Bill Aimed at Strengthening Ohio Athletic Commission Receives First Hearing

(COLUMBUS)-House Bill 538 (Callender, A. Mathews) this week received sponsor testimony in the House General Government Committee, announced Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) Chair Jamie Callender (R-Concord) and JCARR member Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon). House Bill 538 seeks to strengthen the Ohio Athletic Commission (OAC), formerly the Ohio Boxing Commission, by providing the resources necessary to accomplish its expanded role for both athletics and agents.

First created in 1996, the OAC expanded the scope of the Ohio Boxing Commission to encompass regulation of all unarmed combat sports in Ohio. Since then, it has also become an oversight agency for athlete agents and portions of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) licensure. To accomplish this goal, the OAC currently has two full-time and one part-time employee supporting an appointed board of five voting and two non-voting members. The commission is based in Youngstown due to Northeast Ohio's history of producing world class boxers and promoters, including Lenny and Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini (Youngstown) and Don King (Cleveland).

The idea behind House Bill 538 began earlier this year when JCARR staff discovered that every one of the OAC's 106 rules were outside of their five-year rule review period. The Ohio Revised Code requires every administrative rule subject to JCARR's oversight to come before the committee at least every five years for review to determine if the rule is overburdensome, duplicative, or outdated. Rules that fall outside this window risk becoming unenforceable. In addition to these rules, it was discovered that the OAC had not promulgated a single rule regarding its oversight of athlete agents.

Following this discovery, the executive director of the OAC was asked to appear before JCARR in June to explain why the rules were outside their review period. The director explained that he did not have legal support from the Ohio Attorney General, who has a deputy AG assigned to the OAC, with regards to rulemaking or for conducting reviews of the Ohio Revised Code regarding its oversight responsibilities. House Bill 538 was crafted to address this concern by placing the OAC under the Department of Commerce, giving the OAC access to legal, rulemaking, and personnel support. Additionally, the Department of Commerce will be able to provide additional resources for compliance and investigative efforts to crack down on unregulated fights taking place in Ohio.

"JCARR exists to promote government efficiency. By ensuring state agencies operate within statutory authority and accomplish their core functions, we remove excessive burdens on Ohioans," said Mathews. "House Bill 538 is government working as intended: by bringing the OAC into compliance and giving it the resources it needs to effectively oversee unarmed combat sports, we clarify and solidify its regulatory framework to the benefit of all Ohioans in this arena."

"Ensuring that agencies are in compliance with state and federal law while incurring a minimal burden on Ohioans is part of the core mission of JCARR," said Callender. "Thanks to the work of the JCARR team, the OAC is not only well on its way to bringing its rules into compliance but will soon have the resources it needs to effectively oversee unarmed combat sports in Ohio, paving the way for future Ohioans to compete at the highest level of boxing, MMA, and other athletic endeavors in a controlled and regulated manner."

House Bill 538 now awaits additional hearings before the House General Government Committee.