Content Type

The Act provides that a person convicted of rape in which a child was born as a result of the offense shall lose parental rights, visitation rights, and rights of inheritance with respect to that child; provides for an exception at the request of the mother, and provides that a court shall impose on obligation of child support against the offender unless waived by the mother and, if applicable, a public agency supporting the child.

Hepatitis C is a liver disease that results from infection with the hepatitis C virus. It can range in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong illness. Hepatitis C is usually spread when blood from a person infected with the virus enters the body of someone who is not infected. Today, most people become infected with the hepatitis C virus by sharing needles or other equipment to inject drugs. Before 1992, when widespread screening of the blood supply began in the United States, hepatitis C was also commonly spread through blood transfusions and organ transplants. Three states have passed legislation requiring that hospitals offer hepatitis C screening tests for baby boomers (those born between 1945 and 1965), while another recommends that hospitals offer the screening.

The Act allows secondary school students to earn credit for core courses by passing a mastery exam. School districts are required to develop assessment tools and standards for demonstrating mastery in specific secondary school courses, including mathematics, language arts, science, social studies, and world languages. Students who pass such assessment tests will be provided full credit for the course.

The Act establishes findings concerning barriers that terminally ill patients may face in access to potentially life-preserving treatments.

Each year, millions of students are removed from their classrooms for disciplinary reasons, mostly for minor discretionary offenses. Disciplinary removals may be appropriate in situations in which a student poses an immediate safety risk to himself/herself or others on a school campus. But when such removals are administered for minor misconduct, they are often detrimental to students’ academic and behavioral progress. Research, including the groundbreaking Breaking Schools’ Rules study conducted by The Council of State Governments’ Justice Center, demonstrates that exclusionary disciplinary actions increase a student’s likelihood of falling behind academically, dropping out of school, and coming into contact with the juvenile justice system. A disproportionately large percentage of disciplined students are youth of color, students with disabilities, and youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. In response, states across the country are passing legislation that limits the number of students who are removed from school for disciplinary reasons and provides more supportive responses to misbehavior. In 2014, the CSG Justice Center also released the School Discipline Consensus Report, which provides state and local government officials with a comprehensive roadmap for overhauling their approach to school discipline.

Biological products are a growing class of medicines available to treat disease. Biological products differ from traditional drugs in a few key ways. Biologics are manufactured in living cells, while drugs are manufactured through a chemical process. Biosimilars, interchangeable biologicals and follow-on biologics are the names given to the “generic” versions of brand-name biologics. Even after an interchangeable biological is approved by the FDA, it must meet additional requirements to be considered “interchangeable.” The FDA must determine that the biosimilar can be expected to produce the same clinical result as the brand-name product in any patient and that it has similar safety risks as the brand-name product. At the point that the FDA deems a biosimilar interchangeable, state law will govern how substitutions will be allowed.

The Act creates a limited regulatory structure for transportation network companies (TNCs) that use digital networks to connect riders to drivers who provide transportation in their personal vehicles. TNCs are exempt from the regulation for common carriers, contract carriers, and motor carriers but are subject to regulation by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in the Department of Regulatory Agencies.

In response to the growing problem of harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie and other state waterways, Ohio legislators passed two bills addressing agricultural nutrient management.