A bill to lower the age from 66 to 65 for Ohioans to qualify for a senior discount on sportsman licenses, sponsored by state Rep. David Thomas, passed out of the state House.

The bill now goes to the state Senate.

“This bill means something to those who love Ohio’s outdoors and conservation efforts, and creates fairness for age qualifications of senior discounts in the Ohio Revised Code,” said Thomas, R-Jefferson, whose district includes portions of Trumbull County.

The bill lowers the age from 66 to 65 for those wanting to get sportsmen licenses. The discount for fishing licenses would go from $24 to $9 and hunting licenses would go from $18 to $9.

Thomas said he wasn’t sure why the current age limit is 66 in state law for Ohioans to get the senior discount. Thomas said he was informed by a constituent on his first day in the Ohio House about the issue and wanted to change the law.

“If we can get grandparents out with their grandkids, even just with the public education from this bill that senior discounts exist and not break the bank for conservation efforts in Ohio, that is a win-win, and I so appreciate my colleagues’ support,” Thomas said.

It is the second bill sponsored by Thomas, a freshman state representative, to pass the Ohio House.

He sponsored a bill to reduce the number of required instruction hours by 24 for seniors to graduate from Lakeside High School in Ashtabula and not impact the district’s state funding.

The House passed the bill on Feb. 26.

The waiver was needed because the school’s roof partially collapsed in December after the area got about five feet of accumulated snow, closing the school for three days. Then a state of emergency was declared in January by Gov. Mike DeWine for Ashtabula County because of subzero temperatures, closing the school for two more days.

After the roof partially collapsed, high school students were relocated to other buildings in the district.