On Wednesday, Senate Bill 181 passed out of the Ohio Senate unanimously. SB 181 creates a template workforce-education partnership program. The Ohio Chamber previously lent our support to the bill in the Senate Higher Education Committee back on October 2.

As was stated in our letter of support regarding SB 181, consistently, we hear from our members that they are struggling to fill workforce shortages. The approach in SB 181 has the potential to fill these shortages in a creative way, and potentially drive down the burden student loans put on individuals pursuing higher education.

This bill was introduced by Senator Bill Coley (R-Liberty Township) in response to a program that Miami University is utilizing with local businesses. This program is modeled from what the University of Louisville created with a partnership with UPS. It is these types of programs that are making a difference in developing the workforce of the future.

The overall issue of workforce development is a particularly difficult issue in part because there is not one single solution to solve workforce shortages currently facing Ohio businesses. We believe that SB 181, along with other currently pending bills, take innovative approaches to attempt to solve this issue.

SB 181 will now move over to the Ohio House for further deliberation. It is our hope that both bills continue to move quickly through the process in an attempt to alleviate one of the biggest issues facing Ohio businesses.