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The Ohio Senate, on June 17, unanimously voted to accept the amendments made to Senate Bill (S.B.) 79 in the Ohio House of Representatives. The bill removes the term "mental retardation" from the names of the Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Development Disabilities (MRDD) and the County Boards of MRDD. The bill now goes to the Governor, who has publicly supported the bill, for his signature.
S.B. 79 was introduced by State Senator Jimmy Stewart (R-Albany) in March, 2009. State Representatives Deborah Newcomb (D-Conneaut) and Debbie Phillips (D-Athens) also introduced a companion House Bill (H.B.) 118. Both bills passed out of committee in early June. S.B. 79, which had already passed the Senate in April, was approved by the House on June 10, 2009 by a unanimous vote of 98-0.
Self-advocates from southeast Ohio and across the state deserve credit for the outstanding efforts they made to educate and inform their own legislators and to gain their support for the name change legislation.
Read the bill: Senate Bill 79
Article posted June 19, 2009