OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 238 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 238’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Reported by Senate Government Oversight
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Fowler Arthur and Klopfenstein
Effective date:
Kelly Bomba, Attorney
TABLE OF CONTENTS
OCCUPATIONAL REGULATION REVIEW................................................................................... 3
General provisions .......................................................................................................................... 3
General Assembly review ............................................................................................................ 3
LSC review ................................................................................................................................... 4
Renewal of occupational licensing boards .................................................................................. 5
Continuing education – prohibited topics................................................................................... 5
Accountancy Board ......................................................................................................................... 6
Requirements to obtain a certified public account certificate ................................................... 6
Interstate CPA mobility ............................................................................................................... 8
Department of Agriculture ............................................................................................................. 8
Agricultural commodity tester .................................................................................................... 9
Internet sales exemption from auction laws .............................................................................. 9
Architects Board............................................................................................................................ 10
Architects Board ........................................................................................................................ 10
Casino Control Commission .......................................................................................................... 10
Key employee license application fee ....................................................................................... 10
“Key employee” definition ........................................................................................................ 11
Department of Commerce ............................................................................................................ 11
Division of Industrial Compliance .............................................................................................. 11
 This analysis was prepared before the report of the Senate Government Oversight Committee
appeared in the Senate Journal. Note that the legislative history may be incomplete.
December 11, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing ................................................................... 12
Division of Industrial Compliance .............................................................................................. 13
Backflow technicians ............................................................................................................ 13
Boiler and pressure vessel inspectors .................................................................................. 13
Steam engineers and boiler operators ................................................................................. 13
Manufactured home installers ............................................................................................. 13
Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing ................................................................... 14
Real estate broker education ............................................................................................... 14
Real estate salesperson education ....................................................................................... 14
Real estate broker and salesperson eligible courses ........................................................... 15
Real estate appraisers .......................................................................................................... 15
State Cosmetology and Barber Board........................................................................................... 16
Practice of natural hair styling .................................................................................................. 16
Boutique services registration .................................................................................................. 17
Board of Nursing ........................................................................................................................... 17
Doulas ........................................................................................................................................ 17
Use of title – certified doulas ............................................................................................... 17
Doula Advisory Group........................................................................................................... 18
Multistate nursing licenses ....................................................................................................... 18
Employer reporting............................................................................................................... 18
Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission ..................................................................................... 18
Jail support staff ........................................................................................................................ 18
Department of Public Safety ......................................................................................................... 19
Private investigation and security services licenses ................................................................. 19
Department of Public Safety – Bureau of Motor Vehicles ........................................................... 20
Motor vehicle sales and auction licenses .................................................................................. 20
State Racing Commission .............................................................................................................. 20
State Racing Commission licenses............................................................................................. 21
Retained and eliminated licenses ............................................................................................. 21
OHIO HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY ....................................................................................... 22
Ohio Housing Finance Agency membership ................................................................................. 22
BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS – SUNSET REVIEW .................................................................. 23
Boards and commissions – Sunset Review ................................................................................... 24
Definition of agency .................................................................................................................. 24
Abolition of specific agencies ....................................................................................................... 24
Renewal of specific agencies ........................................................................................................ 27
P a g e |2 H.B. 238
As Reported by Senate Government Oversight
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Early Childhood Advisory Council .............................................................................................. 34
State Dental Board .................................................................................................................... 34
Repeal of Ohio’s suspended health care programs .................................................................. 34
Agencies exempt from future review and sunset ..................................................................... 35
Agencies with a purpose related to federal law................................................................... 35
Ohio Environmental Education Fund Advisory Council ............................................................ 36
Ohio violent death reporting system ........................................................................................ 36
Ohio Medical Quality Foundation ............................................................................................. 36
OCCUPATIONAL REGULATION REVIEW
General provisions
▪ Expands the definition of “occupational licensing board” for purposes of the General
Assembly’s statutorily required review of those boards to include boards that issue
certifications and business licenses that require an applicant to satisfy a personal
qualification.
▪ Requires that an occupational licensing board be triggered to expire on December 31 of
the sixth year after it was created or last renewed, rather than on that date or on
December 31, 2024, whichever is later, as under current law.
▪ Expands the scope of the Legislative Service Commission’s (LSC) statutorily required
review of occupational regulations to include business licenses that require an applicant
to satisfy a personal qualification.
▪ Clarifies that LSC shall continue to issue reports regarding all occupations subject to
regulation by the state, including business licenses that require the applicant to satisfy a
personal qualification, after January 1, 2025.
▪ Renews for six years the occupational licensing boards reviewed this biennium by the
House State and Local Government committee.
▪ Prohibits an occupational licensing board from adopting, providing, approving for credit,
counting for credit, or requiring completion of continuing education curriculum or
coursework, seminars, webinars, or online instruction that promote specified concepts
related to protected class membership.
General Assembly review
The bill expands the definition of “occupational licensing board” for purposes of the
General Assembly’s statutorily required review of those boards to include boards that issue
certifications and business licenses that require an applicant to satisfy a personal qualification.
A “certification” is a voluntary program in which a private organization or the state grants
nontransferable recognition to an individual who meets personal qualifications established by
the private organization or state law. “Personal qualification” means criteria related to an
P a g e |3 H.B. 238
As Reported by Senate Government Oversight
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
applicant’s personal background and characteristics including completion of an approved
educational program, satisfactory performance on an examination, work experience, other
evidence of attainment of requisite skills or knowledge, moral standing, criminal history, and
completion of continuing education. However, the term “personal qualification” does not
include a requirement that an owner or controlling persons of a business submit to a criminal
records check or meet requirements related to criminal history or moral standing, unless that
owner or controlling person is the applicant.1
Under continuing law, The House of Representatives and the Senate must review one-
third of the state’s occupational licensing boards each biennium – including all boards that are
scheduled to expire at the end of the biennium. The bill requires that an occupational licensing
board be triggered for expiration on December 31 of the sixth year after it was created or last
renewed by an act of the General Assembly, rather than on that date or on December 31, 2024,
whichever is later, as under current law.
Under current law, an “occupational licensing board” for purposes of the General
Assembly’s review is a board, commission, committee, council, or any other similar public body,
agency, division, or office of state government that issues one or more occupational licenses.
Current law defines an “occupational license” as a nontransferable authorization in law that an
individual must possess to perform a lawful occupation for compensation based on meeting
personal qualifications established by law.2
LSC review
Similarly, the bill expands the scope of the Legislative Service Commission’s (LSC)
statutorily required review of occupational regulations to include business licenses that require
an applicant to satisfy a personal qualification. The bill also clarifies that LSC must continue to
issue reports regarding all occupations subject to regulation by the state, including business
licenses that require the applicant to satisfy a personal qualification, after January 1, 2025.3
Current law requires LSC, over a six-year period including calendar years 2019 through
2024, to publish a biennial report comparing one-third of the state’s occupational regulations
with the general state policy outlined in continuing law. For purposes of the law governing LSC’s
review, the term “occupational regulation” is defined as a statute or rule that controls an
individual’s practice of a trade or profession.4
1 R.C. 101.62.
2 R.C. 101.62 and R.C. 101.63 and 4798.01, not in the bill.
3 R.C. 103.27.
4 R.C. 103.27 and R.C. 103.26, not in the bill.
P a g e |4 H.B. 238
As Reported by Senate Government Oversight
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Renewal of occupational licensing boards
The bill renews for six years the occupational licensing boards that were reviewed by
the House State and Local Government Committee during the 135th General Assembly.5 Those
boards are as follows:
▪ The Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission;
▪ The State Cosmetology and Barber Board;
▪ The Accountancy Board;
▪ The Department of Agriculture;
▪ The Architects Board;
▪ The Ohio Landscape Architects Board;
▪ The Ohio Casino Control Commission;
▪ The following divisions within the Department of Commerce:
 Division of Financial Institutions;
 Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing;
 Division of Industrial Compliance; and
 Division of Unclaimed Funds.
▪ The Department of Public Safety;
▪ The Department of Public Safety Bureau of Motor Vehicles;
▪ The State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors;
▪ The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services;
▪ The State Racing Commission;
▪ The Secretary of State;
▪ The Motor Vehicle Repair Board.6
Continuing education – prohibited topics
The bill prohibits an occupational licensing board from adopting, providing, approving
for credit, counting for credit, or requiring completion of continuing education curriculum or
5 Section 4.
6 See the House State and Local Government Committee Occupational License Review Report (PDF) and
the Senate Government Oversight Committee Occupational Licensure Review Report (PDF), which are
available on the respective committee’s pages on the General Assembly’s website: legislature.ohio.gov.
P a g e |5 H.B. 238
As Reported by Senate Government Oversight
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
coursework, seminars, webinars, or online instruction that promotes any of the following
concepts:
▪ An individual of a protected class is inherently superior or inferior to another protected
class, and members of a protected class should be discriminated against solely or partly
because of the individual’s membership in a protected class.
▪ An individual, by virtue of the individual’s membership in a protected class, is inherently
racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.
▪ An individual’s moral standing or worth is necessarily determined by the individual’s
membership in any protected class.
▪ An individual, by virtue of the individual’s membership in any protected class, bears
responsibility for the actions committed in the past by other members of the same
protected class.
▪ Meritocracy or traits such as hard work ethic are racist or sexist, or were created by
individuals of a particular protected class to oppress members of another protected
class.
For purposes of the bill’s prohibition, “protected class” means an individual’s race, color,
religion, sex, milita