Legislative Updates
Legislation of Interest
Bill Tracking
- Safe Staffing Legislation: ONA continues to push for enforceable staffing standards.
- Workplace Violence Prevention: ONA advocates for holding hospitals accountable for worker safety.
- Nursing Workforce Development: ONA is continuously monitoring where Ohio stands on improving recruitment and retention for nurses and health professionals.
Specific bill numbers will be placed here as bills are introduced that are of interest to Ohio Nurses and Health Professionals. As a reminder, each general assembly starts with a blank slate and bills that were not passed into law before the end of the previous general assembly must be reintroduced and assigned a new bill number if it is to be reconsidered in the new general assembly. Due to this, there will be times where there are no specific bill numbers to monitor.
Cornerstone Safe Staffing Agenda: HB 521 & HB 535
ONA’s top priorities remain our two safe staffing bills:
HB 521 – Ohio Nurse Workforce and Safe Patient Act sponsored by Representatives Lett and Cockley.
Establishes statewide expectations for safe staffing, ties staffing to patient safety, and creates the Nursing Student Loan-to-Grant Program to strengthen the pipeline.
HB 535 – Hospital Staffing Committees Modernization sponsored by Representative Lorenz.
Hopeful to receive hearings in the new year, HB 535 is the companion to HB 521.
Rather than setting ratios, it updates hospital staffing committees so they function as intended: collaborative, transparent, and led by the nurses who provide care. The bill:
o Strengthens committee authority so nurse recommendations cannot be overridden without meaningful justification
o Requires use of current data, including outcomes, acuity, and turnover
o Ensures equal nurse representation and true shared governance
o Adds accountability so hospitals must implement approved staffing plans
o Prevents committees from being used as a substitute for adequate staffing or as a shield from regulatory scrutiny
Together, HB 521 and HB 535 form a bipartisan, dual-track approach: one bill setting statewide expectations for safe staffing, and the other ensuring hospital-level committees can tailor plans to specific units and patient populations. This combination of consistency plus local flexibility has been key to building support across the political spectrum.