Enact the Baby Bonus Act

As Introduced

136th
General Assembly

Regular
Session
H. B. No. 340

2025-2026

Representative Williams

To
amend section 5747.98 and to enact section 5747.74 of the Revised
Code
to
create an income tax credit for employers that provide a childbirth
bonus and to name this act the Baby Bonus Act.

BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section
1.
That
section 5747.98 be amended and section 5747.74 of the Revised Code be
enacted to read as follows:

Sec.
5747.74.
(A)
As used in this section:

(1)
"Childbirth bonus" means additional compensation paid to an
employee in the calendar year that the employee or the employee's
spouse gives birth to or adopts a child upon the employee's
submission of a copy of a birth or adoption record to the employer.

(2)
"Qualifying childbirth bonus policy" means a policy adopted
by an employer that entitles each of the employer's employees to a
childbirth bonus of at least one thousand dollars.

(B)(1)
There is hereby allowed a nonrefundable credit against a taxpayer's
aggregate tax liability for a taxpayer who is an employer, or who
owns a direct or indirect interest in an employer, that pays a
childbirth bonus to an employee pursuant to a qualifying childbirth
bonus policy. The total credit available with respect to an employee
shall equal one thousand dollars.

In
the case of a taxpayer who is an employer, the credit shall be
claimed for the taxable year in which the bonus was paid. If a
taxpayer holds a direct or indirect equity interest in an employer
that paid a childbirth bonus, the taxpayer shall claim the taxpayer's
distributive or proportionate share of the credit for the taxpayer's
taxable year that includes the last day of the entity's taxable year.

(2)
The total amount of childbirth bonuses paid by an employer and
eligible for the credit allowed under this section per taxable year
shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars.

(C)
The credit shall be claimed in the order required under section
5747.98 of the Revised Code. Any credit amount in excess of the
aggregate amount of tax due under section 5747.02 of the Revised
Code, after allowing for any other credits preceding the credit in
that order, may be carried forward for five taxable years, but the
amount of the excess credit allowed in any such year shall be
deducted from the balance carried forward to the next year.

(D)
The tax commissioner may require a taxpayer to furnish any
information necessary to support a claim for a credit under this
section, including the taxpayer's qualifying childbirth bonus policy
and pay stubs for the compensated employee. An employer shall
maintain for at least five years the records described in division
(A) of this section.

(E)
The commissioner may adopt any rules necessary to administer this
section.

Sec.
5747.98.
(A)
To provide a uniform procedure for calculating a taxpayer's aggregate
tax liability under section 5747.02 of the Revised Code, a taxpayer
shall claim any credits to which the taxpayer is entitled in the
following order:

Either
the retirement income credit under division (B) of section 5747.055
of the Revised Code or the lump sum retirement income credits under
divisions (C), (D), and (E) of that section;

Either
the senior citizen credit under division (F) of section 5747.055 of
the Revised Code or the lump sum distribution credit under division
(G) of that section;

The
dependent care credit under section 5747.054 of the Revised Code;

The
credit for displaced workers who pay for job training under section
5747.27 of the Revised Code;

The
campaign contribution credit under section 5747.29 of the Revised
Code;

The
twenty-dollar personal exemption credit under section 5747.022 of the
Revised Code;

The
joint filing credit under division
(G)
(E)

of section 5747.05 of the Revised Code;

The
earned income credit under section 5747.71 of the Revised Code;

The
nonrefundable credit for education expenses under section 5747.72 of
the Revised Code;

The
nonrefundable credit for donations to scholarship granting
organizations under section 5747.73 of the Revised Code;

The
nonrefundable credit for tuition paid to a nonchartered nonpublic
school under section 5747.75 of the Revised Code;

The
nonrefundable vocational job credit under section 5747.057 of the
Revised Code;

The
nonrefundable job retention credit under division (B) of section
5747.058 of the Revised Code;

The
enterprise zone credit under section 5709.66 of the Revised Code;

The
credit for beginning farmers who participate in a financial
management program under division (B) of section 5747.77 of the
Revised Code;

The
credit for commercial vehicle operator training expenses under
section 5747.82 of the Revised Code;

The
nonrefundable welcome home Ohio (WHO) program credit under section
122.633 of the Revised Code;

The
nonrefundable credit for paying childbirth bonuses under section
5747.74 of the Revised Code;

The
credit for selling or renting agricultural assets to beginning
farmers under division (A) of section 5747.77 of the Revised Code;

The
credit for purchases of qualifying grape production property under
section 5747.28 of the Revised Code;

The
small business investment credit under section 5747.81 of the Revised
Code;

The
nonrefundable lead abatement credit under section 5747.26 of the
Revised Code;

The
opportunity zone investment credit under section 5747.86 of the
Revised Code;

The
enterprise zone credits under section 5709.65 of the Revised Code;

The
research and development credit under section 5747.331 of the Revised
Code;

The
credit for rehabilitating a historic building under section 5747.76
of the Revised Code;

The
nonrefundable Ohio low-income housing tax credit under section
5747.83 of the Revised Code;

The
nonrefundable affordable single-family home credit under section
5747.84 of the Revised Code;

The
nonresident credit under division (A) of section 5747.05 of the
Revised Code;

The
credit for a resident's out-of-state income under division (B) of
section 5747.05 of the Revised Code;

The
refundable motion picture and broadway theatrical production credit
under section 5747.66 of the Revised Code;

The
refundable credit for film and theater capital improvement projects
under section 5747.67 of the Revised Code;

The
refundable jobs creation credit or job retention credit under
division (A) of section 5747.058 of the Revised Code;

The
refundable credit for taxes paid by a qualifying entity granted under
section 5747.059 of the Revised Code;

The
refundable credits for taxes paid by a qualifying pass-through entity
granted under division (I) of section 5747.08 of the Revised Code;

The
refundable credit under section 5747.80 of the Revised Code for
losses on loans made to the Ohio venture capital program under
sections 150.01 to 150.10 of the Revised Code;

The
refundable credit for rehabilitating a historic building under
section 5747.76 of the Revised Code;

The
refundable credit under section 5747.39 of the Revised Code for taxes
levied under section 5747.38 of the Revised Code paid by an electing
pass-through entity.

(B)
For any credit, except the refundable credits enumerated in this
section and the credit granted under division (H) of section 5747.08
of the Revised Code, the amount of the credit for a taxable year
shall not exceed the taxpayer's aggregate amount of tax due under
section 5747.02 of the Revised Code, after allowing for any other
credit that precedes it in the order required under this section. Any
excess amount of a particular credit may be carried forward if
authorized under the section creating that credit. Nothing in this
chapter shall be construed to allow a taxpayer to claim, directly or
indirectly, a credit more than once for a taxable year.

Section
2.
That
existing section 5747.98 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.

Section
3.
The
enactment by this act of section 5747.74 of the Revised Code applies
to taxable years ending on or after the effective date of this
section.

Section
4.
This
act shall be known as the Baby Bonus Act.