Ohio lawmakers are moving forward with a bill that codifies a lengthy definition of antisemitism, reintroduced and amended legislation from the last General Assembly.
Brought forward last year by Sen. Terry Johnson (R-McDermott), Senate Bill 87 makes the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism the law—at least, in civil and administrative investigations by state agencies.
“Two years ago, following the horrific, brutal, merciless Oct. 7 attack on Israel, we witnessed a concerning wave of extremist demonstrations,” Johnson testified. “Antisemitism, unfortunately, is seemingly on the rise.”
SB 87, which cleared the Senate on March 4 by a 27-4 vote, also adds riots based on someone’s race, religion or national origin to Ohio’s legal definition of ethic intimidation. Four of nine Democrats in the Senate voted against the bill.
Its opponents argue the IHRA’s working definition, which also outlines eleven antisemitic scenarios, risks infringing on the First Amendment by defining anti-Israel comments as antisemitic.
“I have concerns about this legislation,” Sen. Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) testified. “I really wish we could have had more time to discuss it.”
The eleven scenarios Ohio lawmakers might codify range from denying the Holocaust to conflating modern-day Israel with Nazism.
SB 87’s similarly long list of proponents, like Sen. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson), say the bill is sorely needed. Weinstein—who is Jewish—referenced an “inflammatory” moment during a committee hearing two weeks earlier.
“I’m not going to repeat what was said in that Senate hearing, but it was pretty awful,” he testified. “This bill gives our institutions clear framework to recognize and respond to hate.”
SB 87 is now in the hands of the House, where it awaits a committee assignment and first hearing.
