YOUNGSTOWN — The political action committee of Youngstown State University President Bill Johnson, a former Republican congressman, gave campaign contributions to state legislators who led the charge on a law eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education and banning faculty strikes.

Belief in Life and Liberty PAC (BILL’s PAC) gave $1,000 contributions to three Republican members of the Senate Higher Education Committee — Chairwoman Kristina D. Roegner of Hudson, Vice Chairwoman Jane Timken of Jackson and Jerry Cirino of Kirtland, with the latter sponsoring the bill.

The bill — the Ohio Higher Education Act, also known as Senate Bill 1– originated in the Senate Higher Education Committee before being approved by the Republican-led state Legislature. All Republicans, except three in the House and one in the Senate, voted for the bill, while all Democrats in both legislative bodies voted against it.

The PAC also gave $1,000 to Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, who decides what bills get moved to the floor for votes in the upper chamber, and $250 to state Rep. Nick Santucci, R-Niles, a member of the House Workforce and Higher Education Committee.

Overall, Johnson’s PAC gave $14,000 in political contributions during the first six months of the year with all but $250 going to Republicans.

That included $5,000 to the Ohio Republican Party, $2,500 to U.S. Sen. Jon Husted and $1,000 to U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, who succeeded Johnson in the House after the latter resigned in January 2024. The PAC gave $1,000 to state Sen. Brian M. Chavez, R-Marietta, vice chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

The lone Democrat to receive money from Johnson’s PAC in the first half of this year is state Rep. Lauren McNally of Youngstown, whose district includes YSU.

Johnson said, “I donate money to leaders who are trying to improve our university, state and nation. I will continue to do so.”

The donations are the first time Johnson’s PAC contributed to politicians since he transferred $873,721 to it on June 30, 2024, from a different PAC he briefly created with the money left from his congressional campaign account.

BILL’s PAC paid the Ohio Republican Party $4,995 for “event tickets and travel expenses” for Johnson and $3,995 to the ORP with the same description for Sarah Keeler, a former Johnson congressional and campaign staffer who is now YSU’s vice president for government affairs, in December 2024. But those aren’t technically political contributions.

While Johnson’s PAC hasn’t received any contributions since Jan. 1, 2024, shortly after YSU trustees hired him Nov. 21, 2023, it continues to collect interest on the money in it. Johnson left the U.S. House on Jan. 21, 2024, after 13 years to become YSU president.

On Nov. 29, 2023, eight days after he was hired to lead YSU, but before his start date, Johnson’s campaign fund gave $235,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee.

During the first six months of this year, the PAC received $13,123 in interest.

The PAC spent $106,366 during the first six months of the year with $80,000 of it going to the YSU Foundation, which supports scholarships and student initiatives at the university as well as the growth and development of the school. The PAC gave $20,000 to the YSU Foundation on Oct. 17.

Johnson said in July 2024 that he wanted to use some of the PAC’s money to assist YSU.

Other expenses during the first six months of this year included a $1,463 “PAC travel expense” for a stay at a Washington, D.C., hotel; $3,245 for four separate “PAC event catering” expenses; a $309 bill at a Washington restaurant, listed as a “PAC meeting expense;” and $300 for a ticket to the Jefferson County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day dinner.

The PAC paid $3,224 to the U.S. Department of Treasury in taxes, $3,202 to Professional Data Services of Athens, Georgia, for compliance services and $596 to Johnson for undisclosed expenses during the first six months of this year.

As of June 30, the PAC had a $744,785 surplus.

Known as a conservative during his time in Congress, Johnson supported SB1, saying it “strengthens freedom of speech.”

FACULTY REACTION

The YSU-Ohio Education Association faculty union led an unsuccessful statewide effort seeking to get a referendum on the bill on the Nov. 4 ballot, but couldn’t get the needed signatures in time.

Mark Vopat, the union’s president, said he was “disappointed” Johnson contributed money from his PAC to those who backed the bill.

“I don’t believe it’s a good idea for any university president to operate a PAC,” Vopat said. “It poses a conflict of interest. University presidents can have personal views and we’ve had them contribute out of their own pocket to politicians. A PAC is on a different level.”

Vopat added: “This is the first time I’ve seen a university president operate a PAC. There seems to be a conflict with the responsibilities of being a university president and who you represent.”

SB1 bans diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at public colleges and universities in programs, training and recruiting; prohibits faculty strikes; requires annual evaluations for faculty, even those with tenure; requires public colleges and universities to publish expected costs and outcomes for degree programs and implements stronger oversight of administrative spending; and doesn’t permit those schools to take positions on any “controversial belief or policy,” including “issues such as climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity, equity and inclusion programs, immigration policy marriage or abortion.”

On April 23, as the faculty union was collecting signatures seeking to overturn SB1, Johnson issued a statement saying, “The university has no intentions of supporting any opposition efforts to reverse the law,” and “YSU’s interpretation of SB1 is that it strengthens freedom of speech and encourages robust discussion of diverse — and sometimes controversial — perspectives both inside and outside the classroom.”

Johnson added: “YSU will comply with all legal requirements of the law while maintaining our fundamental principles,” and “SB1 does not alter YSU’s identity or core values. We remain committed to treating all individuals with respect, enforcing our anti-discrimination policies, fostering an environment conducive to intellectual growth and prioritizing our students’ success.”