order 2020-01D, but not beyond
December 1, 2020.
Temporary tax compliance relief
 Authorizes the Tax Commissioner, for the duration of the declared COVID-19 state of
emergency, to further extend state filing and payment deadlines on state taxes and fees
administered by the Commissioner, and suspends penalties on those delayed filings and
payments.
 Authorizes the Tax Commissioner to waive the accrual of interest on extended tax
payments.
 Authorizes the Commissioner to similarly extend filing and payment deadlines, suspend
penalties, and waive interest for municipal income taxes on the net profits of businesses
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that file those taxes with the Department of Taxation instead of with individual
municipalities.
 For municipal income tax purposes, treats income earned by an employee required to
work at a temporary worksite because of the emergency as being earned at the
employee’s principal place of work, potentially affecting the municipal income tax
withholding and liability of the employee and the employer.
Child day care
 Suspends child-to-staff ratios and maximum group sizes for licensed child day-care
centers during the COVID-19 emergency period, but not beyond December 1, 2020.
 Authorizes the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) to continue to pay
publicly funded child care providers during the COVID-19 emergency.
 Extends to September 1, 2020 (from July 1, 2020) the date by which providers of
publicly funded child care must be rated through the Step Up to Quality Program.
Medicaid COVID-19 community providers
 Authorizes the Medicaid Director, during the COVID-19 emergency period, but not
beyond December 1, 2020, to classify certain Medicaid providers as COVID-19
community providers and to transfer, or request transfer of, funds to pay those
providers.
 Appropriates the transferred funds.
Nurses
 Authorizes the Board of Nursing, during the period of the COVID-19 emergency, to issue
certain temporary nursing licenses without the otherwise required licensure
examinations.
 Permanently grants certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) authority to select,
order, and administer drugs, treatments, and intravenous fluids for conditions related to
the administration of anesthesia, but only during specified time periods and in
accordance with a health care facility’s required policy.
 Permits a CRNA to direct nurses and respiratory therapists to perform specified tasks,
including administering drugs, in certain circumstances.
 Authorizes a CRNA to perform additional activities or services, including ordering and
evaluating diagnostic tests.
 Allows a supervising practitioner or health care facility to prohibit a CRNA from
performing an activity or service authorized by the act if the supervising practitioner or
facility determines that is not in a patient’s best interest for the CRNA to do so.
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Deadline, license extensions
 Temporarily extends continuing law deadlines with which a state agency must comply,
and deadlines with which a licensee must comply to maintain a valid license, that occur
during the emergency declared by Executive Order 2020-01D, until the earlier of 90 days
after the emergency ends or December 1, 2020.
 Allows a license that would otherwise expire during the emergency to remain valid until
the earlier of 90 days after the emergency ends or December 1, 2020, unless it is
otherwise subject to discipline or limitation for reasons unrelated to a licensee’s delay in
taking action to maintain the license’s validity during the deadline extension.
 Extends expiration dates that apply to concealed handgun licenses scheduled to expire
during the emergency, until the earlier of 90 days after the scheduled expiration or
December 1, 2020.
 Excludes from the act’s deadline extensions an individual who has a duty to register or
enroll as a violent offender, arson offender, or sex offender.
