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Read. Follow. Verify.Ohio HB 700 restricts legal aid funding for undocumented individuals and bars state-funded entities from providing minor gender transition services
Last action · February 18, 2026: Referred to General GovernmentSponsor: Josh Williams
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What This Bill Would Do
Ohio House Bill 700 prohibits legal aid societies and the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation from using state or foundation funds to provide legal services to individuals unlawfully present in the United States, while also barring any entity that receives state funds from providing gender transition services to minors. The measure mandates findings for recovery and a four-year state funding ban for any organization found in violation. Additionally, the bill modifies board membership requirements for the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation and enforces compliance with federal public benefit eligibility restrictions.
Organizations receiving state support face a four-year ban on grants and public funds alongside mandatory financial recovery audits if they provide specified legal services to undocumented individuals or gender transition services to minors.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Legal aid societies
Legal aid societies face strict funding prohibitions regarding undocumented individuals and risk a four-year loss of financial assistance and state grants if violations are found during an audit.
Ohio Access to Justice Foundation
The foundation must enforce funding restrictions, alter board membership rules, include audited financial statements in annual reports, and face penalties for non-compliance.
Entities providing gender transition services to minors
Entities providing these services are prohibited from receiving grants, loans, or services from any state-funded agency or entity.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if a legal aid society provides legal assistance to an undocumented immigrant?
Are entities that provide gender transition services to minors barred from receiving state money?
Who serves on the board of directors of the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
2 actions- Feb 18, 2026HouseCommitteeReferred to General Government
- Feb 17, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expansion of Auditor Enforcement and Funding Bans
The bill ties compliance across distinct policy areas—immigration legal aid and minor healthcare—directly to the state auditor's recovery findings and mandatory four-year state funding disqualifications.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legislature.ohio.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance80How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy85Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz75Current news / social attention level
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