OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 87 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 87’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Passed by the House
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Santucci and Demetriou
Effective date:
Abby McMahon, Attorney
SUMMARY
 Prohibits state agencies and political subdivisions from purchasing a U.S. flag or an Ohio
flag that is not made in the U.S.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Flags made in the U.S.
The bill prohibits state agencies and political subdivisions from using public funds to
purchase a U.S. flag or an Ohio flag that is not made in the U.S.
The bill defines a state agency as “any organized body, office, agency, institution, or
other entity established by the laws of the state for the exercise of any function of state
government.” It defines a political subdivision as “a county, township, municipal corporation, or
any other body corporate and politic that is responsible for government activities in a
geographic area smaller than that of the state.”1
Current flag purchases
Existing law requires all state agencies wanting to purchase supplies to buy them from
Ohio Penal Industries (OPI), operated by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, if
they are available from OPI. Inmates at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, which is located in
Marysville, have been manufacturing flags for OPI since 1926.2 As a result, state agencies must
purchase their flags from OPI. This requirement does not apply to political subdivisions.
1 R.C. 125.036.
2 R.C. 125.035(B)(1), not in the bill, and Ohio Penal Industries, Flags and Patches, available at
opi.ohio.gov under “Products and Services.”
July 3, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
The bill requires state agencies to continue purchasing U.S.-made flags if OPI ever stops
making them, and also requires political subdivisions to purchase U.S.-made flags, although not
necessarily from OPI.
Political subdivisions
Current law does not impose similar purchasing standards on political subdivisions. The
Home Rule provision of the Ohio Constitution gives municipalities and chartered counties the
power of local self-government, which is the right to govern and administer their own internal
affairs, so long as they do not infringe on matters of general and statewide concern. If a local
ordinance qualifies as an exercise of local self-government, the state generally cannot override
the ordinance.3
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 03-01-23
Reported, H. Government Oversight 03-29-23
Passed House (95-1) 06-26-24
ANHB0087PH-135/ar
3Ohio Constitution, Article X, Section 3 and Article XVIII, Section 3. Beachwood v. Board of Elections of
Cuyahoga County, 167 Ohio St. 369, 371 (1958) and State ex rel.
Evans v. Moore, 69 Ohio St.2d 88, 89-90 (1982).
P a g e |2 H.B. 87
As Passed by the House