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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
H. B. No. 723
2025-2026
Representatives Klopfenstein, Miller,
M.
Cosponsors: Representatives Williams,
Thomas, D., Johnson, King, Newman, McClain
To
amend section 4117.10 and to enact section 4113.25 of the Revised
Code
to
prohibit certain nondisclosure or confidentiality agreements
regarding sexual abuse of a child.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
section 4117.10 be amended and section 4113.25 of the Revised Code be
enacted to read as follows:
Sec.
4113.25.
(A)
As used in this section:
(1)
"Sexual abuse of a child" means any of the following acts
or conduct where the victim is under eighteen years of age,
regardless of whether any person has been arrested, charged, or
indicted for, or convicted of, committing the act or conduct:
(a)
A sexual assault as described in sections 2907.02 to 2907.09 of the
Revised Code;
(b)
Compelling prostitution as described in section 2907.21 of the
Revised Code;
(c)
Trafficking in persons as described in section 2905.32 of the Revised
Code;
(d)
Endangering children as described in division (B)(5) of section
2919.22 of the Revised Code.
(2)
"Person" has the same meaning as in section 1.59 of the
Revised Code and also includes a public agency or any other legal
entity.
(B)
On or after the effective date of this section, no person shall enter
into an agreement or employment contract with an individual if the
agreement or contract does any of the following:
(1)
Prohibits a party from notifying, or limits the party's ability to
notify, a local or state law enforcement agency or any state or
federal regulatory agency of an act, or suspected act, of sexual
abuse of a child;
(2)
Prohibits a party from disclosing to any person, including during any
related investigation, prosecution, legal proceeding, or dispute
resolution, facts surrounding an act, or suspected act, of sexual
abuse of a child, including the identity of the alleged offender.
(C)
A provision of an agreement or contract that is in violation of this
section is void and unenforceable as against public policy.
Sec.
4117.10.
(A)
An agreement between a public employer and an exclusive
representative entered into pursuant to this chapter governs the
wages, hours, and terms and conditions of public employment covered
by the agreement. If the agreement provides for a final and binding
arbitration of grievances, public employers, employees, and employee
organizations are subject solely to that grievance procedure and the
state personnel board of review or civil service commissions have no
jurisdiction to receive and determine any appeals relating to matters
that were the subject of a final and binding grievance procedure.
Where no agreement exists or where an agreement makes no
specification about a matter, the public employer and public
employees are subject to all applicable state or local laws or
ordinances pertaining to the wages, hours, and terms and conditions
of employment for public employees. All of the following prevail over
conflicting provisions of agreements between employee organizations
and public employers:
(1)
Laws pertaining to any of the following subjects:
(a)
Civil rights;
(b)
Affirmative action;
(c)
Unemployment compensation;
(d)
Workers' compensation;
(e)
The retirement of public employees;
(f)
Residency requirements;
(g)
The minimum educational requirements contained in the Revised Code
pertaining to public education including the requirement of a
certificate by the fiscal officer of a school district pursuant to
section 5705.41 of the Revised Code;
(h)
The provisions of division (A) of section 124.34 of the Revised Code
governing the disciplining of officers and employees who have been
convicted of a felony;
(i)
The minimum standards promulgated by the director of education and
workforce pursuant to division (D) of section 3301.07 of the Revised
Code
.
;
(j)
The prohibition against entering certain nondisclosure or
confidentiality agreements regarding sexual abuse of a child under
section 4113.25 of the Revised Code.
(2)
The law pertaining to the leave of absence and compensation provided
under section 5923.05 of the Revised Code, if the terms of the
agreement contain benefits which are less than those contained in
that section or the agreement contains no such terms and the public
authority is the state or any agency, authority, commission, or board
of the state or if the public authority is another entity listed in
division (B) of section 4117.01 of the Revised Code that elects to
provide leave of absence and compensation as provided in section
5923.05 of the Revised Code;
(3)
The law pertaining to the leave established under section 5906.02 of
the Revised Code, if the terms of the agreement contain benefits that
are less than those contained in section 5906.02 of the Revised Code;
(4)
The law pertaining to excess benefits prohibited under section
3345.311 of the Revised Code with respect to an agreement between an
employee organization and a public employer entered into on or after
September 29, 2015;
(5)
state
State
employee
work location policies with respect to an agreement between an
employee organization and a public employer entered into on or after
the
effective date of this amendment
September
30, 2025
.
Except
for sections 306.08, 306.12, 306.35, and 4981.22 of the Revised Code
and arrangements entered into thereunder, and section 4981.21 of the
Revised Code as necessary to comply with section 13(c) of the "Urban
Mass Transportation Act of 1964," 87 Stat. 295, 49 U.S.C.A.
1609(c), as amended, and arrangements entered into thereunder, this
chapter prevails over any and all other conflicting laws,
resolutions, provisions, present or future, except as otherwise
specified in this chapter or as otherwise specified by the general
assembly. Nothing in this section prohibits or shall be construed to
invalidate the provisions of an agreement establishing supplemental
workers' compensation or unemployment compensation benefits or
exceeding minimum requirements contained in the Revised Code
pertaining to public education or the minimum standards promulgated
by the director of education and workforce pursuant to division (D)
of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code.
(B)
The public employer shall submit a request for funds necessary to
implement an agreement and for approval of any other matter requiring
the approval of the appropriate legislative body to the legislative
body within fourteen days of the date on which the parties finalize
the agreement, unless otherwise specified, but if the appropriate
legislative body is not in session at the time, then within fourteen
days after it convenes. The legislative body must approve or reject
the submission as a whole, and the submission is deemed approved if
the legislative body fails to act within thirty days after the public
employer submits the agreement. The parties may specify that those
provisions of the agreement not requiring action by a legislative
body are effective and operative in accordance with the terms of the
agreement, provided there has been compliance with division (C) of
this section. If the legislative body rejects the submission of the
public employer, either party may reopen all or part of the entire
agreement.
As
used in this section, "legislative body" includes the
governing board of a municipal corporation, school district, college
or university, village, township, or board of county commissioners or
any other body that has authority to approve the budget of their
public jurisdiction and, with regard to the state, "legislative
body" means the controlling board.
(C)
The chief executive officer, or the chief executive officer's
representative, of each municipal corporation, the designated
representative of the board of education of each school district,
college or university, or any other body that has authority to
approve the budget of their public jurisdiction, the designated
representative of the board of county commissioners and of each
elected officeholder of the county whose employees are covered by the
collective negotiations, and the designated representative of the
village or the board of township trustees of each township is
responsible for negotiations in the collective bargaining process;
except that the legislative body may accept or reject a proposed
collective bargaining agreement. When the matters about which there
is agreement are reduced to writing and approved by the employee
organization and the legislative body, the agreement is binding upon
the legislative body, the employer, and the employee organization and
employees covered by the agreement.
(D)
There is hereby established an office of collective bargaining in the
department of administrative services for the purpose of negotiating
with and entering into written agreements between state agencies,
departments, boards, and commissions and the exclusive representative
on matters of wages, hours, terms and other conditions of employment
and the continuation, modification, or deletion of an existing
provision of a collective bargaining agreement. Nothing in any
provision of law to the contrary shall be interpreted as excluding
the bureau of workers' compensation and the industrial commission
from the preceding sentence. This office shall not negotiate on
behalf of other statewide elected officials or boards of trustees of
state institutions of higher education who shall be considered as
separate public employers for the purposes of this chapter; however,
the office may negotiate on behalf of these officials or trustees
where authorized by the officials or trustees. The staff of the
office of collective bargaining are in the unclassified service. The
director of administrative services shall fix the compensation of the
staff.
The
office of collective bargaining shall:
(1)
Assist the director in formulating management's philosophy for public
collective bargaining as well as planning bargaining strategies;
(2)
Conduct negotiations with the exclusive representatives of each
employee organization;
(3)
Coordinate the state's resources in all mediation, fact-finding, and
arbitration cases as well as in all labor disputes;
(4)
Conduct systematic reviews of collective bargaining agreements for
the purpose of contract negotiations;
(5)
Coordinate the systematic compilation of data by all agencies that is
required for negotiating purposes;
(6)
Prepare and submit an annual report and other reports as requested to
the governor and the general assembly on the implementation of this
chapter and its impact upon state government.
Section
2.
That
existing section 4117.10 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.