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Senate committee hears bill to allow special‑needs students to combine scholarships for services and tuition
Summary
Sponsor testimony on Senate Bill 44 proposed permitting students who receive autism or John Peterson special‑needs scholarships to also receive an EdChoice or Cleveland scholarship so families can cover both services and private‑school tuition; committee held a first hearing and took no vote.
Senator Tim O'Brien, sponsor of Senate Bill 44, told the Ohio Senate Education Committee that the bill would let students who qualify for an autism or John Peterson special‑needs scholarship also receive an EdChoice or Cleveland scholarship at the same time.
"This bill would, in effect, allow students to attend the school they want without having to worry about the additional cost for tuition and services," Senator O'Brien said in sponsor testimony. Under current law, he said, students who qualify for either an autism or John Peterson scholarship may receive only that singular scholarship, and the existing special‑needs scholarships often do not cover both services and private‑school tuition.
The bill is a reintroduction of earlier legislation from the prior general assembly that O'Brien said was intended to address what he called an unfair outcome for families who seek private schooling while also needing services paid for by a special‑needs scholarship. O'Brien said the main change from the prior version is a restriction that a student's John Peterson scholarship would pay only for services if the student also receives an EdChoice scholarship.
Ranking Member Nathan Ingram asked about fiscal impact. O'Brien cited an estimate from the Legislative Service Commission: "LSC estimates that the bill itself could cost around $38,000,000 annually," he said, while noting that figure assumed full take‑up of both scholarships and that many students likely would not take the full amounts.
Committee members also asked whether O'Brien meant "private" or "non‑government" schools when discussing institutions that accept scholarship funds; O'Brien clarified he used the term "non‑government schools" to mean private schools, acknowledging those schools do receive government money. Senator Laura Smith asked for data on how much families currently pay out of pocket under the existing system; O'Brien said he did not have an average dollar figure available in committee testimony.
The committee conducted a first hearing and did not vote on the bill. Senator O'Brien concluded by thanking the chair and taking questions.
The hearing record does not include a committee fiscal note beyond the LSC estimate mentioned in testimony, and the bill text discussed restricting John Peterson scholarship payments to services only when combined with EdChoice in the sponsor's version presented to the committee.
