Ohio lawmakers have introduced several bills since going on winter break — including ones that would limit which families can receive school vouchers, make Election Day a state holiday, and ban 17-year-olds from getting married.
The Ohio Senate was scheduled to return this week, but session and all committees were cancelled because of weather. The Ohio House will come back in February.
Ohio’s 136th General Assembly is just past its halfway point, as the lawmakers operate on two-year cycles. Bills have until the end of 2026 to pass or else they die.
Limiting Education Choice Expansions scholarships
A bipartisan bill would limit Education Choice Expansion scholarships to families with a federal adjusted gross income of $500,000 or less.
Ohio state Reps. Justin Pizzulli, R-Scioto County, and Anita Somani, D-Dublin, introduced Ohio House Bill 643 earlier this month.
The income threshold would be adjusted annually for inflation, according to the bill’s language.
Lawmakers expanded the Education Choice Expansion eligibility to 450% of the poverty line through the 2023 state budget — creating near-universal school vouchers.
K-8 students can receive a $6,166 scholarship and high schoolers can receive a $8,408 scholarship in state funding under the expansion.
Ohio spent more than a billion dollars on private school vouchers for the 2025 fiscal year, the second full year with near-universal school vouchers.
Nearly half of the money ($492.8 million) was from Education Choice Expansion vouchers.
Make Election Day a state holiday
An Ohio Senator is trying to make Election Day a state holiday.
Ohio state Sen. Kent Smith, D-Euclid, introduced Ohio Senate Bill 335, which would make the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November “Democracy Day.”
Hawaii, Illinois, West Virginia, Maryland, and New York have Election Day as a public holiday and require employers to provide paid time off for voting, according to the Movement Advancement Project.
Montana, Louisiana, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, and Rhode Island have Election Day as a public holiday, but do not require employees to provide paid time off for voting, according to MAP.
Seventeen states require employers to provide paid time off for voting, but do not have Election Day as a public holiday, according to MAP.
Ohio does not have Election Day as a public holiday nor does it require employers to provide paid time off for voting. Ohio does allow for voters to get a “reasonable amount of time” off during the day to do their civic duty.
Voter turnout in Ohio is higher during an election year. 71.71% of registered Ohio voters voted in the 2024 general election, 49.63% of registered voters voted in 2023, 52.32% in 2022, and 73.99% in 2020, according to the Ohio Secretary of State.
Banning 17 year olds from getting married
A bipartisan bill would repeal a law that allows a person who is seventeen to marry.
Ohio Sens. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, and Bill Blessing, R-Colerain Township, introduced Ohio Senate Bill 341 earlier this month.
This bill would require both parties getting married to be at least 18 years old.
Ohio law currently has a provision that allows a 17-year-old to get married if they demonstrate to a judge that they received satisfactory marriage counseling, waited 14 days and the age difference is no more than four years.