OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
S.B. 166 Final Analysis
134th General Assembly
Click here for S.B. 166’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Passed by the General Assembly
Primary Sponsor: Sen. Reineke
Effective date: March 23, 2022; changes to the Commercial Truck Driver Student Aid Program,
emergency, effective December 22, 2021
Effective Date:
Zachary P. Bowerman, Attorney UPDATED VERSION
Christopher Edwards, Attorney
Mike Niemi, Research Analyst
Mitchell Smith, Research Analyst
SUMMARY
CAREER-TECHNICAL EDUCATION
Funding for career-technical education programs
Student Pathways for Career Success Grant Program
Requires the Department of Education to establish the Student Pathways for Career
Success Grant Program to provide grants to career-technical planning district (CTPD)
lead districts and Ohio technical centers to improve or expand career-technical
programs that meet workforce needs.
Career awareness and exploration funds
Requires the Department to pay career awareness and explorations funds directly to
each CTPD lead district, rather than deducting and transferring those funds from the
CTPD member districts and schools to the lead district, as under former law.
Requires each CTPD lead district to use those funds to deliver relevant career awareness
and exploration programs to students within the CTPD, rather than disbursing the funds
to member districts and schools upon receiving a plan for the use of the funds from
them, as under prior law.
This version corrects a typographical error in a citation.
February 7, 2022
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Operation of career-technical programs
Driver’s education courses and licenses
Eliminates the prohibition against a student receiving course credit toward graduation
for completing a driver’s education course conducted by a school district.
Permits a student who completes a driver’s education course offered by the student’s
district of attendance, or an agency or organization the district contracts with, to earn
up to one-half unit of high school elective course credit or up to two points toward an
industry-recognized credential.
Permits a CTPD to use a portion of its state career-technical funds to make a driver’s
education course available to students in the district.
Career-technical digital learning
Permits approved career-technical education programs to provide remote or digital
learning opportunities to students on a full-time or hybrid basis to the extent
practicable.
State report card post-secondary readiness
Permits a student to demonstrate post-secondary readiness on the state report card by
earning an OhioMeansJobs-readiness seal and completing 250 hours of a work-based
learning experience aligned to the student’s approved career-technical pathway.
Employer incentives and tax credit
Financial incentives for work-based learning experiences
Requires the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation, the Department, the
Chancellor of Higher Education, and JobsOhio to create a program that establishes
financial incentives for Ohio businesses to provide work-based learning experiences to
students in approved career-technical programs.
Employers Providing Work-Based Learning Pilot Program
Creates the Employers Providing Work-Based Learning Pilot Program, which requires the
Administrator of Workers’ Compensation to adopt a rule to prohibit charging any
amount against an employer’s experience for a workers’ compensation claim if the
employer provides work-based learning experiences for career-technical education
program students and the claim is based on a student’s injury.
Exempts from Ohio’s Minor Labor Law a student who is participating in an employer’s
work-based learning experience under the program.
Ends the program March 23, 2024 (two years after the program’s effective date).
Income tax credit: career-technical program employers
Authorizes a nonrefundable income tax credit for employers equal to 15% of the wages
paid to a student participating in a career-technical education program.
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Limits the total amount of credits that may be issued in any fiscal biennium to $5 million
and the total amount that may be issued per year to any employer to $5,000 per
student.
Compensation of JVSDs in community reinvestment areas
Requires a joint vocational school district (JVSD) to receive similar compensation as a
city, local, or exempted village school district when the latter negotiates such an
agreement with respect to a commercial or industrial project subject to a community
reinvestment area tax exemption.
OTHER PROVISIONS
Northeast Ohio Medical University
Permits the Northeast Ohio Medical University’s treasurer to provide insurance for
faithful performance of duties, in lieu of a bond.
Adds the University to the definition of “state university,” as used in several provisions
of continuing law.
Commercial Truck Driver Student Aid Program
Requires a student to be enrolled in either of the following to participate in the
Commercial Truck Driver Student Aid Program(CTDSAP):
A commercial driver training school licensed by the Director of Public Safety; or
A program operated by an institution of higher education or a career-technical
center that is exempted from licensure, but is approved by the Director and
Chancellor for CTDSAP’s purposes.
Revises the Chancellor’s duties in operating the program.
American Medical Technologists
Allows a dental assistant who is certified by the American Medical Technologists, in
addition to meeting other continuing law requirements, to perform additional dental
services.
Makes an individual who is certified by the American Medical Technologists eligible to
receive a dental x-ray machine operator certificate and, if the individual is a dental
assistant, eligible to take the examination to practice as an expanded function dental
auxiliary.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Funding for career-technical education programs ......................................................................... 5
Student Pathways for Career Success Grant Program ................................................................ 5
Career awareness and exploration funds ................................................................................... 5
Operation of career-technical programs ........................................................................................ 6
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Driver’s education courses and licenses ..................................................................................... 6
Career-technical digital learning ................................................................................................. 6
State report card post-secondary readiness ............................................................................... 6
Employer incentives and tax credit ................................................................................................ 7
Financial incentives for work-based learning experiences ......................................................... 7
Employers Providing Work-Based Learning Pilot Program ......................................................... 7
Workers’ compensation experience ...................................................................................... 7
Minor labor laws ..................................................................................................................... 8
Income tax credit: career-technical program employers ........................................................... 9
Compensation of JVSDs in community reinvestment areas ........................................................... 9
Northeast Ohio Medical University .............................................................................................. 10
Treasurer insurance................................................................................................................... 10
Definition of “state university” ................................................................................................. 10
Application ............................................................................................................................ 10
Commercial Truck Driver Student Aid Program ........................................................................... 12
Eligibility .................................................................................................................................... 12
Awards ....................................................................................................................................... 13
Promissory note ........................................................................................................................ 14
Chancellor duties ....................................................................................................................... 14
American Medical Technologists .................................................................................................. 14
DETAILED ANALYSIS
CAREER-TECHNICAL EDUCATION
The act addresses career-technical education in several ways. It establishes a grant
program for career-technical planning districts (CTPDs) and Ohio Technical Centers (OTCs). It
also revises the law regarding the funding and operation of career-technical education
programs. Finally, it provides several incentives and a tax credit to employers who provide
work-based learning experiences to students.
Each city, local, and exempted village school district must provide a career-technical
education to its students in grades 7-12. The Department of Education has organized the
delivery of career-technical education throughout the state based on CTPDs. Each CTPD is
either a joint vocational school district, a comprehensive career-technical program operated by
a single school district (usually a larger city school district), or a contract arrangement among
several districts. Each community school and STEM school also is assigned to a CTPD. In each
case, the Department designates one of the participating districts assigned to a CTPD as the
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“lead district.” A lead district is charged with coordinating services within the CTPD.1 OTCs are
career technical centers that provide adult education and are recognized by the Chancellor of
Higher Education.2 Most, if not all, of the state’s CTPDs are also OTCs.
Funding for career-technical education programs
Student Pathways for Career Success Grant Program
The act requires the Department of Education to establish the Student Pathways for
Career Success Grant Program. Under the program, the Department must provide grants to
CTPD lead districts and OTCs to improve or expand career-technical education programming
that meets state or regional workforce needs.
The State Board of Education must adopt rules to administer the program. Those rules
must address:
1. Grant eligibility requirements;
2. Grant applications forms and procedures, including reapplication procedures; and
3. Any other rules the State Board considers necessary for the program’s operation.
The State Board’s rules may prioritize awarding grants for career-technical education
programs that prepare students for occupations listed as “in-demand” under continuing law.3
Career awareness and exploration funds
The act revises how state career awareness and explorations funds are paid and used
for FYs 2022 and 2023. It requires the Department to pay each CTPD lead district an amount
equal to the sum of the enrolled ADM of all school districts, community schools, and STEM
schools in the CTPD multiplied by the prescribed amount ($2.50 for FY 2022 and $5 for
FY 2023). The lead district must use those funds to deliver relevant career awareness and
exploration programs to all students within the CTPD in a manner consistent with the CTPD’s
plan on file with the Department.
Under former law, the Department was required to pay each district or school an
amount equal to the district or school’s enrolled ADM multiplied by the prescribed amount
(shown above). However, that amount was deducted from the district or school and, instead,
credited to the lead district of the district or school’s CTPD. A district or school then had to
provide the lead district with a plan for the use of the funds that was consistent with the CTPD’s
plan on file with the Department. After the lead district received that plan, it was required to
disburse funds to the district or school.4
1 R.C. 3313.90, 3317.023(A), and 3317.161, none in the act.
2 R.C. 3333.94, not in the act.
3 R.C. 3303.07. See also R.C. 6301.11, not in the act.
4 R.C. 3317.014(E) and (H). See also R.C. 3317.023(I), not in the act.
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Operation of career-technical programs
Driver’s education courses and licenses
The act eliminates the prohibition against a student receiving course credit toward high
school graduation for completing a driver’s education course conducted by a school district.
Instead, it permits a student who completes a driver’s education course offered by the district,
or any agency or organization with which the district contracts, to earn:
1. Up to one-half unit of high school elective course credit; or
2. Up to two points toward an industry-recognized credential.5
The act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s industry-recognized
credentials and licenses committee to update its list of credentials and licenses used to satisfy
high school graduation requirements to include a driver’s license obtained through a
district-offered course.6
Finally, the act permits a CTPD to use a portion of the state career-technical funds it
receives to make a driver’s education course available to high school students.7 Continuing law,
unaffected by the act, permits a school district to require students enrolled in the district’s
driver’s education course to pay a course fee not to exceed the actual cost per pupil for
providing driver education.8
Career-technical digital learning
The act requires the State Board to permit approved career-technical education
programs to provide remote or digital learning opportunities to students on a full-time or
hybrid basis to the extent practicable.9
State report card post-secondary readiness
The act adds a way for a student to demonstrate readiness for the state report card’s
post-secondary readiness measure. It permits a student to do so by earning an OhioMeansJobs-
readiness seal and completing 250 hours of an internship or work-based learning experience
aligned to the student’s career-technical education pathway. The act requires the career-
technical pathway to be approved by the Department of Education.
5 R.C. 3301.17(B) and (C).
6 R.C. 3313.6113(B)(4).
7 R.C. 3301.17(D).
8 See R.C. 3301.171, not in the act.
9 R.C. 3313.906. The act originally codified this provision as R.C. 3313.905. The LSC Director has
designated it as R.C. 3313.906 (PDF) as authorized by R.C 103.131. The designation is posted among the
documents for S.B. 166 on the General Assembly’s website, legislature.ohio.gov, via the link,
“Codification Number Change.”
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