HB 188 Ohio House · 136th Legislature (2025-2026)

Create the Ohio Israel Trade and Innovation Partnership

HB 188 establishes the Ohio Israel Trade and Innovation Partnership, a state-funded initiative to strengthen economic ties between Ohio and Israel. It directly affects Ohio businesses, universities, and innovation hubs seeking collaboration opportunities with Israeli companies. The bill creates a dedicated partnership program under Ohio law and allocates state funding to support joint research, trade missions, and business development activities. This is a concrete policy change that formalizes a new state mechanism for international economic engagement.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Nov 2025
House Passage
Nov 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Mar 19, 2025 Last action Nov 18, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

As Introduced As Passed by the House · 5 edits · Nov 5, 2025
MODERATE
The bill was amended to expand the membership composition of the Ohio Israel Trade and Innovation Partnership, increasing the number of legislative members and adding specific requirements for party representation. The changes also reorganized the structure of gubernatorial appointees and added ex-officio members to the partnership.
Scope change
The partnership's membership structure was expanded from 14 members to 17 members, with new requirements for party balance among legislative appointees and additional ex-officio positions.
ELIGIBILITY

Senate legislative members increased from two to three, with requirements that two be from the majority party and one from the minority party.

House legislative members increased from two to three, with the same party balance requirements as the Senate members.

Added a new category for three gubernatorial appointees representing state institutions of higher education, the Ohio chamber of commerce, Ohio Jewish communities, a nonprofit corporation under section 187.01, regional affiliates, and Ohio's business community.

Added three ex-officio members: the chancellor of higher education, the director of development, and the lieutenant governor.

REQUIREMENT

Reorganized the appointment structure to clarify term lengths and appointment procedures for different member categories.

Floor votes · House Nov 6, 2025

How they voted

7210
Passed
Total votes 82
Nov 6, 2025
D Democratic24
14 Yea 10 Nay
58% Yea
R Republican58
58 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
7
Key actions
2
Committee
2
Amendments
1
Nov 18, 2025
Committee
Referred to committee
upper
Nov 10, 2025
Introduced
Introduced
upper
Nov 6, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (72-10)
house
Nov 5, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed
lower
Nov 4, 2025
Introduced
Reported - Amended
lower
Mar 26, 2025
Committee
Referred to committee
lower
Mar 19, 2025
Introduced
Introduced
lower
2 primary · 11 co-sponsors

Sponsors