House Bill 545 is now House Bill 109. We have had several hearings on this issue and received lots of support. Sherri Hughes testified on our behalf. We also heard testimony from Tyler Bowes - a constituent of Representative Damschroder who has worn hearing aids his whole life; Gail Whitelaw - representing the Ohio Speech and Hearing Governmental Affairs Coalition; Gregg Thornton - Executive Director of the Ohio Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; and 3 additional groups/people submitted written comments. We are getting close to a decision. Please call us if you have any questions.

Representative Rex Damschroder proposed House Bill 545 on May 15, 2012. This bill introduces our internet hearing aid legislation. This bill will amend sections 1345.30 and 1345.99 of the Revised Code to specify individuals who are permitted to recommend and fit hearing aids and to prohibit specified sales of hearing aids via mail.

Senate Bill 304 was proposed on March 28th 2012 by State Senator Troy Balderson. If approved it would designate May as “Better Hearing and Speech Month”.

Senators Bill Seitz and Shirley Smith have introduced Senate Bill 337 and Representatives Ross McGregor and Tracy Heard have introduced House Bill 524. These are lengthy bills and one of the provisions would prohibit the preclusion of individuals from obtaining or renewing certain licenses, certifications, or permits due to any past criminal history unless the individual had committed a crime of moral turpitude or a disqualifying offense. The Hearing Aid Dealers and Fitters License is included in the bill.

New Rule Change Requires One Hour of Ethics or State Law Beginning in 2009, all hearing instrument specialists and audiologists licensed under ORC 4747 are required to have one hour of ethics or state law as part of the ten (10) continuting education hours needed to renew your license. There are several ways to obtain this hour. You can attend a licensing board meeting in Columbus to receive this credit. There are four (4) licensing board meetings per year. Contact Brenda Bruce at 614-466-5215 for more information.