Bill Text: OH SB341 | 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 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-05-19 - To Finance [SB341 Detail]
Download: Ohio-2013-SB341-Introduced.html
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Senator Turner
Cosponsors:
Senators Schiavoni, Gentile
| 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 |
