More than 150 critics pushed back against Ohio Republicans’ latest legislative effort to reform the state’s public colleges and universities.
“House Bill 698 is not about accountability, it’s about control,” Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, said at a hearing Tuesday. “And to be blunt, this bill is anti-labor, anti-educator, anti-student and fundamentally anti-education.”
House Bill 698 aims to take Senate Bill 1, the higher education overhaul law passed in 2025, a step further. The new legislation calls for linking some of colleges’ and universities’ state funding to their compliance with Senate Bill 1’s mandates, which include ending diversity, equity and inclusion (or DEI) work and requiring faculty members to publicly post their class syllabi.
State Rep. Tom Young, R-Washington Township, said the bill he wrote strengthens transparency and accountability.
In opening remarks, he said he wanted to “acknowledge and applaud” the university presidents and administrators complying with Senate Bill 1’s requirements. But he said he has also heard “repeated” concerns that employees at certain institutions are not complying with the law or are trying to circumvent it.
He didn’t share any additional context, only saying some of what he learned is “astounding.”
“It can be difficult to ensure every individual within a university is operating consistently with the law,” he said. “That is precisely why the additional provisions in HB 698 are necessary.”
House Bill 698 would create a new reporting process to certify colleges’ and universities’ compliance, even though institutions already have to submit many plans to the Ohio Department of Higher Education.
The bill would add public higher education workers’ salaries to an online database, establish new faculty workload rules and require campus officials to produce an “inventory” of employees who previously worked in DEI roles and were reassigned, among other moves.
Opponents criticize bill’s call to list former DEI employees
Tuesday marked the first time opponents could share their concerns with the Workforce and Higher Education committee (supporters will get a separate hearing in the future). Many submitted comments in writing. Only seven critics delivered their remarks in person before lawmakers ended the hearing after about an hour and a half.
Many of the criticisms touched on similar themes, including that the bill would further restrict employees’ collective bargaining rights, weaken academic freedom and drive both faculty and students away from Ohio.
Steve Mockabee, director of the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Cincinnati, delivered remarks on behalf of the state’s largest faculty union.
He criticized the bill’s requirement that universities create lists of any employees who worked in DEI-related roles as of Jan. 2025 and were later reassigned. In addition to giving names, salaries and current job titles, officials would need to create a “justification report” proving that an employee’s new role “consists of substantially different duties from DEI functions.”
House Bill 698 said the state’s higher education department would need to review these reports, which would also ultimately become public record under the legislation.
“HB 698 would create a system where Ohioans who were doing perfectly legal jobs in good faith would be placed on a watch list and monitored by the government in perpetuity,” said Mockabee. “This raises serious constitutional questions.”
What comes next for Senate Bill 1 enforcement legislation
Tuesday marked House Bill 698’s second hearing. The first happened in February.
Young said he appreciated the “extensive conversations” he’s had about the bill with some higher education stakeholders, including the lobbying groups representing the state’s 22 community colleges and 14 universities.
Those discussions may result in potential changes.
“There are amendments forthcoming that address some of the concerns raised, and those amendments will be considered and adopted during our next hearing,” said Young.
Officials have not yet set a date for that event.
