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Sponsors urge vendor accountability for school/library databases; committee asks about standards and enforcement
Summary
Sponsors of House Bill 583 told the House Finance Committee the bill would require InfoHio/OWL vendors (Cengage/Gale, EBSCO) to certify materials are free of harmful, age‑inappropriate content and institute a three‑strike enforcement scheme; members asked how monitoring, reporting and exemptions would work.
Representatives who sponsored House Bill 583 told the House Finance Committee on Tuesday the measure would require major school and library database vendors to certify that the resources they provide to Ohio students are free of harmful, age‑inappropriate material and would impose a three‑strike enforcement regime with rights to cure at each step.
"House Bill 583 seeks to safeguard Ohio children," Rep. Ritter said in sponsor testimony, naming the two major database providers used through state programs as Cengage/Gale (branded in Ohio as InfoHio) and EBSCO (branded as OWL). Ritter said the state pays for these databases as a safer alternative to internet searches and that problems have persisted…
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