June 8, 2026 · Arts, Athletics and Tourism Committee · 1,258 words · 10 speakers · 39 segments
I now call this meeting of Arts, Athletics, and Tourism Committee to order. I'd invite you to please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Clerk, please call the roll.
Chair Miller? Here. Vice Chair Heiner? Here. Ranking Member Jarrells? Excuse. Representative Dieter? Here. Representative Gambari? Present. Representative Grimm? Here. Representative Larray is excused. Representative Matthews? Here. Representative McNally? Here. Representative Rob Laysdale? Here. Representative Swearingen is excused. Representative Thomas? Here. Representative Upchurch?
All right, with the quorum being present, we will proceed as a full committee. Today, in the absence of Representative Gerald, I'd like to designate Representative Grimm as our committee secretary for the meeting.
Is that all right with you?
Yes, it is, Madam Chair. Thank you. Thank you. All right, committee members, I'd like to invite you to take a look at your iPads to review the previous meeting minutes from June 2nd, 2026. Are there any objections to the minutes? Without objection, the minutes are approved. I'd like to recognize Vice Chair Heiner for a point of privilege.
Thank you, Chair. I just want to take a minute and share with everyone some changes going on in the 98th district. Since we started this GA, Jake Pipe Cooch has been my legislative aide. And, you know, we all know that, you know, we don't make this stuff happen. It's these folks that do all the heavy lifting for us. Jake kind of been here quietly in the background doing all this stuff And he is moving on to greener pastures and joining strategic public partners as a lobbying agent And I just want to thank him publicly for all his work and time and effort that he has put into this committee and everything else that he's done for the 19th District for that matter. Annika McNichols will be taking his place and she's here with us today as well. so thank him on your way out today and welcome her.
All right, thank you very much. At this time, I would now like to bring forward House Bill 255 for its fourth hearing
and recognize Vice Chair Heiner for a motion. Thank you, Chair. I would like to move to amend House Bill 255 with substitute bill L-136-3348.
The motion is in order. Could you please explain the substitute bill?
Would be happy to. The substitute bill comes from the sponsors and replaces the Ohio Sports Commission with the Ohio Sports Council. The council's focus will be to study and assess the economic impact of sports-related activities in Ohio, evaluate state and local tax revenues, and make policy recommendations to the General Assembly. The substitute bill also reduces the membership structure from a 17-member board to a 14-member council and revises the appointment process, among other changes.
Thank you. Are there any objections to the sub-bill for consideration? Without objection, the motion is agreed to and the substitute bill is adopted. Thank you very much, everyone. All right, we do not have any in-person testimony today, but I would like to draw your attention to the iPads. We do have written proponent testimony. In fact, our IPs have now moved to proponent with this substitute bill From David Gilbert the President and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and Linda Logan the president and CEO of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission Both David and Linda have collaborated with Representative Jerrolds and I on this bill and I'm very grateful for their strong support. And one of the things that we did identify is that there is a gap in our state in being able to measure the economic impact of the sports tourism economy. And we're hopeful that creating this Ohio Sports Council will help fill that gap and provide recommendations in the future to the legislature. At this time, Vice Chair Heiner. Before you do that, Representative Gumbari would like to ask a question. Okay, Representative Gumbari, yes, sir, you may ask a question.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a question on the substitute House bill, just for some clarifying purposes. So no objections. I'm just curious. On page two, where it outlines the members of the commission, it delineates that they need to represent the convention and visitors bureau. They need to represent the sports commissions throughout the state. They need to represent local sports commissions, et cetera. How how did you and your colleague decide that it was important to have an individual that physically represented them? I guess my question is, like, if we were looking at another bill or, like, another commission, and we would want subject matter expertise from, like, the fire side or the police side, you know, I would think it would be appropriate that we would have someone representing the fire and someone representing the police, not simply something generic that says we want to appoint, you know, one person by the House and one person by the Senate. So in this bill, you really outlined that they need to be connected to that. So I'm just kind of wondering how you came to that conclusion. and if there was any concerns from policy or anyone else when you delineated that they have to have that type of connectivity.
Thank you for the question. There were not any concerns in particular. I think again, what we were trying to get at was wanting to fill that gap and what better than to have the experts that are in that space to make up that council to provide that insight So that where we were able to grab that I thought that would be your answer and I concur that it's important that we have experts with a
little bit of institutional knowledge to have a seat at the table on these different councils and commissions that we're creating instead of simply saying the House shall appoint one person and the Senate shall appoint one person. I think it's important. I just want the record to reflect that that knowledge and expertise is key to informing the decision-making process of the body that we're standing up and that these individuals on here don't constitute a majority of the members, but they certainly have a seat at the table. So I commend you for doing that. Thank you.
I really appreciate the question and that feedback.
Thank you very much, Representative. At this time, I would like to recognize Vice Chair Heiner for a motion.
Thank you, Chair. I move to favorably report House Bill 255 and recommend its passage.
Will the Clerk please call the roll?
Chair Miller?
Yes.
Vice Chair Heiner?
Yes.
Ranking Member Gerald is excused. Representative Dieter?
Yes.
Representative Gambari?
Yes.
Representative Grimm?
Yes.
Representative LeRae is excused. Representative Matthews?
Yes.
Representative McNally?
Yes.
Representative Rob Blaisdell?
Yes.
Representative Swearingen is excused.
Representative Thomas. Yes.
Okay, thank you. With nine affirmative votes and zero negative votes, the bill is favorably reported. Thank you very much, committee members. I invite you to please sign the roll call sheet as it is passed around. And if you'd like to add your name to the bill, please indicate by adding a star if you'd like to be a co-sponsor. This concludes the fourth hearing of House Bill 255. Seeing no other business, this concludes the Arts, Athletics, and Tourism Committee. We are adjourned.