Governor signs 40 bills into law in end-of-year wrap up

With his signature, over and over again, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed 40 pieces of legislation into law this week, including:

• Sub. H.B. 5 (Grossman, Henne) revises the laws governing income taxes imposed by municipal corporations.
• Sub. H.B. 9 (Stautberg) adds to and clarifies receivership laws and specifies that a lease of natural gas and petroleum is an interest in real estate.
• Sub. H.B. 10 (Hagan, C.) makes changes in several areas of law, including fiscal accountability and other issues involving counties, townships, municipal corporations, and public schools, as well as changes regarding the Board of Deposit.
• Am. Sub. H.B. 109 (Damschroder) specifies individuals who are permitted to recommend and fit hearing aids and prohibits specified sales of hearing aids via mail.
• Sub. H.B. 131 (Johnson, Stinziano) regards the use and regulation of tanning facilities.
• Am. Sub. H.B. 178 (Phillips) relates to various school issues including safety drills and the use of seclusion, physical restraint and positive behavior intervention, as well as rules regarding private schools adjacent to Pilot Project Scholarship Program schools. It also makes an appropriation.
• Am. Sub. H.B. 201 (Butler) makes changes relative to several topics, including entries of satisfaction, the status of volunteer firefighters for purposes of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, various aspects of health insurance as well as the chemotherapy parity law.
• Am. Sub. H.B. 234 (Grossman, Becker) revises the law governing firearms.
• Sub. H.B. 247 (Stebelton) makes clear that any person may perform automated external defibrillation, extends qualified immunity from civil liability to premises owners and other persons involved with automated external defibrillator placement and use, allows proceedings for a mentally ill person subject to court order to be in a probate court in any county, and modifies the form of the affidavit used to initiate proceedings for court-ordered treatment of a mentally ill person.
• Sub. H.B. 258 (Gonzales) regards licensed spectacle dispensing opticians.
• Sub. H.B. 290 (Stebelton) regards the use of school district premises by members of the public. It also makes changes involving nursing homes and in-home care as well as to the continued orderly operation of the courts in case of a disaster, civil disorder, or other extraordinary circumstance.
• Am. Sub. H.B. 318 (Roegner, O’Brien) alters the statutory procedures governing motor vehicle shows, permits the display of new motor vehicles for charitable purposes, and clarifies the law governing the retail sale of utility and certain other trailers.
• Sub. H.B. 319 (Grossman) permits natural gas companies to apply for an infrastructure development rider to recover costs of certain economic development projects.
• Am. H.B. 326 (Roegner, Reece) adds pharmacists to the professional license exception to the Orthotist, Prosthetist, and Pedorthist Licensing Law.
• Am. S.B. 361 (Seitz) clarifies when strict criminal liability is imposed or a degree of culpability is required for the commission of an offense, modifies the concept of acting recklessly, and requires that future acts creating criminal offenses specify the requisite degree of culpability.
• Sub. H.B. 367 (Driehaus, Sprague) addresses prescription drug abuse prevention and treatment and revises the law regarding state assessments and academic performance reporting and other primary and secondary education programs.
• Am. Sub. H.B. 394 (Smith, Antonio) makes changes relative to pharmacies, prescription drugs, and other health- and medical-related issues, including the creation of the Commission on Infant Mortality, as well as changes involving recreational vehicles.
• Am. H.B. 404 (DeVitis, Slaby) designates the Portage Lakes area in Summit County the Purple Martin Capital of Ohio.
• Sub. H.B. 430 (Kunze, Stinziano) regulates self-service storage facilities.
• Sub. H.B. 440 (Brown) designates a number of memorial highways and bridges in honor of members of the armed forces of the United States and first responders.
• Sub. H.B. 463 (Johnson) makes changes to the laws governing dental professionals.
• Am. H.B. 474 (Dovilla, Pelanda) creates the “Ohio State Beekeepers Association” license plate, alters the law governing the pediatric brain tumor awareness license plate, and designates a portion of Interstate Route 75 in Hamilton County as the “William L. Mallory, Sr. Memorial Highway.”
• Am. Sub. H.B. 494 (Schuring) involves the funding of regional transportation improvement projects, makes changes to tax law, authorizes community entertainment districts, and makes changes to video lottery terminal facilities; and makes an appropriation.
• Sub. H.B. 552 (Stautberg) requires the distribution of information on Down syndrome under certain conditions and establishes language standards for signs containing the international symbol of access.
• Sub. H.B. 663 (Buchy, Huffman) provides confidentiality and license protection for persons and entities involved in executing a sentence of capital punishment by lethal injection, and makes changes regarding capital punishment and other legal matters.
• Am. Sub. S.B. 42 (Manning, Gardner) revises the law governing Ohio’s public retirement systems and authorizes school districts with a safety and security tax levy to report how the district is using funding from that levy to the Ohio Department of Education.
• Am. Sub. S.B. 84 (Kearney) creates the position of Ohio Poet Laureate and designates June as Ohio Community Theatre Month in Ohio.
• Am. S.B. 106 (Schaffer) prohibits the operation of a motor vehicle on or onto any location that is temporarily covered by a rise in water level.
• Sub. S.B. 141 (Obhof, Hughes) makes several changes related to casino gaming and instant bingo.
• Am. Sub. S.B. 177 (Skindell, Hughes) expressly authorizes the protection of companion animals in various protection orders, as well as addresses other legal matters.
• Sub. S.B. 207 (Patton, Manning, Turner, Tavares) regards the parental rights of a person who was convicted of or pleaded guilty to rape or sexual battery.
• Am. Sub. S.B. 243 (Bacon) addresses various tax issues including creating a three-day sales tax “holiday” in August 2015 during which sales of back-to-school clothing, school supplies, and school instructional materials are exempt from sales and use taxes. Makes changes relative to the Ohio Healthier Buckeye Advisory Council, the Economic Gardening Technical Assistance Pilot Program, and the Ohio Business Gateway Steering Committee.
• Sub. S.B. 250 (Jones, LaRose) makes several changes related to adoption, including allowing “living expenses” of a birth mother and increasing the adoption income tax credit.
• Am. S.B. 255 (Brown) permits a person to present proof of financial responsibility to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, a peace officer, a traffic violations bureau, or a court through use of an electronic wireless communications device.
• Sub. S.B. 272 (Cafaro, Eklund) designates March as “Ohio Maple Syrup Products Month,” September as “School Bullying Prevention Awareness Month,” February 21 as “Rascal Flatts Day,” and September as “Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month.”
• Am. Sub. S.B. 274 (Hughes) makes various changes related to the towing industry, and impacts home security systems and home solicitation sales.
• Am. Sub. S.B. 276 (Jones, Tavares) creates the Commission on Infant Mortality and makes various changes addressing prescription drug abuse and other health- and medical-related issues.
• Sub. S.B. 316 (Cafaro) makes numerous changes related to law enforcement and combatting sexual assault.
• Am. Sub. S.B. 342 (Seitz) establishes conditions for the use by local authorities of traffic law photo-monitoring devices to detect certain traffic law violations and requires the Department of Public Safety to issue a report on texting while driving citations.
• Am. Sub. S.B. 378 (Coley) regards the enforcement of the law governing the protection of underground utility facilities.