The Ohio Senate considers legislation to create a universal regulatory sandbox to allow testing of new products and services

State lawmakers are considering legislation to create a program that would make it easier for more businesses to test new products and services.

The program, known as a regulatory sandbox, allows businesses to test products or services for a designated period while they are still under regulatory review.

Ohio currently has a regulatory sandbox for financial services, created in 2022 with the passage of Senate Bill 249. Now, new legislation would create a universal sandbox for all products and services.

The state House passed House Bill 176 last week, sending the measure to the state Senate, which is considering its own legislation, Senate Bill 90. The Senate measure is currently pending before the Senate Committee on General Government.

Justan Rice, the director of state government affairs at the Libertas Institute, said that the benefits of a universal sandbox have been demonstrated by similar programs implemented in other states.

“This development represents a significant and timely enhancement,” Rice said. “This is a meaningful and well-timed expansion.”

“States including Arizona, Utah, Kentucky, and Kansas have adopted universal sandbox programs with notable results, reducing barriers to entry for entrepreneurs while maintaining consumer protections. Ohio possesses a distinct opportunity to join these states by adopting such innovative approaches.”

The text of the legislation says that Ohio’s proposed universal sandbox program would include provisions that allow state agencies to recommend denial if a temporary waiver could endanger the health, safety, or financial well-being of consumers, and require participants to provide disclosures to consumers stating that their product or services are under testing before any transaction.

Participants would also be required to keep business records, report consumer harms to the division and relevant agencies, and submit written exit reports within thirty days of leaving the program. The regulatory relief division would also be able to remove participants at any time during the testing period.

“Taken together, these provisions show that SB 90 is not a free-for-all deregulation — it is a carefully structured, accountable, and evidence-based process through which Ohio can assess if existing laws and regulations are still suitable for today’s market,” Rice said.

Businesses using the sandbox would be required to pay state taxes on products or services under testing and be subject to laws that allow consumers to seek restitution if harmed.

Tony Long, the General Council and Director of Energy and Environmental Policy at the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, testified in favor of the legislation and said that the program would allow lawmakers to evaluate if current regulations should be changed.

“SB 90 also permits the regulatory relief division to examine current state laws and regulations to determine if the regulations inhibit the creation and success of new companies or industries in Ohio,” Long said. “The division can then make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly regarding modifying those laws and regulations. The regulatory relief division can also propose reciprocity agreements between states that use, or are proposing to use, similar sandbox programs.”

Jacob Flowers, the Ohio assistant state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said that regulatory sandbox programs encourage entrepreneurship in a proponent testimony.

“All big businesses at one point started out as small businesses, and the key to their success was developing new and innovative ways to create, market and sell products,” Flowers said. “Giving these entrepreneurs the opportunity to explore a product offering in a limited way will help them determine whether or not to invest considerable financial resources into putting it before the wider market.”

SB 90 was originally introduced in 2025 and is sponsored by Sens. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, and George Lang, R-West Chester.

Greg R. Lawson, a research fellow at the Buckeye Institute, said that sandbox programs help both customers and businesses.

“Businesses like regulatory sandboxes because they can react more quickly to changing market conditions,” Lawson said. “Sandboxes make regulatory compliance more affordable, particularly for entrepreneurs, and help businesses access more capital and tolerate more risk, critical needs for startups and expansions. Regulatory sandboxes help consumers by improving access to better, safer products.”