By Isabella Schreck

The state of higher education in Ohio will soon see some significant changes after Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 1 into law – and Summit County politicians had opinions to share about what the future will bring. 

In March, Ohio State Sen. Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson), a state treasurer hopeful, continued her support of the DEI-eliminating bill. 

Senate Bill 1, which eliminates any DEI-related programming and training, lessens protections for tenured faculty, bans faculty from striking and says colleges and universities cannot take stances on “controversial” topics, such as abortion or climate change, is now law. 

DeWine signed the legislation March 28. This legislation will affect all public higher education in the state, and noncompliance could result in a loss of state funding. 

The bill was introduced Jan. 22 and passed by the House (59-34) March 19. The Senate approved it 20-11 March 26. 

Roegner, chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, was a co-sponsor of the reintroduced bill. The legislation was named Senate Bill 83 last congressional session.

"As chair, I am committed to ensuring that our universities are offering the highest caliber education, where students are able to reach their full intellectual potential, where research and critical thinking are promoted, free speech is encouraged, where innovation is nurtured, and performance is rewarded,” Roegner said in a press release. “We want Ohio’s students to be educated, not indoctrinated.”

She is also in favor of Trump’s executive order to end all DEI programming in nearly all sectors. She responded “well said!” to the following post about a Senate-floor speech from Ohio State Representative Gary Click (R-Vickery): 

“If what I had growing up is white privilege, I want a refund! DEI flips the script on MLK's dream that his children would be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. It is time for D.E.I to D.I.E.  #SB1 #FloorSpeech,” Click said. 

Before it received the governor’s signature, Ohio State Rep. Veronica Sims (D-Akron) took a stance on Senate Bill 1 in a press release March 24. She said the bill was trying to solve problems that “do not exist.”

“SB 1 erodes the collective bargaining abilities of essential faculty and instructors. SB 1 shackles the hands of our professors to teach and the minds of our students to learn, and it denies our young adults in higher education their right to be fully educated,” Sims said. 

Ohio State Sen. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson) had condemned the bill earlier this year in a press release, saying SB1 eliminated the state’s economic competitiveness and acted as a “distraction.”

“Senate Bill 1 is a misguided attempt to micromanage higher education in Ohio, imposing unnecessary restrictions on our universities, faculty, and students,” Weinstein said Jan. 22. “This bill is not about promoting free speech, it’s about silencing diverse perspectives and allowing harmful misinformation, like Holocaust denial, to be presented as legitimate discourse. This bill undermines the integrity of Ohio’s educational system and jeopardizes critical thinking in our classrooms.”    

Sykes was the only Summit County politician to bring forth federal legislation in March.

The congresswoman introduced multiple bills, which all sit in the House as of March 29. These pieces of legislation include: 

Roegner, an Ohio treasurer hopeful who announced her candidacy in February, brought forth a resolution in March in support of moving NASA’s headquarters to Cleveland after its lease in Washington is up in 2028. “Ohio is the birthplace of aviation,” the resolution read. 

According to a Cleveland 19 article posted March 26, NASA confirmed to the station it does not have plans to move its headquarters. 

Ohio State Reps. Bill Roemer (R-Richfield), Jack Daniels (R-New Franklin), Sims and Derrick Hall (D-Akron) did not introduce any bills in March. Weinstein also did not introduce any legislation. 

Sykes voted on dozens of bills during March. 

On the topic of homeland security, Sykes supported the following bills: 

Sykes also voted in favor of the Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act, which would extend the statute of limitations for fraud for the Coronavirus Relief Act and other unemployment programs. She also voted “Yes” to the Cost-Share Accountability Act of 2025, which would require the new Department of Energy to report its work, and the DOE and USDA Interagency Research Act, which would require the Department of Energy and the Department of Agriculture to work together for greater research.

In late February, Hall announced he will serve on the House Energy Committee, House Medicaid Committee and House Ways and Means Committee. Hall, who is an Army Judge Advocate General's Corps officer in the U.S. Army Reserves, was also made a ranking member for the House Veterans and Military Development Committee.

This was the first news from the representative since the start of this new legislative session. 

Sykes was the only Summit County Representative that regularly kept her social media accounts up to date on her engagement with constituents. She, along with Weinstein, met with people across their district to “make their voices heard” at their own “Community Conversation” event March 18 in Akron.

Sykes, more than any month so far this year, has brought on the partisan tweets in March. 

In response to the president’s March 19 executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, Sykes tweeted out her fervent opposition to the move. 

“What the president is attempting to do is take away invaluable resources from kids in #OH13 and across the country,” she wrote. 

She has also commented on the Trump Administration's plans to lay off over 80,000 workers in the Department of Veterans Affairs, attending a protest of this plan outside the Akron VA Clinic. 

In another community-political involvement, Sykes joined the National Association of Letter Carriers March 25 against the Trump administration's recent announcement of potential plans to privatize the United State Postal Service.  

On March 27, the congresswoman responded to members of Trump’s administration accidentally adding the editor of The Atlantic into a conversation about a planned attack in Yemen on a messaging app’s group chat earlier in March. The situation has brought forth questions and concerns about the state of the U.S.’ national security, though no disciplinary actions have taken place. 

 

“The fact Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth disclosed information that should have been classified in a group chat is horrifying,” she wrote on X. “By doing so, he put American soldiers' lives at risk. These are people's parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, and friends, and their lives should be treated with more respect.”

Roegner, who endorsed Republican Vivek Ramaswamy for Ohio governor last month, has continued to praise him on her social media throughout March. She stated on X that she had never endorsed a candidate in a gubernatorial primary before.  

Cincinnati-native Ramaswamy became the youngest Republican primary presidential candidate ever in 2024. He stood out during that election for stating he wanted to require voters 24 and under pass a civics test to vote. 

In the gubernatorial race, he has expressed his goal of eliminating Ohio’s state income tax, among other initiatives. Roegner retweeted a March 10 post about eliminating state income tax from the governor hopeful. 

“I am proud of the progress we have made in Ohio but to make Ohio the very best state in the nation - a state of excellence-  we need ⁦bold leadership which is why I endorsed @VivekGRamaswamy⁩ to be Ohio’s next governor,” she wrote on X March 15. 

Roegner also shared her support for initiatives DeWine has been in favor of, including banning cellphones in Ohio schools and creating plans to promote fitness in schools. In May 2024, DeWine had signed House Bill 250, which required all Ohio school districts to create a cell phone policy that would help eliminate phone usage during school hours. 

DeWine’s second term ends in 2027, and the gubernatorial election will be held Nov. 3, 2026.