Senate passes HB 7 30 after heated debate over SNAP admin funding and rural hospital dollars

The Ohio Senate passed Substitute House Bill 7 30 on March 24, 2026, after extended floor debate and a series of amendments aimed at clarifying reappropriations and reallocations for capital and operating projects.

Senator Serino, who presented the bill, said it reappropriates roughly $1.93 billion for previously approved capital projects and includes redirects and technical fixes from 34 House amendments. He highlighted funding to support school facilities, higher-education construction, mental-health facilities and a federal rural health transformation grant the state must authorize to allow applications to flow.

The debate turned on a contested provision that temporarily backfills federal cuts to SNAP administrative funding and an added rural-hospital allocation. Senator Liston offered an amendment to fully fill an estimated $38 million shortfall in SNAP administrative payments using General Revenue Fund dollars; Liston argued the smaller $12.5 million appropriation in the bill risked tens or hundreds of millions in federal penalties if state error rates did not improve. "With our current error rate, we're risking $321,000,000 in federal funding," Liston said, urging the chamber to avoid jeopardizing benefits to families and local economies by underfunding county administration.

Opponents countered that simply transferring large sums from the rainy-day fund or GRF without additional study would not fix underlying error-rate drivers. Senator Serino and others argued prior investments and structural reforms matter alongside funding. Senator Blessing, voting in favor while voicing reservations, noted the complexity of the federal administrative funding shift and urged further attention to long-term solutions.

Several amendments offered by Senator Hicks Hudson—seeking to restore a caseload-based distribution formula and retool how the state allocates the backfill—were debated and then laid on the table after roll-call motions. Critics including Senators DeMora and Smith said the bill's distribution method left the state with winners and losers, where many of the largest counties that process most SNAP cases would receive a fraction of what they need. Senator Smith read county testimony showing Cleveland-area and other large counties would receive single-digit percentages of their estimated shortfall, and warned of layoffs and delayed case processing if counties cannot hire or retain staff.

Senator Hoffman also raised concerns about the rural hospital set-aside, saying portions of the $30 million in the current bill appeared to go to hospitals that are financially solvent while other struggling hospitals received nothing; he urged a competitive, transformative approach to target those with demonstrable need.

Senator Brenner, representing a largely rural district, urged passage to protect local hospital access and said future legislation could fine-tune eligibility metrics. Leader Antonio and other Democrats offered sustained criticism of the formula and the process, saying minority caucus members had not been included in behind-the-scenes decisions and labeling the distribution "punitive" to urban counties.

After a procedural period in which several amendments were tabled, the Senate agreed to remove certain rural-health provisions and accept technical cleanups proposed by Senators Serino and Sereno following a short recess. The final passage vote recorded 24 yeas and 7 nays.

What happens next: Because HB 7 30 implements reappropriations and operating appropriations that affect grants, infrastructure, and program operations, implementation will move to the executive branch for administration; senators on both sides signaled follow-up committee work to revisit distribution formulas and hospital metrics.

Key votes and actions: an amendment to fully fund SNAP administrative costs was tabled (motion carried on a roll call); several amendments restoring caseload-based distribution were tabled; the final passage vote was 24 yeas, 7 nays.

The Senate also recorded a motion to informally pass the bill earlier in the day to retain it on the calendar while members negotiated language; the chamber later accepted amendments and passed the bill formally.