Ohio House Passes Occupational Licensure Review

COLUMBUS –The Ohio House of Representatives passed House Bill 238, announced bill sponsors, State Representatives Sarah Fowler Arthur (R-Ashtabula) and Roy Klopfenstein (R-Haviland). 

Under Ohio law, the General Assembly is required to review one-third of all licensing boards and commissions every two years. This biennium’s review was conducted by the House State and Local Government committee led by Chair Marilyn John where 19 boards and their 244 licenses were vetted.

The review process aims to achieve the following:

Ensure each board is fulfilling its statutory purpose;
Remove unnecessary barriers to entry in our workforce;
Promote professional development and job creation; and 
align our state's occupational license standards with those in other states.
 

“We have captured the general recommendation changes with updates to the boards and licenses that would be included in future reviews, as well as establishing guardrails for continuing education and professional development requirements related to state licensure,” said Fowler Arthur. 

Boards and agencies undergoing licensure reviews are as follows:

Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission;
Department of Agriculture;
Architects and Landscape Board;
Ohio Casino Control Commission;
Department of Commerce;
Motor Vehicle Repair Board; 
Bureau of Motor Vehicles;
the Department of Public Safety; and
State Racing Commission
 

“Through this process, we diligently worked to cut bureaucratic red tape while continuing to reduce barriers to occupational entry, incentivizing licensure of Ohioans in Ohio rather than losing them to more competitive surrounding states,” said Klopfenstein. “We are particularly thankful we were able to work with the affected agencies so that none of them are in opposition to the provisions in this bill.”

The bill awaits consideration by the Ohio Senate.