How Things Work at the Ohio Statehouse

Presented by Rachel Coyle

Bullet points so Rachel doesn’t forget her intro:�

• DON’T WORRY about memorizing this info or the links. We’ll email everything to you afterward!

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• DON’T WORRY if you’re new to state or local advocacy. This is a great moment to get involved!

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• There are NO dumb questions

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WHAT WE’LL COVER TODAY:

• Statehouse Basics / Political Environment�
• How a bill becomes a law in Ohio �(and what you can do about it)�
• Resources�
• Q&A

Statehouse Basics

• +Created a program to expand agricultural exports and provide support to laid-off federal employees and contractors.

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• +Created a “coordinated, cross-agency financing strategy to fully leverage available federal dollars" for health care financing

There is POWER in state government

REMEMBER:

You have SO MUCH POWER at the state level

• Why? Because hardly anyone contacts their state legislators

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It only takes a few people to make noise in state government

• Use this power. If you don’t, someone else will

TERM TO KNOW: “General Assembly” or “G.A.”

• The Statehouse operates in 2-year terms called G.A.s
• Any bill that doesn’t pass by the end of the G.A. dies and �has to be reintroduced next term

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TERM TO KNOW: “Lame Duck”

• Happens at the end of every G.A. Every legislator tries to pass �every major bill they’ve introduced for the past 2 years into law
• Next Lame Duck Session: Mid November – Mid December 2026

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TERM TO KNOW: “Session”  

• The time of year when legislators are working,�AND the times they’re actually in the chamber voting on bills

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HB 378

STATEHOUSE BASICS – THE NUMBERS

TERM TO KNOW: ”Supermajority”�

Ohio Senate has 33 senators

• 24 Republicans – 9 Democrats

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Ohio House has 99 members

• 65 Republicans – 34 Democrats

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Veto Power

STATEHOUSE BASICS – Leadership

Majority

(R)

Minority

(D)

Senate

House

Troubling New Rules for the House

Gave himself the power to fire other people’s staff

Gave himself total control over committee assignments

NOT AN OFFICIAL RULE

We need to show up more often, in larger numbers, and be louder than ever before

It’s amazing what we can accomplish by being loud

Senate Bill 1 (SB 1)

Politics = Psychology

Politicians want to feel powerful and popular.

• That's why they limit public testimony, surround themselves with people who agree with them, and avoid town halls that force them to face reality
• Find ways to break through their bubble

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Being “the squeaky wheel” often works

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Basically, be a problem.

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Some Alternatives to “Being a Problem”

• Niche/Specific Issue Bills
• You can sometimes get meaningful, bipartisan bills passed on specific issues
• Especially topics that are not in the news!�

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• Build a personal relationship with a(n ideally Republican) legislator who has influence in their caucus�
• Hire a lobbyist with ties to Ohio’s Republican legislators

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How a Bill Becomes a Law in Ohio

HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW IN OHIO

OR

HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW IN OHIO (AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT)

Step 1: A bill is introduced

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It can be introduced in either the House or Senate

• Sometimes it’s introduced in the House AND Senate

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Bills keep their same number throughout the full 2-year term

• SB 1 STAYED SB 1 the whole time, even when it passed over to the House

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HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW IN OHIO�(AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT)

Step 2: Once a bill is introduced, it’s assigned to a committee

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ACTION ITEM: CONTACT committee chairs

• Ask to be placed on their “committee notice list”

Signing up for Committee Notice Lists: Legislature.Ohio.gov

Signing up for Committee Notice Lists: Legislature.Ohio.gov → Committees

“Please add me to the Senate Finance Committee Notice List”

Signing up for Committee Notice Lists: Legislature.Ohio.gov

HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW IN OHIO �(AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT)

STEP 3: Once a bill is assigned to a committee, it (usually….) starts receiving hearings

• Committee hearings (normal process): 
• 1st hearing – sponsor testimony
• 2nd hearing – proponent testimony (supporter)
• 3rd hearing – opponent/interested party testimony
• But the number of hearings can change!  

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ACTION ITEM: Demand hearings for good bills!

ACTION ITEM: Slow down bad bills!

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Yes…I said call

It’s not like calling Congress. They aren’t taking down your information�

Goal: Take up the staffer’s time�

Remember: You’re not talking to the legislator. �You’re talking to their overworked, �underpaid aide. Be nice!

• Each state rep only has 1 aide
• Each senator only has 2 aides
• Build a relationship

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CALL YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS!

And they WILL get your messages

• There’s only 1 phone line �per legislator
• You’re calling the same �number the legislators call….

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IMPORTANT:

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At the Statehouse level, you CAN call legislators in districts where you do not live. Example:

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• You can call committee chairs and say, “I’m calling about this bill in your XXXXXX Committee”

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• You can call bill sponsors to urge changes to a bill

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But it will always be MOST effective to call your own legislator

• So if you are calling your own legislator, let them know!

TESTIFYING IN COMMITTEE

Come testify for/against bills �at the Statehouse!

• GOAL: Testify in-person�

TRY TO testify in-person whenever possible. BUT you can submit written-only testimony if needed!�

IMPORTANT — You can only submit testimony if a bill has been scheduled for a hearing AND if the committee plans to accept your type of testimony

HOW TO SUBMIT TESTIMONY�(IN-PERSON OR WRITTEN-ONLY!)�

STEP 1: Write your testimony�

STEP 2: Upload your (written or in-person) testimony to the Committee Website. 24 hours in advance�

STEP 3: Fill out the witness information when you upload your testimony

• If you’re submitting written-only testimony, that’s it. You’re done!
• If you’re testifying in person, all that’s left is to show up!

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WHAT MAKES GOOD TESTIMONY�

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Short and sweet!!

• If there’s a lot of testimony, you’ll likely be limited to 2-3 minutes. Make them count

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Consider your audience

• Think of your most conservative relative. That’s your audience

LIVE BROADCASTS OF COMMITTEE HEARINGS�

You can watch all House and Senate Sessions AND all committee hearings live on OhioChannel.org – it’s free!

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• The videos are also archived on the site!
• Makes great social media content….

IF A BILL PASSES OUT OF COMMITTEE….�

Once a bill passes out of committee, it needs to receive a full floor vote

• Some bills get through committee but never reach the floor

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IF THE BILL GETS A FLOOR VOTE….it usually passes the chamber�

After a bill passes one chamber (the House or the Senate), it then goes through the full process in the other chamber

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Resources

Actions to Take during Summer Break�

Suggest new bills!

• Lots of our bill ideas come from Ohio residents
• You do NOT need to know how to write a bill! Just find a legislator (or staffer...) who is interested. They’ll have the bill drafted for you

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�Share articles on social media and give people a task to do

• You may be the only person in your network sharing state-level news!

Actions to Take during Summer Break — TakeActionOhio.com

2025-2026 Bill Tracker: TakeActionOhio.com

2025-2026 Bill Tracker: TakeActionOhio.com

ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS will help you focus

HOW TO FIND STATEHOUSE BILLS

Legislature.Ohio.gov

HOW TO FIND STATEHOUSE BILLS

Legislature.Ohio.gov → “Legislation” → “Search Legislation”

HOW TO FIND STATEHOUSE BILLS

Legislature.Ohio.gov → “Legislation” → “Search Legislation”

Legislature.Ohio.gov BILL PAGES LOOK LIKE….

The Documents Tab is so important!

This is what a bill analysis looks like

Follow “How Things Work at the Statehouse”

Twitter: HowThingsWorkOH

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Substack (email list): RachelCoyleOH

THINGS TO REMEMBER:

• You have SO MUCH POWER at the state level
• Anything you do at the Statehouse is more than was happening before�

QUESTIONS?

SUPPORT RACHEL’S WORK

Venmo: RachelCoyleOhio

Cash donations also welcome!

YOU HAVE SO MUCH POWER AT THE STATEHOUSE LEVEL!!

Some Recent Advocacy Wins:�

• State ID cards for inmates to help them find work/housing
• Decreased driver license suspensions for unrelated issues
• Helped ban SLAPP lawsuits (used to silence and bankrupt critics)
• Helped require insurance to cover hearing aids for kids (under age 21!)
• Helped ban most intimate exams on unconscious patients
• Banned revenge porn
• Helped ban life imprisonment without possibility of parole for children under 18
• Helped pass several criminal justice reforms — expanding Ohio’s Good Samaritan law �and decriminalizing fentanyl drug testing strips
• Helped secure Workers’ Comp for first responders with PTSD
• Killed Derek Merrin’s “Scrooge Act”

Additional slides (if needed)

Support Ohioans Against Extremism:

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Sign up: OHAgainstExtremism.org → Get Involved

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Donate: OHAgainstExtremism.org/Donate

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Order merch: OHAgainstExtremism.org → Support Our Work → Merch

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Follow OAE, and invite others to follow us!

• @OhioansAgainstExtremism on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, & YouTube
• @OHAgainstExtremism on Bluesky
• @NoExtremismOhio on Twitter

Buy them a monthly cup of coffee!

YOU HAVE SO MUCH POWER AT THE STATEHOUSE LEVEL!!

Recent Advocacy Wins:�

• NONE of the book ban bills became law last term!�
• We banned revenge porn�
• We banned life imprisonment without possibility of parole for children under 18�
• We’ve helped pass several criminal justice reforms — like expanding Ohio’s Good Samaritan law and decriminalizing fentanyl drug testing strips�
• We helped secure Workers’ Comp for first responders with PTSD�
• We stopped a Medicaid expansion freeze in 2018 — and it hasn’t returned�
• We killed Derek Merrin’s “Scrooge Act”�
• We’ve stopped THREE attempts to kill citizen ballot initiatives — 2018, 2022, AND 2023 (at the ballot)

RESOURCES: LSC.Ohio.gov

RESOURCES:

See the text of a bill

This is what a bill looks like!!

How to read a bill:

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• Plain text = existing law

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• Underlined text = new language

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• Crossed out text = language this bill would remove from the law