Ohio House unanimously approves bill to update athletic trainers law

COLUMBUS (WKRC) – Athletic trainers are half of the way to being able to provide more life-saving treatment on sidelines across Ohio.

House Bill 176 was presented on the House floor Wednesday by first year assembly member, Rep. Thomas Hall (Madison Twp. – R). The bill will revise the athletic trainers’ Practice Act, which hasn’t been updated since 1991. The bill’s other co-sponsor is Rep. Rick Carfagna (Genoa Twp. – R).

The bill passed by a unanimous 95-0 vote out of the House.

“House Bill 176 modernizes the Practice Act for Ohio’s athletic trainers, in order to better reflect current practice and changes in athletic training education and training,” said Rep. Hall. “There are currently over 2,300 licensed athletic trainers in Ohio, and we should be able to fully utilize athletic trainers and their modern-day skills.”

The current law, legislators say, is outdated, and does not reflect the practices athletic trainers are taught and trained on in school.

“This is a great day for athletic trainers in Ohio, because we are finally recognizing the training and education that they are receiving currently,” Rep. Hall said.

Local 12 followed this same bill last general assembly, when Rep. Cindy Abrams was co-sponsor of the bill. That bill was presented in the second year of a two-year general assembly, when it passed out of the House 90-5 in June and then stalled in the Senate.

Local 12 will continue to follow the bill and provide updates once it is assigned a committee in the Senate.