Earlier this month, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine hosted a televised bill signing event where he signed 29 bills into state law. Laws pertaining to college life and safety were at the forefront of the event.

Senate Bill 58 

This bill is based on freedoms assured by the second amendment and prohibits the requirement of a fee or liability insurance in the purchase of firearms, components of firearms, knives or ammunition. 

Senate Bill 234 

Ohio State Senator Theresa Gavarone of Bowling Green, Ohio sponsored this bill which dictates that starting this year, May will be “Food Allergy Awareness Month” as well as “Lupus Awareness Month.” 

The bill also enacts policies that require high schools and higher education to include the national suicide and crisis hotline on student IDs, planners and portals if they are provided by the school. It also requires schools to develop and implement a policy informing students and staff know what suicide prevention programs are available on and off campus. 

House Bill 8 

Coined the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by many, it enacts a parents’ bill of rights requiring both public and private schools to notify parents of any “changes to a student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or wellbeing.”  

 This requires schools to contact the parents of students who “request to identify as a gender that does not align with the student’s biological sex.” Schools will also have to inform parents of “any content that includes sexual descriptions or gender ideology.”

House Bill 106 

For any working students here on campus, this bill enacts the Pay Stub Protection Act, which will require employers to provide earnings and deductions statements to each of its employees. 

House Bill 322 

This bill designates grooming as a criminal offense, and thus it would to be listed on background checks, preventing such people from working with children. Grooming is defined as a “person who is eighteen years of age or older” engaging in a “pattern of conduct with a minor” which would cause a “reasonable adult person” to believe the purpose of the communication is to “entice, coerce, or solicit the minor to engage in sexual activity” or to “prepare the minor to engage in sexual activity.” 

This bill also takes the failure to register as a sex offender through the Ohio Attorney General from a criminal offense to a civil offense, essentially meaning they will not be sentenced to jail time but rather held liable and likely fined.  

Finally, this bill eliminates the residence restriction on sex offenders, allowing them to live near schools. 

House Bill 531 

The final bill on this list enacts “Braden’s Law,” making sexual extortion a crime and granting immunity to victims who sent sensitive images. It also dictates that a crime of this nature which results in bodily harm or death is eligible for an additional ten years upon sentencing.

The bill allows the parents or guardians of a deceased minor to gain access to devices belonging to that minor within 30 days.