Chamber’s Advocacy Leads to Passage of Reciprocity Bill

The chamber’s advocacy team is thrilled to share the news that after two years of extensive advocacy, Senate Bill 105 unanimously passed the Ohio House late last week and its making its way to the Governor’s desk for signing. This bill will remove needless red-tape and unnecessary paperwork for minority, women and veteran entrepreneurs seeking certification in Ohio. Under current law, MBE’s WBE’s and VBE’s must be certified separately in each jurisdiction where they seek to do business. SB105, sponsored by Senators Vernon Sykes and Kirk Schuring, requires Ohio’s political subdivisions to recognize state certification, thereby eliminating unnecessary and duplicative paperwork for entrepreneurs wishing to operate their business in Ohio.

Recap of the chamber’s Advocacy Efforts

• In 2019, Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Dayton proactively met with the Cincinnati Chamber and the City of Cincinnati to discuss solutions to problems that were impeding minority business growth in our communities. One issue that arose was the idea of reciprocity- why should an MBE be required to be re-certified in every municipality where it did business?
• In 2020-2021, the Dayton Area Chamber convened multiple roundtables with Secretary of State Frank LaRose, and eventual bill sponsor, Senator Vernon Sykes, to provide opportunities for our MBE’s to share their challenges with the current certification processes.
• In early-mid 2021- the chamber provided testimony on multiple versions of the bill in both the Ohio Senate & House, and worked with Senator Sykes to expand the original language of the bill to include WBE’s & VBE’s in the certification reciprocity.
  The Dayton Chamber engaged our Metro Chamber counterparts to ensure that advocacy for this bill was being championed across the state.

What began as a conversation between public and private sector leaders in Dayton and Cincinnati evolved into a statewide initiative to improve the business climate for our minority, women and veteran owned businesses. Our work continues but we’re pleased to see this legislation cross the finish line.

View the Senate Bill