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| To enact section 5101.345 of the Revised Code to | 1 |
| create the Ohio Family Stability Commission in the | 2 |
| Department of Job and Family Services and to | 3 |
| repeal section 5101.345 of the Revised Code four | 4 |
| years after the effective date of that section. | 5 |
| Section 1. That section 5101.345 of the Revised Code be | 6 |
| enacted to read as follows: | 7 |
| Sec. 5101.345. (A) There is hereby created in the department | 8 |
| of job and family services the Ohio family stability commission. | 9 |
| The commission shall consist of twenty-five members, four of whom | 10 |
| shall be members of the general assembly and twenty-one of whom | 11 |
| shall be government agency representatives, private citizens, or | 12 |
| elected officials other than members of the general assembly. Two | 13 |
| of the four general assembly members shall be appointed by the | 14 |
| speaker of the house of representatives and shall be members of | 15 |
| different political parties. The other two general assembly | 16 |
| members shall be appointed by the president of the senate and | 17 |
| shall be members of different political parties. The remaining | 18 |
| twenty-one members who are government agency representatives, | 19 |
| private citizens, or elected officials shall be appointed by the | 20 |
| governor in accordance with the following: | 21 |
| (1) Two shall have expertise in out-of-wedlock births; | 22 |
| (2) Two shall have expertise in marital divorce; | 23 |
| (3) One shall have expertise in education; | 24 |
| (4) One shall have expertise in employment; | 25 |
| (5) One shall have expertise in child support; | 26 |
| (6) One shall have expertise in child custody; | 27 |
| (7) One shall have expertise in child abuse and neglect; | 28 |
| (8) One shall have expertise in domestic violence; | 29 |
| (9) Two shall have expertise in the judicial system; | 30 |
| (10) Two shall have expertise in criminal justice; | 31 |
| (11) Two shall have expertise in faith-based initiatives; | 32 |
| (12) Two shall have expertise in fatherhood programs; | 33 |
| (13) Two shall have expertise in philanthropic or nonprofit | 34 |
| management; | 35 |
| (14) One shall have expertise in mass media or | 36 |
| communications. | 37 |
| The members of the commission shall serve at the pleasure of | 38 |
| their appointing authorities. Vacancies shall be filled in the | 39 |
| manner provided for original appointments. Members shall serve | 40 |
| without compensation, except to the extent that serving on the | 41 |
| commission is considered part of their regular duties of | 42 |
| employment. | 43 |
| (B) The commission shall be staffed by personnel of the | 44 |
| department of job and family services. This division does not | 45 |
| require the department to employ personnel who the department | 46 |
| otherwise would not have employed. | 47 |
| (C)(1) During its first year of operation, the commission | 48 |
| shall conduct research and formulate recommendations to the | 49 |
| general assembly, appropriate state agencies, and other | 50 |
| appropriate entities concerning the following societal issues | 51 |
| that impact the stability of families in this state: | 52 |
| (a) The divorce rate in this state and measures and | 53 |
| strategies for reducing the divorce rate; | 54 |
| (b) The birth rate among unmarried individuals in this | 55 |
| state and measures and strategies for reducing the number of | 56 |
| births occurring outside of marriage; | 57 |
| (c) The rate of domestic violence, including child abuse, in | 58 |
| this state and measures and strategies for reducing that rate; | 59 |
| (d) Issues concerning child custody and child support. | 60 |
| The recommendations formulated under division (C)(1) of this | 61 |
| section shall provide the general assembly, appropriate state | 62 |
| agencies, and other appropriate entities with strategies, both | 63 |
| legal and otherwise, for addressing the issues studied under | 64 |
| divisions (C)(1)(a) to (d) of this section. | 65 |
| (2) During its second year of operation, the commission shall | 66 |
| work with the general assembly, appropriate state agencies, and | 67 |
| other appropriate entities to implement the recommendations | 68 |
| formulated under division (C)(1) of this section; | 69 |
| (3) During its third year of operation, the commission shall | 70 |
| continue to work for the implementation of the recommendations | 71 |
| formulated under division (C)(1) of this section and begin | 72 |
| monitoring their implementation. The commission shall issue a | 73 |
| report to the general assembly at the expiration of its third | 74 |
| year of operation regarding the status of the implementation of | 75 |
| the recommendations formulated under division (C)(1) of this | 76 |
| section. | 77 |
| (4) During its fourth year of operation, the commission shall | 78 |
| conduct activities ensuring the continued implementation and, if | 79 |
| applicable, the enforcement of the recommendations formulated | 80 |
| under division (C)(1) of this section. The commission shall | 81 |
| issue a report to the general assembly at the end of its fourth | 82 |
| year of operation regarding the status of the implementation of | 83 |
| the recommendations formulated under division (C)(1) of this | 84 |
| section. | 85 |
| (D) After the issuance of its report under division (C)(4) of | 86 |
| this section, the commission shall cease to exist. | 87 |
| Section 2. Section 5101.345 of the Revised Code is hereby | 88 |
| repealed effective the first day of the forty-ninth month after | 89 |
| the effective date of this act. | 90 |