Rep. Roy Klopfenstein

Maddy summaryHB 175 designates a 120-mile stretch of U.S. Route 24 in Ohio as the "Heartland Highway." This specifically covers the route between the Indiana and Michigan borders, passing through Paulding, Defiance, Henry, and Lucas counties. The bill requires the Ohio Department of Transportation to install markers along this highway segment with the new name. It has no funding, regulatory, or programmatic changes - it is solely a naming designation.

To amend sections 2151.461, 3129.03, 3313.473, 3798.07, and 3798.12 and to repeal section 5122.04 of the Revised Code to prohibit the provision of mental health services to minors without parental consent.

Maddy summaryHB 432 updates Ohio's career-technical education laws by strengthening oversight for community schools and clarifying substitute teacher licensing. The bill requires school sponsors to conduct monthly financial and enrollment reviews, report findings to officials, and provide technical assistance to ensure schools follow their contracts and maintain performance standards. It also establishes new rules for substitute teaching licenses, allowing educators with related degrees to teach for unlimited days or those with unrelated degrees to teach for one semester with approval. Additionally, the legislation sets a transition timeline for existing career-technical teachers to adopt new professional or workforce development licenses while permitting them to continue renewing their current credentials until the deadline.

To amend sections 323.152, 323.153, 4503.065, and 4503.066 of the Revised Code to authorize an enhanced property tax homestead exemption for certain long-term homeowners.

To amend section 5747.98 and to enact sections 1315.131, 5502.80, and 5747.87 of the Revised Code to levy a transfer fee on money transmissions, to authorize an income tax credit based on the amount of the transfer fees paid, and to name this act Ohio's Withholding Illegal Revenue Entering Drug Markets (WIRED) Act.

To amend sections 3704.14, 4503.10, 4503.102, and 4503.103 of the Revised Code to create an alternative method to certify compliance with the E-Check program and to name this act the E-Check Ease Act.

Maddy summaryHB 110 amends Ohio law to increase penalties for repeat voyeurism offenses. It raises penalties for individuals with two or more prior convictions of secretly recording others in private spaces (e.g., bathrooms, changing rooms) or undergarments, upgrading violations from misdemeanors to third-degree felonies. The bill specifically targets repeat offenders who previously violated laws against surreptitiously videotaping, photographing, or broadcasting private areas without consent. It does not change penalties for first-time offenses but strengthens consequences for repeat violations across all scenarios described in the law.

Maddy summaryHB 99 removes specific nonprofit agricultural membership organizations from Ohio's insurance regulations. It defines these organizations as state-incorporated entities serving farmers' interests and providing healthcare coverage exclusively to members and their families. The bill clarifies that such healthcare coverage is not considered "insurance" under state law, exempting these organizations from Title XXXIX regulations and the superintendent of insurance's jurisdiction. This allows the organizations to provide healthcare benefits without insurance licensing while permitting reinsuring of related risks through authorized insurers.

To amend sections 3313.602, 3314.03, 3326.11, and 3328.24 and to enact section 3313.6031 of the Revised Code to enact The Pledge of Allegiance Act to require the Pledge of Allegiance in schools.

To enact section 3792.09 of the Revised Code to prohibit discrimination against an individual for the refusal of certain medical interventions for reasons of conscience, including religious convictions, and to name this act the Conscientious Right to Refuse Act.