OhioSB 276136th General Assembly (2025-2026)SenateWALLET

Ratify the Interstate Compact for School Psychologists

Sponsored By: Kristina D. Roegner (Republican)

Signed by Governor

EducationPrimary and Secondary EducationHealth and Human ServicesOccupational Licensing and Regulation

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

7 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 1 costs, 2 mixed.

Massage therapists gain interstate licensing with requirements

Ohio joins the Interstate Massage Compact, which takes effect when seven states enact it. Qualifying therapists can get a multistate license instead of separate full licenses in each member state. Applicants need an active home-state license and one education path: 625 clock hours; qualifying schooling plus two years of continuous good-standing licensure; or Commission-approved equivalent training. They need an accepted national exam, not a state exam, and a background check. Accepted exam routes include the Massage and Bodywork Licensure Examination and qualifying national board licensure before January 1, 2015. Applicants cannot have a felony within five years before applying, excluding time served, or a massage-related misdemeanor within two years. Kidnapping, human trafficking or smuggling, sexual battery or assault, and other rule-designated offenses bar eligibility. Prior license revocation and recent disciplinary action also face restrictions. Applicants pay required fees; states and the Commission can charge licensing fees, and the Commission can assess member states. Therapists must follow the laws where they practice. The Commission sets rules and runs a shared licensing and disciplinary data system. Home states control multistate-license discipline, while other states can restrict practice within their borders; discipline can stop interstate work. A state's withdrawal takes effect 180 days after repeal, with continued license recognition for at least 180 days after notice.

School psychologists gain interstate licensing with requirements

Ohio joins the school psychologist compact, which takes effect when seven states enact it. Qualifying psychologists can apply for an equivalent license in another member state. They must maintain an active home-state license, meet state and Commission requirements, pay fees, and complete the receiving state's background check. Home-state licensing requires a qualifying education program, a national exam, and 1,200 supervised internship hours, including 600 in a school. Home-state renewal rules, including continuing education, still apply. Active military members and their spouses have special home-state options: their permanent-residence state, main practice state, or a member state reached through permanent change of station orders. The Commission sets rules and runs a shared licensing and disciplinary data system; member states maintain complaint and investigation processes. States and the Commission can charge licensing fees, and the Commission can assess member states. Discipline can deactivate interstate practice rights, and receiving states can restrict practice within their borders. The compact overrides conflicting state requirements. A state's withdrawal takes effect 180 days after repeal, with continued license recognition for at least 180 days after notice.

Active-duty licensees get more education reporting time

Licensees can request more time to report continuing education because of active-duty service during the current or a prior reporting period. They must apply and provide documents proving the service and its length. The licensing agency must extend the current period by the months served on active duty during that current period. Any part of a month counts as a full month.

Students gain cross-school activity and team options

Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, qualifying high schools must allow petitions from neighboring-school students whose schools lack an activity. Receiving schools must offer the activity and belong to an organization regulating interscholastic athletics. Participation needs approval from the student's district superintendent and the receiving school's superintendent or chief administrator. The student's superintendent must certify no participation in that district's activity during the same school year. Students in districts with multiple high schools must first petition another district high school that offers the activity. Students can use this pathway for the same activity at only one high school per school year. Wanting a different competition level alone does not qualify. Separately, qualifying neighboring schools can form one joint team when neither has enough willing students. The required number is the minimum needed during competition, plus half that number, rounded up.

Schools must teach the success sequence

Ohio school districts must include success sequence instruction in one or more courses covered by the law. Districts can use state-listed materials, another aligned curriculum, or materials that combine the instruction with specified existing requirements. Ohio's education department must review and maintain a resource list for grades six through twelve. Listed materials must reflect evidence of positive personal and societal outcomes using the best available research methods.

Students get combined tests and national comparisons

Ohio's statewide hybrid testing system replaces specified diagnostic tests, achievement tests, and end-of-course exams in the same grades and subjects. Results show performance against state learning standards and include national percentile rankings and scores that track progress across grades. The education department generally cannot require a separate national comparison test in covered grades or subjects. A separate test remains allowed when federal law requires it or the General Assembly expressly authorizes it.

Massage license renewal requires continuing education

Ohio massage therapists must show they completed board-required, board-approved continuing education during the current licensing period before renewal. Any exception needs board approval. Missing the requirement automatically ends the right to practice. Reinstatement requires all due fees, a board-set penalty, and proof that the education requirement is met. After a license has been forfeited for two or more years, the board can also require training or testing.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Kristina D. Roegner
Republican • Senate

Cosponsors

Andrew O. Brenner
Republican • Senate
Beth Liston
Democratic • Senate
Bill Reineke
Republican • Senate
Gary Click
Republican • House
George F. Lang
Republican • Senate
Hearcel F. Craig
Democratic • Senate
Jane M. Timken
Republican • Senate
Jerry C. Cirino
Republican • Senate
Kent Smith
Democratic • Senate
Michele Reynolds
Republican • Senate
Paula Hicks-Hudson
Democratic • Senate
Sandra O'Brien
Republican • Senate
Shane Wilkin
Republican • Senate
Stephen A. Huffman
Republican • Senate
Theresa Gavarone
Republican • Senate
Thomas F. Patton
Republican • Senate
William P. DeMora
Democratic • Senate

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 129 • No: 51

Senate vote • 6/11/2026

Concurred in House amendments

Yes: 24 • No: 9

House vote • 6/10/2026

Passed

Yes: 60 • No: 38

House vote • 6/9/2026

Education: Reported

Yes: 8 • No: 4

Senate vote • 11/12/2025

Passed

Yes: 31 • No: 0

Senate vote • 11/5/2025