Hundreds of thousands of Ohio drivers who face driver license suspensions every year may have an easier road to getting their licenses reinstated.

Hundreds of thousands of Ohio drivers who face driver license suspensions every year may have an easier road to getting their licenses reinstated.

Lawmakers gave final approval on Wednesday to a bill that will make it harder to lose your license and easier to get a suspended license reinstated.

The bill now heads to Gov. Mike DeWine for consideration.

The Ohio Poverty Law Center thanked lawmakers for moving the legislation forward.

“With the amendment and passage of House Bill 29, Ohioans who have been shouldering the burden of debt-related driver’s license suspensions will soon find relief and be able to return to the road. A valid driver’s license is essential to participating in Ohio’s economy and earning the money necessary to resolve existing debt,” the center said in a statement on Wednesday.

Currently, Ohio drivers can lose their licenses for more than 30 reasons, many of which are not related to dangerous driving. Reinstatement fees can ramp up quickly, starting at $15 and maxing out at $650.

Roughly 60% of license suspensions each year are for debt-related reasons. Under the bill heading to DeWine’s desk, license suspensions would largely be limited to convictions that are related to dangerous driving.

The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles doesn’t keep statistics on the total number of current suspensions but on average there are 257,500 suspensions imposed each year.

After last-minute changes made Wednesday, the bill would:

• Wipe out old suspensions from the discontinued program that randomly selected drivers to provide proof of insurance.
• Shorten the window in which driving without insurance offenses can be considered repeat offenses from five years to one year.
• Increase the opportunities that Ohioans can ask for driving privileges if their licenses were suspended for failure to pay child support.
• Eliminate school truancy as a reason for license denial or suspension.
• Remove licenses suspensions for drug offenses unrelated to driving.
• Keep the ability to suspend licenses for some lower-level drug abuse offenses when the vehicle is used in the commission of a drug crime.

Statehouse reporter Erin Glynn contributed reporting.

Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

Ohio State has had its ups and downs this season, opening the year at 7-4 with wins over No. 19 Texas and Rutgers with losses to No. 23 Texas A&M, Pitt, Maryland and No. 2 Auburn — that last one a 38-point beatdown in the Holiday Hoopsgiving event in Atlanta this past weekend.

The Buckeyes, led by first-year coach Jake Diebler, are grading out fine as the No. 32 team in the NET and the No. 36 team by KenPom — No. 33 in offense and No. 55 in defense — with terrific shooting numbers while dealing with some availability issues. In a high-profile event like the CBS Sports Classic in a higher-profile venue like Madison Square Garden, though, Mark Pope is expecting OSU’s best shot on Saturday.

“Terrific team, they shoot the ball at an unbelievable clip. I think as a team they’re shooting 41 percent from the 3-point line,” Pope said of the Buckeyes. “They play fast, they play hard, it’s a great coaching staff. They’re a formidable opponent. It’s a really, really good team.”

The highs have been high while the lows have been low, that 38-point loss to Auburn serving as the biggest and most demoralizing black eye. On one end, Ohio State has just one Quad 1 victory in the first game of the season against the Longhorns. Beyond that, though, the Buckeyes are 0-4 in Quad 1 matchups and 6-0 against Quad 3 and 4 teams — no Quad 2s. They’ve beaten up on the cupcakes without much to show for it against the real competition.

That’s where a Quad 1 against UK comes in, a chance for OSU to get back on track with a statement win in the national spotlight. CBS Sports Classic in New York City right before Christmas? That’s what it’s all about, right?

Pope certainly views it that way.

“They’ve had some great success and then a couple of games I think they’d like to take back — like all of us, right?” he said. “A really, really good challenge against a team that is going to continue to get better and better. It’s going to be an epic clash in Madison Square Garden for Christmas. I mean, it’s what you live for.”

Sophomore forward Devin Royal leads the Buckeyes with 15.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest, followed by junior guard Bruce Thornton with 14.8 points per game, freshman guard John Mobley Jr. with 12.1 points and senior guard Micah Parrish with 10.5 points to round out double-digit scorers.

Elsewhere, former Kentucky forward Aaron Bradshaw‘s status remains up in the air after returning to team activities on Dec. 9 with no games under his belt since Nov. 19. Fifth-year guard Meechie Johnson Jr., who is second on the team in minutes played at 28.8 per contest with 10 starts, is also taking a leave of absence from the team to “address some personal matters,” the school announced this week.

Don’t expect the Wildcats to have their guard down against the Buckeyes — even with Christmas just a couple of days away. Gotta earn an 11th win on the year before cruising into the holiday.

Ohio promoted Brian Smith to be its long-term head coach Wednesday, removing the interim tag.

Smith, who served as the Bobcats’ offensive coordinator this season and has been part of the staff since 2022, was named interim head coach Dec. 9 after Tim Albin’s departure to Charlotte. Smith will receive a five-year contract from the school, according to a source.

Ohio, which won the MAC to claim its first conference title since 1968, is set to face Jacksonville State on Friday at the StaffDNA Cure Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The Bobcats led the MAC in scoring, yards per game and rushing this season.

“He presented a plan for not only sustaining our culture and foundation but also building upon it in the evolving landscape of college football,” athletic director Julie Cromer said in a statement. “He prioritizes our student-athletes’ experiences and shares our common goals of developing leaders, graduating students, unifying our community and amplifying our university.”

Smith, 44, came to Ohio as running backs coach and passing game coordinator in 2022 and added the associate head coach title in 2023. He was Washington State’s offensive coordinator and running backs coach in 2020 and 2021 and also has coordinator experience from Hawai’i, working under Nick Rolovich at both schools.

Smith is a former offensive lineman and long snapper at Hawai’i who had two coaching stints at his alma mater, as well as stops at Cal Lutheran, Occidental, Portland State and Oregon State.

Ohio has won 10 games for the past three seasons under Albin and has been one of the more consistent Group of 5 programs, going 144-94 since the start of the 2006 season.