By Peggy Kirk Hall
Proposals that would formally designate several “ag-related days” in Ohio, allow Ohio Farm Bureau to provide healthcare benefit coverage to its members, regulate imitation meat and egg products, and expand homemade food production opportunities are receiving attention in the Ohio legislature. Here’s a summary of the bills and where they stand in the legislative process.
H.B. 65 – Agriculture Appreciation Act
The Ohio House of Representatives passed H.B. 65 on April 2, and the bill was introduced in the Senate on April 8. Sponsored by Rep. Roy Klopfenstein (R-Haviland) and Rep. Bob Peterson (R-Sabina), the act proposes the following official designations:
- “FFA Week” as the week ending with the last Saturday in February.
- “4-H Week” as the week ending with the second Saturday of March.
- “Agriculture Day” on March 21.
- "National Farmers Market Week" as the first full week of August.
- “Ohio Stormwater Awareness Week” as the first week of October.
- “Farmer’s Day” on October 12.
- “Ohio Soil Health Week” as the second full week of November, to celebrate and raise awareness for the importance of soil health and in honor of the birthday of soil pioneer and advocate David Brandt.
Readers might recognize some of H.B. 65’s proposed designations, and that would be because a similar bill nearly passed the legislature last year. A last minute amendment in the Senate prevented the proposal from making it through the General Assembly before December 31, 2024, however.
S.B. 100 and H.B. 99 – Exemption from insurance regulations for nonprofit agricultural membership organizations
Identical bills that would exempt healthcare benefits offered by “nonprofit agricultural membership organizations” from insurance regulations has passed the Senate and is moving through the House Insurance Committee, despite opposition from a number of health care advocacy groups. H.B. 99, sponsored by Rep. Bob Peterson (R-Sabina) and S.B. 100, sponsored by Sen. Susan Manchester (R-Waynesfield) would define a “nonprofit agricultural membership organization” as an organization that was incorporated in Ohio on or before December 31, 1919 to promote the interests of farms and that provides contractual healthcare benefit coverage exclusively with members of the organization and their families. Healthcare benefit coverage provided by such an organization, according to the proposal, is not “insurance” and is not subject to insurance regulations. The bill would also allow the nonprofit organizations to assume or reinsure the risks arising out of healthcare benefit coverage with a company authorized to provide insurance in Ohio. Opponents who testified in the bill’s third hearing before the House Insurance Committee on April 8 fear the legislation would allow discrimination against persons with pre-existing conditions.
H.B. 10 – Imitation Meat and Egg Products
A bill that would prohibit the sale of foods that are “misbranded” as a meat or egg product has received two hearings before the House Agriculture Committee. Sponsored by Rep. Roy Klopfenstein (R-Haviland) and Rep. Jack Daniels (R-New Franklin), H.B. 10 defines “misbranded” meat and egg products as those that: contain manufactured-protein food products or fabricated-egg products, are offered for sale by a food processing establishment, and have a package label that includes certain “meat” or “egg” terms. A food processing establishment that sells misbranded meat and egg products would be subject to a penalty of up to $10,000 per day. The bill would also require Ohio agencies to request a USDA exemption of cultivated-protein food products and fabricated-egg products from eligibility under SNAP and WIC food programs and would require Ohio school districts and state institutions of higher education to adopt policies preventing the purchase of cultivated-protein food products or foods misbranded as meat or egg products. Several agricultural organizations testified in support of the bill in its second hearing on April 2, 2025.
H.B. 134 - Microenterprise home kitchen operations
A bi-partisan bill would add Ohio to the small but growing list of states that have adopted “food freedom laws” to loosen regulations on the sale of homemade foods. Sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester) and Rep. Latyna Humphrey (D-Columbus), H.B. 134 would create a new “microenterprise home kitchen operation” registration that would broaden the types of foods a person could produce at home and sell directly to customers. Ohio law currently allows a person to sell certain “cottage foods” and “home bakery” foods with minimal regulation but requires producers of other foods to produce the foods in a commercial kitchen and operate under state and local food licenses. H.B. 134 would remove those requirements and allow a registered microenterprise home kitchen operation to produce and sell any homemade foods (except those containing alcohol or drugs), including items such as canned goods and hot meals. The annual $25 registration would require an inspection by the Ohio Department of Agriculture to ensure the microenterprise home kitchen operation meets requirements in the law regarding operations, food safety, storage and preparation, and sales and delivery of the food. H.B. 134 received its second hearing before the House Agriculture Committee today, April 9, with two proponents testifying in support of the bill.
Source : osu.edu