House Workforce and Higher Education Committee advances substitute for Senate Bill 1, curbing DEI programs and adding civics requirement

The House Workforce and Higher Education Committee voted to favorably report a substitute for Senate Bill 1, the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, sending the measure to the full House after a committee roll call that resulted in nine yes votes and four no votes.

The bill would restrict certain diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at state institutions, add a three-credit American civic literacy requirement for graduation with narrow exemptions, and include several provisions affecting faculty labor rights, tenure and scholarship rules. Committee members accepted an amendment allowing institutions to seek an exemption from the bill’s DEI training ban when compliance is required by state or federal law, licensure standards or accreditation requirements, and tabled multiple amendments proposed by members and outside groups.

Supporters who testified before the committee included students from Miami University and Ashland University, faculty emeriti and representatives of policy groups. "Senate Bill 1 represents a pivotal step forward in restoring balance, accountability, and intellectual diversity within Ohio's public higher education system," Spencer Manzak, a senior at Miami University, told the committee, urging that classrooms preserve neutrality and that students be required to take a civics course. Several student witnesses said DEI offices have diverted funds they would rather see spent on scholarships, books or core academic needs; one student cited public-records figures that his university spent about $2,200,000 on its diversity office in recent years.

Kurt Miceli, medical director of Do No Harm Action, argued the bill is necessary to protect academic merit and said, "DEI is destroying our once venerable institutions," testimony that prompted questions from committee members about the relationship between DEI training and documented disparities in health outcomes. Hal Arkus, an emeritus psychology professor, cited surveys and studies he said show ideological imbalance in hiring and low civic knowledge among college students as part of his case for the civic literacy requirement.

Several members of the committee questioned witnesses about specifics. Representative Miller asked whether students had used campus complaint processes in response to disputed classroom assignments; witnesses described examples they said lacked a clear complaint pathway. Representative Abdullahi offered an amendment to remove a clause he said would ban institutional scholarships; that amendment and others on faculty bargaining and strikes were tabled after motions from the chairing members.

The committee’s action included a recorded acceptance of an amendment (identified in committee as 0269-2) that creates an exemption process administered by the chancellor of higher education for training required by law, licensure or accreditation. The committee tabled several labor-related amendments circulated by labor organizations and motions from ranking members; the chair instructed legislative services to harmonize the accepted amendments into a substitute bill.

Vice Chair Ritter moved to favorably report the substitute bill and recommend its passage. On the roll call the committee recorded nine votes in favor and four opposed; the chair declared the bill passed and adjourned the committee. No additional committee-level amendments were adopted at the final voice; the substitute will proceed to the House calendar for further consideration.

The hearing produced repeated and pointed exchanges between proponents who described ideological imbalance and administrators’ critics who defended professional and public-health priorities. The committee record shows the bill’s sponsors and supporters emphasized restoration of intellectual diversity and civic education; opponents and some questioners highlighted consequences for scholarships, tenure and labor rights and pressed witnesses for evidence tying DEI programs to the harms alleged.

Next steps: the substitute bill, as reported favorably by the committee, moves to the full House for further action. The committee record indicates legislative staff will prepare a harmonized substitute incorporating the amendments the committee accepted.