OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 16 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 16’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsor: Rep. Merrin
Effective date:
Emily E. Wendel, Attorney
SUMMARY
 Enacts the Ethics and Financial Disclosure Reform Act to make several changes to the
laws governing ethics for public officials and employees and reporting requirements for
lobbyists.
Statewide elected officials’ service on corporate boards
 Prohibits a statewide elected official from receiving compensation or other payment for
serving on the board of directors of a corporation, with certain exceptions.
 Requires a statewide elected official who receives compensation for board service to
include certain information in the official’s annual financial disclosure statement (FDS)
filed under the Ethics Law.
 Requires the Ohio Ethics Commission (OEC) to fine an official who violates that
prohibition in an amount equal to the illegally received compensation.
Public Utilities Commission nominees
 Requires every nominee who is submitted to the Governor for possible appointment to
the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) first to submit a disclosure statement
about the nominee’s business relationships and ties to entities regulated by PUCO.
 Requires the statement to be made available to the public online by the time the
nominee is submitted to the Governor.
 Provides for the OEC to enforce the new PUCO disclosure requirements.
Public officials’ financial disclosure statements
Contents of FDS
 Changes the list of family members a filer must name in an FDS to exclude minor
children and to include a spouse who does not live with the filer.
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 Modifies the requirement that a filer disclose the filer’s sources of income by doing all of
the following:
 Allows the filer to identify the source of rental income from residential property by
the address of the property, the name of the tenant, or both.
 Requires the filer to include a brief description of the nature of the filer’s business, if
the filer receives business income.
 Clarifies that a filer is not required to disclose income derived by and received in the
name of the filer’s spouse that is not clearly designated for the use and benefit of
the filer.
 Modifies the income ranges that General Assembly members must use to report the
amount received from each source of income.
 Makes changes to the creditor and debtor information a filer must disclose, including
adding exceptions for debts that were paid in full within 60 days.
 Adds a definition of “gift” for purposes of the requirement that a filer disclose the
source of certain gifts and excludes certain items from that definition.
 Specifies that the source of payment for food and beverages served at certain events is
exempt from disclosure only if the food and beverages are intended for consumption at
the event.
 Eliminates a requirement that an FDS include a list of the expenditures the filer received
from lobbyists.
Filing an amended FDS
 Creates a process to file an amended FDS to correct errors.
Elimination of post-employment disclosure
 Eliminates a requirement that a former state elected officer or staff member who was
an FDS filer continue to file disclosure statements with certain information for two years
after leaving the filer’s service or employment.
Public access to FDS
 Requires the OEC to publish on its official website each FDS filed by a person who holds
or is a candidate for an elected office, beginning with FDS filed for 2025.
 Requires those statements also to include a link to the Secretary of State’s campaign
finance database.
Lobbying
Definition of lobbyist
 Defines a legislative lobbyist (legislative agent) as a person for whom lobbying
constitutes at least 5% of the total performance time for which the person is
compensated by a specific employer.
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 Defines an executive agency lobbyist as a person for whom lobbying constitutes at least
25% of the total performance time for which the person is compensated by a specific
employer.
 Defines a retirement system lobbyist as a person for whom lobbying constitutes at least
25% of the total performance time for which the person is compensated by a specific
employer.
Disclosure of lobbyist compensation
 Requires lobbyists and their employers to disclose the amounts employers paid for
lobbying activity.
 Requires an employer to disclose the total amounts it paid to lobbyists of each type as
compensation for lobbying on the employer’s behalf or as reimbursement for expenses
incurred while lobbying on the employer’s behalf.
 Requires generally that a lobbyist or lobbying firm disclose the total amount received
from the employer as compensation for lobbying on the employer’s behalf or as
reimbursement for expenses incurred while lobbying on the employer’s behalf.
Food and beverage expenditures
 Clarifies that a lobbyist must report the total expenditures made for food and beverages
at certain exempt events, but is not required to itemize the expenditures by naming the
guests.
 Clarifies that food and beverages served at those exempt events are exempt only if they
are intended for consumption at the event.
Disputed expenditures and financial transactions
 Requires a lobbyist to postpone filing a statement that contains a disputed expenditure
or financial transaction until the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee (JLEC) resolves the
dispute, instead of postponing only the reporting of that particular expenditure or
transaction.
Duplicative statements
 Allows a lobbyist to refrain from reporting an item if the lobbyist’s employer reports it.
Public access to lobbying information
 Explicitly requires JLEC to publish lobbying statements on its official website, which it
currently does.
 Requires that, beginning January 1, 2025, those statements also include a link to the
Secretary of State’s campaign finance database.
 Eliminates a requirement that JLEC distribute lists of registered lobbyists and employers
to certain public officials, but still requires JLEC to produce those lists and make them
available.
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 Eliminates a requirement that JLEC maintain a list of all executive agencies and make it
available to the public upon request, and requires the Ohio Ethics Commission (OEC) to
do so instead.
Lobbyist registration schedule
 Synchronizes the registration periods for executive agency and retirement system
lobbyists with the current registration periods for legislative lobbyists by making all
registration periods coincide with a legislative biennium.
Elimination of General Assembly revolving door law
 Eliminates a provision of law that prohibited a former member or employee of the
General Assembly, for one year after leaving office, from representing any person, other
than a state agency or political subdivision, on any matter before the General Assembly
or the Controlling Board, as that law has been ruled unconstitutional.
BCII enforcement assistance
 Specifies that the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCII) may assist
the OEC and JLEC in investigating violations of the Ethics Law, upon request.
Technical changes
Supreme Court Board of Professional Conduct
 Updates several references to the Supreme Court Board of Commissioners on
Grievances and Discipline to refer to the Board of Professional Conduct, which is that
entity’s current name.
Changes for readability
 Makes a number of wording and organizational changes to the Ethics and Lobbying Law
in an effort to make the law easier to read, without changing the substance of the law.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Statewide elected officials’ service on corporate boards............................................................... 5
Public Utilities Commission nominees ............................................................................................ 7
Public officials’ financial disclosure statements (FDS) .................................................................... 8
Contents of FDS ........................................................................................................................... 8
Immediate family.................................................................................................................... 8
Income .................................................................................................................................... 8
Investments and corporate relationships (unchanged) ....................................................... 10
Real property in Ohio (unchanged) ...................................................................................... 10
Creditors ............................................................................................................................... 10
Debtors ................................................................................................................................. 10
Gifts....................................................................................................................................... 11
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Travel in connection with official duties (unchanged) ......................................................... 12
Food and beverages in connection with official duties........................................................ 12
Lobbyist expenditures .......................................................................................................... 12
Reduced disclosure requirements under continuing law ......................................................... 13
Filing an amended FDS .............................................................................................................. 13
Elimination of post-employment disclosure ............................................................................. 13
Public access to FDS .................................................................................................................. 13
Lobbying ........................................................................................................................................ 14
Definition of lobbyist ................................................................................................................. 14
Legislative lobbyists .............................................................................................................. 14
Executive agency lobbyists ................................................................................................... 15
Retirement system lobbyists ................................................................................................ 15
Disclosure of lobbyist compensation ........................................................................................ 15
Employer disclosure ............................................................................................................. 16
Lobbyist disclosure ............................................................................................................... 16
Food and beverage expenditures.............................................................................................. 16
Disputed expenditures and financial transactions .................................................................... 17
Duplicative statements.............................................................................................................. 17
Public access to lobbying information ...................................................................................... 17
Lobbyist registration schedule .................................................................................................. 18
Elimination of General Assembly revolving door law ............................................................... 18
Technical changes ......................................................................................................................... 18
Supreme Court Board of Professional Conduct ........................................................................ 18
Changes for readability ............................................................................................................. 19
DETAILED ANALYSIS
The bill, called the Ethics and Financial Disclosure Reform Act, makes several changes to
the laws governing ethics for public officials and employees and reporting requirements for
lobbyists.1
Statewide elected officials’ service on corporate boards
The bill prohibits a statewide elected official (the Governor, Lieutenant Governor,
Attorney General, Auditor of State, Treasurer of State, or Secretary of State or the Chief Justice
or a Justice of the Supreme Court) from receiving compensation or other payment for serving
on the board of directors of a corporation, unless one of the following exceptions applies:
1 Section 5 of the bill.
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 The person is the sole shareholder of the corporation.
 Both of the following are true:
 The person was a member of the board of directors and received compensation or
other payment for the person’s service in that role before the person held any
statewide elected office.
 The person had an ownership interest in the corporation before the person held any
statewide elected office and continues to have such an interest.
 The person was a statewide officeholder before the bill takes effect, which would allow
the person to continue receiving the same amount of compensation, or a lesser amount,
for serving on the board of directors of that particular corporation.
For example, if a person is part owner of a company and is compensated for serving on the
board, and then is elected to a statewide office, the person may continue to receive that
compensation as long as the person remains a part owner of the company. Or, if a person starts
a company after being elected, but is the sole shareholder, the person may be compensated for
serving on the board.
Further, the bill requires a statewide elected official who receives compensation for
board service to include all of the following information in the official’s annual financial
disclosure statement (FDS) filed under the Ethics Law:
 The name of the corporation;
 The amount of compensation or other payment received for serving on the board during
that year;
 The date the person began serving on the board;
 The nature of the person’s ownership interest in the corporation, if any;
 The date the person acquired that ownership interest.
Under the bill, the Ohio Ethics Commission (OEC) has the authority to enforce this
restriction. After receiving a complaint of a violation and holding a hearing, if the OEC finds by a
preponderance of the evidence that the person has received compensation or other payment in
violation of the bill, the OEC must fine the person in an amount equal to the amount of
compensation or other payment the person received for serving on the board. The OEC must
deposit the fine in its operating fund.
The continuing Ethics Law prohibits a public official or employee from receiving
compensation other than from the person