Bill Text: OH HB555 | 2013-2014 | 130th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: To require the Emergency Management Agency to operate the Individual Disaster Relief Pilot Program, to establish the Individual Disaster Relief Fund, and to make an appropriation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-05-20 - To Finance and Appropriations [HB555 Detail]
Download: Ohio-2013-HB555-Introduced.html
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Representatives Rogers, Letson
Cosponsors:
Representatives Mallory, Hagan, R., Antonio, Barborak
To enact section 5502.391 of the Revised Code to | 1 |
require the Emergency Management Agency to operate | 2 |
the Individual Disaster Relief Pilot Program, to | 3 |
establish the Individual Disaster Relief Fund, and | 4 |
to make an appropriation. | 5 |
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 5502.391 of the Revised Code be | 6 |
enacted to read as follows: | 7 |
Sec. 5502.391. (A) As used in this section, "small business" | 8 |
means any corporation, partnership, proprietorship, limited | 9 |
liability company, or other business entity that has fewer than | 10 |
one hundred employees. | 11 |
(B) There is an individual disaster relief fund in the state | 12 |
treasury. The fund consists of all appropriations made to the | 13 |
fund, cash transferred to the fund from the budget stabilization | 14 |
fund, and all grants, gifts, and contributions of money made to | 15 |
the fund from any source. Investment earnings of the fund shall be | 16 |
credited to the fund. The emergency management agency shall | 17 |
administer the fund. | 18 |
(C) The emergency management agency shall operate the | 19 |
individual disaster relief pilot program. The objective of the | 20 |
pilot program shall be to assist individuals and small businesses | 21 |
recover after a disaster through awarding grants to eligible | 22 |
applicants. The pilot program shall be operated for five years. | 23 |
(D) As a function of the pilot program, the agency shall use | 24 |
the money in the individual disaster relief fund to provide grants | 25 |
to individuals and small businesses for assistance with recovery | 26 |
after a disaster. The grants shall be used to pay for damage to or | 27 |
loss of real or personal property, and for disaster recovery | 28 |
expenses, such as removal of disaster-generated debris. The | 29 |
maximum grant allowed for each individual or small business is ten | 30 |
thousand dollars, or the amount of the damage or loss, whichever | 31 |
is less. | 32 |
(E) To be eligible to receive a grant under the pilot | 33 |
program, an individual or small business shall satisfy all of the | 34 |
following criteria: | 35 |
(1) Suffer damage or loss not covered by insurance as a | 36 |
result of a disaster; and | 37 |
(2) Be located in a municipal corporation, county, or | 38 |
township where the mayor, board of county commissioners, or board | 39 |
of township trustees, respectively, has declared that a disaster | 40 |
occurred and the declaration has been accepted by the governor. | 41 |
(F)(1) An individual or the owner or chief executive officer | 42 |
of a small business may apply for a grant under the pilot program | 43 |
by filing an application with the emergency management agency, on | 44 |
a form furnished by the agency, setting forth the facts | 45 |
establishing the individual's or small business's eligibility, and | 46 |
certifying that, if approved, all grant moneys received will be | 47 |
used to pay for damage to or loss of real or personal property, | 48 |
and for disaster recovery expenses, such as removal of | 49 |
disaster-generated debris. An individual or the owner or chief | 50 |
executive officer of a small business shall provide detailed | 51 |
factual information to indicate to the agency how the disaster | 52 |
caused the damage to or loss of real or personal property or | 53 |
necessitated disaster recovery expenses. An application must be | 54 |
submitted within sixty days following the declaration that a | 55 |
disaster occurred. Only one individual per household or one owner | 56 |
or chief executive officer per small business is entitled to apply | 57 |
for a grant. | 58 |
(2) The emergency management agency shall review an | 59 |
application to determine whether the individual or small business | 60 |
meets the eligibility criteria. The agency shall make an | 61 |
eligibility determination within fifteen days following receipt of | 62 |
the application. | 63 |
(G)(1) The emergency management agency shall establish | 64 |
procedures for the accounting of expenditures of grant moneys | 65 |
received by an individual or small business through the pilot | 66 |
program. | 67 |
(2) The agency shall require an individual and small business | 68 |
that has received a grant to complete a form, furnished by the | 69 |
agency, to demonstrate the grant was used to pay for damage to or | 70 |
loss of real or personal property, or for disaster recovery | 71 |
expenses. The agency may require an individual or small business | 72 |
to provide invoices, receipts, or other documents necessary to | 73 |
demonstrate the grant was properly used. | 74 |
(3) The agency may investigate the expenditures of an | 75 |
individual or small business that has received a grant. | 76 |
(4) The agency shall recover from the individual or small | 77 |
business all moneys not used to pay for damage to or loss of real | 78 |
or personal property, or for disaster recovery expenses, by | 79 |
requiring an individual or small business to repay all such | 80 |
moneys. If the agency is not able to recover all moneys not used | 81 |
to pay for damage to or loss of real or personal property, or for | 82 |
disaster recovery expenses, from an individual or small business, | 83 |
the agency shall notify the attorney general and shall request | 84 |
that the attorney general recover such moneys. The attorney | 85 |
general shall commence a civil action against the individual or | 86 |
small business to recover all moneys not used to pay for damage to | 87 |
or loss of real or personal property, or for disaster recovery | 88 |
expenses. | 89 |
(H) A mayor, board of county commissioners, or board of | 90 |
township trustees may declare, for purposes of the individual | 91 |
disaster relief pilot program, that a disaster has occurred in a | 92 |
municipal corporation, county, or township. The mayor, board of | 93 |
county commissioners, or board of township trustees shall notify | 94 |
the governor of the disaster declaration not later than | 95 |
forty-eight hours after making the declaration. The governor shall | 96 |
either accept or reject a disaster declaration and shall notify | 97 |
the mayor, board of county commissioners, or board of township | 98 |
trustees of the governor's decision not later than forty-eight | 99 |
hours after receiving notification of a disaster declaration. The | 100 |
governor's acceptance of a disaster declaration under this section | 101 |
is not a declaration by the governor that a state of emergency or | 102 |
disaster exists. | 103 |
(I) The emergency management agency may conduct an | 104 |
adjudication under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code as necessary | 105 |
in the course of administering the individual disaster relief | 106 |
fund. | 107 |
(J) Not later than ninety days after the conclusion of the | 108 |
pilot program, the emergency management agency shall prepare a | 109 |
report regarding the pilot program. The report shall include all | 110 |
of the following information: | 111 |
(1) The number of applications received and the number of | 112 |
applications accepted and denied; | 113 |
(2) The number and amount of grants provided, classified into | 114 |
descriptive ranges; | 115 |
(3) A description of the damages or losses sustained by grant | 116 |
recipients and how grant moneys have been used to pay for the | 117 |
damage or loss; and | 118 |
(4) Any other information the agency considers necessary to | 119 |
give an appropriate account of the pilot program. | 120 |
The agency shall submit the report to the governor, the | 121 |
president and minority leader of the senate, and the speaker and | 122 |
minority leader of the house of representatives. | 123 |
Section 2. Notwithstanding section 131.43 and division (D) of | 124 |
section 127.14 of the Revised Code, as soon as a declaration of | 125 |
disaster has been accepted by the Governor, the Director of Budget | 126 |
and Management shall transfer up to $15,000,000 cash from the | 127 |
Budget Stabilization Fund to the Individual Disaster Relief Fund. | 128 |