OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
S.B. 234 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for S.B. 234’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Reported by House Public Health Policy
Primary Sponsor: Sen. Gavarone
Effective date:
Elizabeth Molnar, Attorney
SUMMARY
Food Allergy Awareness Month and Lupus Awareness Month
▪ Designates May as Food Allergy Awareness Month and as Lupus Awareness Month.
Law enforcement agencies and epinephrine autoinjectors
▪ Authorizes a law enforcement agency or other entity served by peace officers to acquire
and maintain epinephrine autoinjectors.
▪ Permits an employee or agent of such an agency or entity to administer epinephrine,
using an autoinjector, to an individual believed in good faith to be experiencing
anaphylaxis, but only if the employee or agent is designated by the agency or entity and
satisfies certain training requirements.
National Suicide Lifeline telephone number
▪ Requires schools and higher education institutions to include the National Suicide and
Crisis Lifeline telephone number, 988, on student identification cards, student planners,
and electronic portals.
▪ Clarifies that this requirement is limited to those the school provides or issues after the
act’s effective date and that the school may continue to use identification cards and
planners that were printed before the act’s effective date.
 This analysis was prepared before the report of the House Public Health Policy Committee appeared in
the House Journal. Note that the legislative history may be incomplete.
December 11, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Information on declarations for mental health treatment
▪ Requires institutions of higher education to provide information about declarations for
mental health treatment as part of the institution’s student orientation, onboarding, or
transfer materials and programs.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Food Allergy Awareness Month and Lupus Awareness Month
The bill designates May as Food Allergy Awareness Month and as Lupus Awareness
Month.1
Law enforcement agencies and epinephrine autoinjectors
The bill authorizes a law enforcement agency or other entity served by peace officers to
do both of the following:
▪ Acquire and maintain a supply of epinephrine autoinjectors;
▪ Permit its designated employees or agents, which may include peace officers, who meet
certain training requirements to administer epinephrine using an autoinjector to an
individual believed in good faith to be experiencing anaphylaxis or to provide, for
immediate administration, an epinephrine autoinjector to an individual believed in good
faith to be experiencing anaphylaxis or to the individual’s parent, guardian, or caregiver.2
In granting this authority, the bill includes law enforcement agencies and other entities
served by peace officers in the existing law authorizing qualified entities to (1) acquire and
maintain supplies of epinephrine autoinjectors and (2) designate certain trained individuals, in
cases of anaphylaxis, to administer epinephrine using autoinjectors and to provide epinephrine
autoinjectors to others.3
For purposes of the bill, a law enforcement agency or other entity is limited to an agency
or entity described in the bill’s definition of peace officer.4
Note on qualified entities
The bill revises the definition of qualified entity, which under current law specifically
excludes several types of schools, to clarify that those schools are otherwise authorized under
separate statutory law to procure epinephrine autoinjectors and use them in emergency
situations.5
1 R.C. 5.2539 and 5.56.
2 R.C. 3728.01. See also R.C. 109.71, 3728.03, 3728.04, and 3728.05, not in the bill.
3 R.C. 3728.01(D)(2).
4 R.C. 3728.01. See also R.C. 109.71.
5 R.C. 3728.01(D)(1). See also R.C. 3313.7110, 3313.7111, 3314.143, 3326.28, and 3328.29, not in the bill.
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Types of peace officers
Under the bill, a peace officer means any of the following individuals whose primary
duties are to preserve the peace, protect life and property, and enforce state and local laws: a
sheriff, deputy sheriff, marshal, deputy marshal, member of the organized police department of
a township or municipal corporation, member of a township police district or joint police district
force, member of a police force employed by a metropolitan housing authority, or township
constable who is commissioned and employed as a peace officer by a political subdivision or
metropolitan housing authority.6
A peace officer also includes any of 24 other types of individuals, including the following:
a member of a campus police department; a member of a regional transit authority police force;
a State Fire Marshal law enforcement officer; a gaming agent; an employee of the State Board of
Pharmacy designated by its Executive Director to investigate violations of Ohio’s drug laws; a
police officer employed by a railroad company, bank, or hospital and appointed and
commissioned by the Secretary of State; employees of the Ohio Department of Taxation engaged
in the enforcement of Ohio’s tax law and designated by the Tax Commissioner; an undercover
drug agent; and enforcement agents of the Ohio Department of Public Safety designated by the
Director of Public Safety.7
Anaphylaxis training - background
Under current law unchanged by the bill, the anaphylaxis training required for individuals
designated by qualified entities to administer epinephrine may be (1) provided by individuals,
organizations, or classes approved by the Department of Health or (2) conducted by nationally
recognized organizations with experience in providing training in emergency health care to
individuals who are not health care professionals.
The required training may be completed in person or online and must address all of the
following topics:
▪ Ways of recognizing the signs and symptoms of severe allergic reactions, including
anaphylaxis;
▪ Standards and procedures for administration of epinephrine and storage of epinephrine
autoinjectors;
▪ Emergency follow-up procedures.8
National Suicide Lifeline telephone number
The bill requires schools and higher education institutions to include the National Suicide
and Crisis Lifeline telephone number, 988, or its successor, on certain items and electronic
portals. More specifically, each city, local, and exempted village school district and chartered
6 R.C. 109.71(A)(1), not in the bill.
7 R.C. 109.71(A), not in the bill.
8 R.C. 3728.04, not in the bill.
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nonpublic school serving any of grades nine through twelve must include the telephone number
on all of the following, if provided or used by the school:
▪ Each student identification card issued after the bill’s effective date;
▪ Each planner issued to a student after the bill’s effective date;
▪ Any electronic portal administered by the district or school that may be accessed by
students.9
Each state institution of higher education and each private college must include the
telephone number on each student identification card issued after the bill’s effective date and
on any electronic portal administered by the state institution or private college that may be
accessed by the students, if provided or used by the institution or college.10
The bill also clarifies that each of these schools may issue or provide student identification
cards or planners that do not include the telephone number if the items were printed before the
bill’s effective date.11 This applies even if the card or planner is issued after the bill’s effective
date.
Finally, the bill makes conforming changes in existing law regarding certain schools to
reflect this new requirement, as described below:
R.C. Section Description
R.C. 3313.03(A)(11)(d) Specifies provisions that must be included in each contract
entered into between a sponsor and the governing authority
of a community school (often referred to as a “charter
school”), which includes a provision that the school must
comply with the bill’s requirement.
R.C. 3326.11 Requires each science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics school and its governing body to comply with
the bill’s requirement.
R.C. 3328.24 Requires each college preparatory boarding school and its
board of trustees to comply with the bill’s requirement.
Information on declarations for mental health treatment
The bill requires each institution of higher education to provide new students and the
students’ parents or guardians information about declarations for mental health treatment as
part of the state institution’s student orientation, onboarding, or transfer materials and
9 R.C. 3313.473.
10 R.C. 3345.37(D) and 3345.371.
11 Section 3.
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programs. Under existing law, an adult (declarant) who has the capacity to consent to mental
health treatment decisions may execute a declaration governing the use or continuation, or the
withholding or withdrawal, of mental health treatment. The declarant may designate a person to
act as a proxy to make decisions regarding mental health treatment pursuant to the declaration.
A state institution must provide information on how to access and execute a declaration and
considerations to determine whether a declaration would be beneficial to a student. The bill also
requires the Chancellor of Higher Education, in collaboration with the Director of Mental Health
and Addiction Services, to create a standard information sheet that institutions may use to
convey this information.12
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 03-05-24
Reported, S. Health 06-26-24
Passed Senate (31-0) 06-26-24
Reported, H. Public Health Policy ---
ANSB0234RH-135/ar
12 R.C. 3345.87; R.C. 2135.02, not in the bill.
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