Civil Justice panel adopts Substitute Senate Bill 32 after close vote on auctioneers amendment

The Ohio House Civil Justice Committee on the floor favorably reported Substitute Senate Bill 32 as amended after adopting several changes, including language clarifying the status of community action agencies and a narrowly divided amendment affecting auctioneer licensing.

Josh Summer, appearing for the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies, told the committee that community action agencies are private, nonprofit organizations and asked lawmakers to "end the confusion and emphasize that we are private non profit organizations." He said the agencies had no issue with notice requirements for board meetings but sought to avoid being treated as public bodies.

Representative Swearingen explained Amendment 3353 as relief for auctioneers who had previously been required to complete an apprenticeship and now face continuing-education obligations under a newer licensing scheme. "What they're upset about is now they're being required to take CE, which they never had to take in the first place," Swearingen said, arguing the change was "unfair and overly burdensome." Representative Schmidt urged more careful consideration, saying he "can't support this amendment at this time" and called for further clarification.

On a roll call, the auctioneers amendment was adopted 8 to 7 and incorporated into the substitute bill. The committee then agreed to include Crown Act language and, on a subsequent voice/roll call, voted 15–0 to favorably report Substitute Senate Bill 32 as amended to the Committee on Rules.

The bill will now go to Rules for further consideration; committee members were asked to sign the roll for processing.

Details of the votes and amendments are reflected in the committee record. The committee moved quickly through technical amendments earlier in the hearing, adopting cleanup changes for records storage and other provisions before addressing the more contentious auctioneers amendment.