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(128th General Assembly)
(Substitute House Bill Number 449)
AN ACT
To amend sections 123.024, 141.02, 2108.72, 2108.73,
3313.616, 3721.50, 4503.46, 5111.21, 5533.785,
5902.02, 5907.01, 5907.02, 5907.021, 5907.04,
5907.08, 5907.10, 5907.11, 5907.12, 5907.13,
5911.10, 5913.01, 5913.011, 5913.02, 5913.021,
5919.06, 5919.26, 5919.28, 5919.29, 5919.34,
5923.05, and 5924.136, and to repeal sections
5907.023, 5907.05, and 5913.04 of the Revised Code
and to amend Section 409.10 of Am. Sub. H.B. 1 of
the 128th General Assembly, as subsequently
amended, to make changes to the law regarding the
Ohio Veterans' Home Agency and the Department of
Veterans Services, to allow a DD Form 93, Record
of Emergency Data, to satisfy the written
declaration requirements for designating a person
authorized to direct disposition of human remains,
to modify the membership of the Veterans Advisory
Committee, to provide publicly employed
firefighters and emergency medical technicians
with a minimum paid military leave of seventeen
24-hour days, to make changes to the salaries of,
and other laws regarding, the Adjutant General and
assistant adjutants, and to make an appropriation.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio:
SECTION 1. That sections 123.024, 141.02, 2108.72, 2108.73,
3313.616, 3721.50, 4503.46, 5111.21, 5533.785, 5902.02, 5907.01,
5907.02, 5907.021, 5907.04, 5907.08, 5907.10, 5907.11, 5907.12,
5907.13, 5911.10, 5913.01, 5913.011, 5913.02, 5913.021, 5919.06,
5919.26, 5919.28, 5919.29, 5919.34, 5923.05, and 5924.136 of the
Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 123.024. (A) The department of administrative services
shall assign and make available, at state expense, suitable office
space in state-owned facilities to accommodate the office
operations of the state headquarters of all both of the following:
(1) All veterans organizations in this state that either are
incorporated and issued a charter by the congress of the United
States or are recognized by the United States department of
veterans affairs;
(2) The auxiliary organizations of veterans organizations
described in division (A)(1) of this section;
(3) The Ohio veterans' home agency.
(B) The department may situate office space for each
auxiliary organization of a veterans organization with or near the
office space of that veterans organization.
Sec. 141.02. (A) The salaries of the adjutant general, the
assistant adjutant general for army, the assistant adjutant
general for air, and the assistant quartermaster general shall be
paid according to divisions (B) and (H) of section 124.15 of the
Revised Code.
(B) The adjutant general, the assistant adjutant general for
army, the assistant adjutant general for air, and the assistant
quartermaster general shall receive the basic allowances for
quarters and for subsistence of their rank according to the pay at
the time prescribed for the armed forces of the United States,
except that the assistant adjutant general for air shall not
receive flying pay. The adjutant general shall not receive any
flying pay, even if the adjutant general is an officer in the air
national guard.
(C) The adjutant general, assistant adjutant general for
army, and the assistant adjutant general for air may take a leave
of absence from their respective positions without loss of pay for
the time they are performing service in the uniformed service as
required by their federally recognized officer status. These
positions shall not accrue leave as other permanent state
employees do but shall accrue leave and record usage of leave as
if these positions were those of the administrative department
heads listed in section 121.03 of the Revised Code.
(D) If the assistant quartermaster general is a federally
recognized officer, the assistant quartermaster general may take a
leave of absence from the position without loss of pay for the
time the assistant quartermaster general is performing service in
the uniformed service as required by the person's federally
recognized officer status and the assistant quartermaster general
shall not accrue leave as other permanent state employees do but
shall accrue leave and record usage of leave as if the assistant
quartermaster general were an administrative department head
listed in section 121.03 of the Revised Code. If the assistant
quartermaster general is not a federally recognized officer, the
assistant quartermaster general shall accrue leave as other
permanent state employees do.
(E) Notwithstanding Chapter 102. of the Revised Code and any
other provision of law, the adjutant general, assistant adjutant
general for army, assistant adjutant general for air, and
assistant quartermaster general may retain, in addition to any
state compensation, any federal pay, allowances, and compensation
received because of any federally recognized officer status.
Sec. 2108.72. (A) The written declaration described in
section 2108.70 of the Revised Code shall include all of the
following:
(1) The declarant's legal name and present address;
(2) A statement that the declarant, an adult being of sound
mind, willfully and voluntarily appoints a representative to have
the declarant's right of disposition for the declarant's body upon
the declarant's death;
(3) A statement that all decisions made by the declarant's
representative with respect to the right of disposition are
binding;
(4) The name, last known address, and last known telephone
number of the representative or, if the representative is a group
of persons, the name, last known address, and last known telephone
number of each person in the group;
(5) If the declarant chooses to have a successor
representative, a statement that if any person or group of persons
named as the declarant's representative is disqualified from
serving in such position as described in section 2108.75 of the
Revised Code, the declarant appoints a successor representative;
(6) If applicable, the name, last known address, and last
known telephone number of the successor representative or, if the
successor representative is a group of persons, the name, last
known address, and last known telephone number of each person in
the group;
(7) A space where the declarant may indicate the declarant's
preferences regarding how the right of disposition should be
exercised, including any religious observances the declarant
wishes the person with the right of disposition to consider;
(8) A space where the declarant may indicate one or more
sources of funds that may be used to pay for goods and services
associated with the exercise of the right of disposition;
(9) A statement that the declarant's written declaration
becomes effective on the declarant's death;
(10) A statement that the declarant revokes any written
declaration that the declarant executed, in accordance with
section 2108.70 of the Revised Code, prior to the execution of the
present written declaration.;
(11) A space where the declarant can sign and date the
written declaration;
(12) A space where a notary public or two witnesses can sign
and date the written declaration as described in section 2108.73
of the Revised Code.
(B) A written declaration may take the following form:
APPOINTMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE FOR DISPOSITION OF BODILY
REMAINS, FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS, AND BURIAL OR CREMATION GOODS AND
SERVICES:
I, ................. (legal name and present address of
declarant), an adult being of sound mind, willfully and
voluntarily appoint my representative, named below, to have the
right of disposition, as defined in section 2108.70 of the Revised
Code, for my body upon my death. All decisions made by my
representative with respect to the right of disposition shall be
binding.
REPRESENTATIVE:
(If the representative is a group of persons, indicate the
name, last known address, and telephone number of each person in
the group.)
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SUCCESSOR REPRESENTATIVE:
If my representative is disqualified from serving as my
representative as described in section 2108.75 of the Revised
Code, then I hereby appoint the following person or group of
persons to serve as my successor representative.
(If the successor representative is a group of persons,
indicate the name, last known address, and telephone number of
each person in the group.)
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PREFERENCES REGARDING HOW THE RIGHT OF DISPOSITION SHOULD BE
EXERCISED, INCLUDING ANY RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES THE DECLARANT
WISHES A REPRESENTATIVE OR A SUCCESSOR REPRESENTATIVE TO CONSIDER:
ONE OR MORE SOURCES OF FUNDS THAT COULD BE USED TO PAY FOR
GOODS AND SERVICES ASSOCIATED WITH AN EXERCISE OF THE RIGHT OF
DISPOSITION:
DURATION:
The appointment of my representative and, if applicable,
successor representative, becomes effective upon my death.
PRIOR APPOINTMENTS REVOKED:
I hereby revoke any written declaration that I executed in
accordance with section 2108.70 of the Ohio Revised Code prior to
the date of execution of this written declaration indicated below.
AUTHORIZATION TO ACT:
I hereby agree that any of the following that receives a copy
of this written declaration may act under it:
- Cemetery organization;
- Crematory operator;
- Business operating a columbarium;
- Funeral director;
- Embalmer;
- Funeral home;
- Any other person asked to assist with my funeral, burial,
cremation, or other manner of final disposition.
MODIFICATION AND REVOCATION - WHEN EFFECTIVE:
Any modification or revocation of this written declaration is
not effective as to any party until that party receives actual
notice of the modification or revocation.
LIABILITY:
No person who acts in accordance with a properly executed
copy of this written declaration shall be liable for damages of
any kind associated with the person's reliance on this
declaration.
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Signed this ...... day of ....... |
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(Signature of declarant) |
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF ASSUMPTION OF OBLIGATIONS AND COSTS:
By signing below, the representative, or successor
representative, if applicable, acknowledges that he or she, as
representative or successor representative, assumes the right of
disposition as defined in section 2108.70 of the Revised Code, and
understands that he or she is liable for the reasonable costs of
exercising the right, including any goods and services that are
purchased.
ACCEPTANCE (OPTIONAL):
The undersigned hereby accepts this appointment as
representative or successor representative, as applicable, for the
right of disposition as defined in section 2108.70 of the Revised
Code.
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Signed this ...... day of ....... |
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Signature of representative (if representative is a group of persons, each person in the group shall sign) |
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Signed this ...... day of ....... |
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Signature of successor representative (if successor representative is a group of persons, each person in the group shall sign) |
WITNESSES:
I attest that the declarant signed or acknowledged this
assignment of the right of disposition under section 2108.70 of
the Revised Code in my presence and that the declarant is at least
eighteen years of age and appears to be of sound mind and not
under or subject to duress, fraud, or undue influence. I further
attest that I am not the declarant's representative or successor
representative, I am at least eighteen years of age, and I am not
related to the declarant by blood, marriage, or adoption.
First witness: |
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OR
NOTARY ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
State of Ohio
County of ............. SS.
On ..............., before me, the undersigned notary public,
personally appeared ................., known to me or
satisfactorily proven to be the person whose name is subscribed as
the declarant, and who has acknowledged that he or she executed
this written declaration under section 2108.70 of the Revised Code
for the purposes expressed in that section. I attest that the
declarant is at least eighteen years of age and appears to be of
sound mind and not under or subject to duress, fraud, or undue
influence.
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Signature of notary public |
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My commission expires on: |
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(C) Completion of a federal Record of Emergency Data form, DD
Form 93, or its successor form, by a member of the military, is
sufficient to constitute a written declaration under section
2108.70 of the Revised Code if section 13a of DD Form 93, entitled
"Person Authorized to Direct Disposition," has been properly
completed by the member of the military who has subsequently died
while under active duty orders as described in 10 U.S.C. 1481.
Sec. 2108.73. A written declaration executed by a declarant
under section 2108.70 of the Revised Code shall be signed and
dated by the declarant in the presence of either one of the
following:
(A) A notary public who shall make the certification
described in section 147.53 of the Revised Code.
(B) Two witnesses who are adults and who are not related by
blood, marriage, or adoption to the declarant.
(C) If the written declaration is a DD Form 93, Record of
Emergency Data, by whomever the form requires.
Sec. 3313.616. (A) Notwithstanding the requirements of
sections 3313.61, 3313.611, and 3313.612 of the Revised Code, the
board of education of any city, exempted village, or local school
district or the governing authority of any chartered nonpublic
school may grant a high school diploma to any veteran of World War
II, the Korean conflict, or the Vietnam conflict who is a resident
of this state or who was previously enrolled in any high school in
this state if all of the following apply:
(1) The veteran either:
(a) Left a public or nonpublic school located in any state
prior to graduation in order to serve in the armed forces of the
United States;
(b) Left a public or nonpublic school located in any state
prior to graduation due to family circumstances and subsequently
entered the armed forces of the United States.
(2) The veteran received an honorable discharge from the
armed forces of the United States.
(3) The veteran has not been granted a diploma as provided in
section 3313.61 or 3313.612 of the Revised Code, a diploma of
adult education as provided in section 3313.611 of the Revised
Code, or a diploma under this section.
(B) Notwithstanding the requirements of sections 3313.61,
3313.611, and 3313.612 of the Revised Code, the board of education
of any city, exempted village, or local school district or the
governing authority of any chartered nonpublic school may grant a
high school diploma to any woman who left high school during World
War II, the Korean conflict, or the Vietnam conflict and who is a
resident of this state or was previously enrolled in any high
school in this state, if both of the following apply:
(1) The woman either:
(a) Left a public or nonpublic school located in any state
prior to graduation in order to join the workforce to support her
family or to join the war effort;
(b) Left a public or nonpublic school located in any state
prior to graduation due to family circumstances and subsequently
joined the workforce or war effort.
(2) The woman has not been granted a diploma as provided in
section 3313.61 or 3313.612 of the Revised Code, a diploma of
adult education as provided in section 3313.611 of the Revised
Code, or a diploma under this section.
(C) If a person who would otherwise qualify for a diploma
under this section is deceased, the board of education of any
school district or the governing authority of any chartered
nonpublic school may award such diploma to the person posthumously
and may present that diploma to a living relative of the person.
(D) The department of veterans services, in accordance with
section 111.15 of the Revised Code, and with the advice and
consent of the veterans advisory committee established under
division (K)(J) of section 5902.02 of the Revised Code, shall
develop and adopt rules to implement this section. Such rules
shall include, but not be limited to, rules establishing
procedures for application and verification of eligible persons
for a diploma under this section.
Sec. 3721.50. As used in sections 3721.50 to 3721.58 of the
Revised Code:
(A) "Franchise permit fee rate" means the amount determined
as follows:
(1) Determine the difference between the following:
(a) The total net patient revenue, less medicaid per diem
payments, of all nursing homes and hospital long-term care units
as shown on cost reports filed under section 5111.26 of the
Revised Code for the calendar year immediately preceding the
fiscal year for which the franchise permit fee is assessed under
section 3721.51 of the Revised Code;
(b) The total net patient revenue, less medicaid per diem
payments, of all nursing homes and hospital long-term care units
as shown on cost reports filed under section 5111.26 of the
Revised Code for the calendar year immediately preceding the
calendar year that immediately precedes the fiscal year for which
the franchise permit fee is assessed under section 3721.51 of the
Revised Code.
(2) Multiply the amount determined under division (A)(1) of
this section by five and five-tenths per cent;
(3) Divide the amount determined under division (A)(2) of
this section by the total number of days in the fiscal year for
which the franchise permit fee is assessed under section 3721.51
of the Revised Code;
(4) Subtract eleven dollars and ninety-five cents from the
amount determined under division (A)(3) of this section;
(5) Add eleven dollars and ninety-five cents to the amount
determined under division (A)(4) of this section.
(B) "Hospital" has the same meaning as in section 3727.01 of
the Revised Code.
(C) "Hospital long-term care unit" means any distinct part of
a hospital in which any of the following beds are located:
(1) Beds registered pursuant to section 3701.07 of the
Revised Code as skilled nursing facility beds or long-term care
beds;
(2) Beds licensed as nursing home beds under section 3721.02
or 3721.09 of the Revised Code.
(D) "Inpatient days" means all days during which a resident
of a nursing facility, regardless of payment source, occupies a
bed in the nursing facility that is included in the facility's
certified capacity under Title XIX. Therapeutic or hospital leave
days for which payment is made under section 5111.26 of the
Revised Code are considered inpatient days proportionate to the
percentage of the facility's per resident per day rate paid for
those days.
(E) "Medicaid" has the same meaning as in section 5111.01 of
the Revised Code.
(F) "Medicaid day" means all days during which a resident who
is a medicaid recipient occupies a bed in a nursing facility that
is included in the facility's certified capacity under Title XIX.
Therapeutic or hospital leave days for which payment is made under
section 5111.26 of the Revised Code are considered medicaid days
proportionate to the percentage of the nursing facility's per
resident per day rate for those days.
(G) "Medicare" means the program established by Title XVIII.
(H) "Nursing facility" has the same meaning as in section
5111.20 of the Revised Code.
(I)(1) "Nursing home" means all of the following:
(a) A nursing home licensed under section 3721.02 or 3721.09
of the Revised Code, including any part of a home for the aging
licensed as a nursing home;
(b) A facility or part of a facility, other than a hospital,
that is certified as a skilled nursing facility under Title XVIII;
(c) A nursing facility, other than a portion of a hospital
certified as a nursing facility.
(2) "Nursing home" does not include any of the following:
(a) A county home, county nursing home, or district home
operated pursuant to Chapter 5155. of the Revised Code;
(b) A nursing home maintained and operated by the Ohio
veterans' home agency department of veterans services under
section 5907.01 of the Revised Code;
(c) A nursing home or part of a nursing home licensed under
section 3721.02 or 3721.09 of the Revised Code that is certified
as an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded under
Title XIX.
(J) "Title XIX" means Title XIX of the "Social Security Act,"
79 Stat. 286 (1965), 42 U.S.C. 1396, as amended.
(K) "Title XVIII" means Title XVIII of the "Social Security
Act," 79 Stat. 286 (1965), 42 U.S.C. 1395, as amended.
Sec. 4503.46. (A) For the purposes of this section,
"prisoner of war" means any regularly appointed, enrolled,
enlisted, or inducted member of the military forces of the United
States who was captured, separated, and incarcerated by an enemy
of the United States at any time, and any regularly appointed,
enrolled, or enlisted member of the military forces of Great
Britain, France, any of the countries that comprised the former
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Australia, Belgium, Brazil,
Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand,
Norway, Poland, South Africa, or any of the countries that
comprised the former Yugoslavia who was a citizen of the United
States at the time of such appointment, enrollment, or enlistment,
and was captured, separated, and incarcerated by an enemy of this
country during World War II.
(B) Any person who has been a prisoner of war, or the spouse
of such person, may apply to the registrar of motor vehicles for
the registration of one passenger car, noncommercial motor
vehicle, or other vehicle of a class approved by the registrar the
person or spouse owns or leases. The application shall be
accompanied by written evidence in the form of a record of
separation, a letter from one of the armed forces of the United
States or other country as provided in division (A) of this
section, or other evidence as the registrar may require by rule,
that the applicant or the applicant's spouse was a prisoner of war
and was honorably discharged or is presently residing in this
state on active duty with one of the branches of the armed forces
of the United States, or was a prisoner of war and was honorably
discharged or received an equivalent discharge or release from one
of the armed forces of such other country. No person is eligible
to receive special license plates under this section if the person
or the person's spouse currently has registered one vehicle and
obtained license plates under this section.
Upon receipt of an application for registration of a motor
vehicle under this section, and presentation of satisfactory
evidence of such prisoner-of-war status, the registrar shall issue
to the applicant the appropriate vehicle registration and a set of
license plates. In addition to the letters and numbers ordinarily
inscribed thereon, the license plates shall be inscribed with the
words "FORMER POW." The license plates shall be issued without
payment of any registration fee or service fee as required by
division (B) of section 4503.04 and sections 4503.10 and 4503.102
of the Revised Code, and without payment of any applicable county,
township, or municipal motor vehicle tax levied under Chapter
4504. of the Revised Code.
(C) The spouse of a deceased former prisoner of war who has
not remarried, if the deceased person received or was eligible to
receive special license plates issued under division (B) of this
section, may apply to the registrar for the registration of the
spouse's personal motor vehicle without the payment of any fee or
tax as provided by division (B) of this section. The application
for registration shall be accompanied by documentary evidence of
the deceased person's status as a former prisoner of war and by
any other evidence that the registrar requires by rule.
Upon receipt of an application for registration under this
division and presentation of satisfactory evidence as required by
this division and by the registrar, the registrar shall issue to
the spouse the appropriate vehicle registration and a set of
license plates as provided in division (B) of this section.
(D) No person who is not a former prisoner of war, or the
spouse of such person, or the spouse of a deceased former prisoner
of war who has not remarried shall willfully and falsely represent
that the person is such a former prisoner of war or spouse, for
the purpose of obtaining license plates under this section.
(E) No person shall own or lease a motor vehicle bearing
license plates issued under this section unless the person is
eligible to be issued the license plates.
(F) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor
of the fourth degree.
Sec. 5111.21. (A) In order to be eligible for medicaid
payments, the operator of a nursing facility or intermediate care
facility for the mentally retarded shall do all of the following:
(1) Enter into a provider agreement with the department as
provided in section 5111.22, 5111.671, or 5111.672 of the Revised
Code;
(2) Apply for and maintain a valid license to operate if so
required by law;
(3) Subject to division (B) of this section, comply with all
applicable state and federal laws and rules.
(B) A state rule that requires the operator of an
intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded to have
received approval of a plan for the proposed facility pursuant to
section 5123.042 of the Revised Code as a condition of the
operator being eligible for medicaid payments for the facility
does not apply if, under section 5123.193 or 5123.197 of the
Revised Code, a residential facility license was obtained or
modified for the facility without obtaining approval of such a
plan.
(C)(1) Except as provided in division (C)(2) of this section,
the operator of a nursing facility that elects to obtain and
maintain eligibility for payments under the medicaid program shall
qualify all of the facility's medicaid-certified beds in the
medicare program established by Title XVIII. The director of job
and family services may adopt rules under section 5111.02 of the
Revised Code to establish the time frame in which a nursing
facility must comply with this requirement.
(2) The Ohio veteran's home agency department of veterans
services is not required to qualify all of the medicaid-certified
beds in a nursing facility the agency maintains and operates under
section 5907.01 of the Revised Code in the medicare program.
Sec. 5533.785. That portion of the road known as state route
number five hundred twenty-eight, commencing at the intersection
of that road and United States route number three hundred
twenty-two in Geauga county and extending in a northerly direction
to the boundary of Geauga county and Lake county, shall be known
as the "Staff Sgt. Sean Landrus Memorial Highway."
The director of transportation may erect suitable markers
along the highway indicating its name.
Sec. 5902.02. The duties of the director of veterans
services shall include the following:
(A) Furnishing the veterans service commissions of all
counties of the state copies of the state laws, rules, and
legislation relating to the operation of the commissions and their
offices;
(B) Upon application, assisting the general public in
obtaining records of vital statistics pertaining to veterans or
their dependents;
(C) Adopting rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised
Code pertaining to minimum qualifications for hiring, certifying,
and accrediting county veterans service officers, pertaining to
their required duties, and pertaining to revocation of the
certification of county veterans service officers;
(D) Adopting rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised
Code for the education, training, certification, and duties of
veterans service commissioners and for the revocation of the
certification of a veterans service commissioner;
(E) Developing and monitoring programs and agreements
enhancing employment and training for veterans in single or
multiple county areas;
(F) Developing and monitoring programs and agreements to
enable county veterans service commissions to address
homelessness, indigency, and other veteran-related issues
individually or jointly;
(G) Developing and monitoring programs and agreements to
enable state agencies, individually or jointly, that provide
services to veterans, including the veterans' homes operated under
Chapter 5907. of the Revised Code and the director of job and
family services, to address homelessness, indigency, employment,
and other veteran-related issues;
(H) Establishing and providing statistical reporting formats
and procedures for county veterans service commissions;
(I) Publishing annually, promulgating change notices for, and
distributing a listing of county veterans service officers, county
veterans service commissioners, state directors of veterans
affairs, and national and state service officers of accredited
veterans organizations and their state headquarters. The listing
shall include the expiration dates of commission members' terms of
office and the organizations they represent; the names, addresses,
and telephone numbers of county veterans service officers and
state directors of veterans affairs; and the addresses and
telephone numbers of the Ohio offices and headquarters of state
and national veterans service organizations.
(J) Publishing, by the first day of April of each
odd-numbered year, a directory of the laws of this state dealing
with veterans, as enacted through the conclusion of the previous
session of the general assembly, and distributing the publication
to each county veterans service office and the state headquarters
of each congressionally chartered veterans organization in the
state;
(K) Establishing a veterans advisory committee to advise and
assist the department of veterans services in its duties. Members
shall include a member of the military officers association of
America who is a resident of this state, a state representative of
congressionally chartered veterans organizations referred to in
section 5901.02 of the Revised Code, a representative of any other
congressionally chartered state veterans organization that has at
least one veterans service commissioner in the state, three
representatives of the Ohio state association of county veterans
service commissioners, who shall have a combined vote of one,
three representatives of the state association of county veterans
service officers, who shall have a combined vote of one, one
representative of the county commissioners association of Ohio,
who shall be a county commissioner not from the same county as any
of the other county representatives, a representative of the
advisory committee on women veterans, a representative of a labor
organization, and a representative of the office of the attorney
general. The department of veterans services shall submit to the
advisory committee proposed rules for the committee's operation.
The committee may review and revise these proposed rules prior to
submitting them to the joint committee on agency rule review.
(L)(K) Adopting, with the advice and assistance of the
veterans advisory committee, policy and procedural guidelines that
the veterans service commissions shall adhere to in the
development and implementation of rules, policies, procedures, and
guidelines for the administration of Chapter 5901. of the Revised
Code. The department of veterans services shall adopt no
guidelines or rules regulating the purposes, scope, duration, or
amounts of financial assistance provided to applicants pursuant to
sections 5901.01 to 5901.15 of the Revised Code. The director of
veterans services may obtain opinions from the office of the
attorney general regarding rules, policies, procedures, and
guidelines of the veterans service commissions and may enforce
compliance with Chapter 5901. of the Revised Code.
(M)(L) Receiving copies of form DD214 filed in accordance
with the director's guidelines adopted under division (L) of this
section from members of veterans service commissions appointed
under section 5901.02 and from county veterans service officers
employed under section 5901.07 of the Revised Code;
(N)(M) Developing and maintaining and improving a resource,
such as a telephone answering point or a web site, by means of
which veterans and their dependents, through a single portal, can
access multiple sources of information and interaction with regard
to the rights of, and the benefits available to, veterans and
their dependents. The director of veterans services may enter into
agreements with state and federal agencies, with agencies of
political subdivisions, with state and local instrumentalities,
and with private entities as necessary to make the resource as
complete as is possible.
(O)(N) Planning, organizing, advertising, and conducting
outreach efforts, such as conferences and fairs, at which veterans
and their dependents may meet, learn about the organization and
operation of the department of veterans services and of veterans
service commissions, and obtain information about the rights of,
and the benefits and services available to, veterans and their
dependents;
(P)(O) Advertising, in print, on radio and television, and
otherwise, the rights of, and the benefits and services available
to, veterans and their dependents;
(Q)(P) Developing and advocating improved benefits and
services for, and improved delivery of benefits and services to,
veterans and their dependents;
(R)(Q) Searching for, identifying, and reviewing statutory
and administrative policies that relate to veterans and their
dependents and reporting to the general assembly statutory and
administrative policies that should be consolidated in whole or in
part within the organization of the department of veterans
services to unify funding, delivery, and accounting of statutory
and administrative policy expressions that relate particularly to
veterans and their dependents;
(S)(R) Encouraging veterans service commissions to innovate
and otherwise to improve efficiency in delivering benefits and
services to veterans and their dependents and to report successful
innovations and efficiencies to the director of veterans services;
(T)(S) Publishing and encouraging adoption of successful
innovations and efficiencies veterans service commissions have
achieved in delivering benefits and services to veterans and their
dependents;
(U)(T) Establishing advisory committees, in addition to the
veterans advisory committee established under division (K) of this
section, on veterans issues;
(V)(U) Developing and maintaining a relationship with the
United States department of veterans affairs, seeking optimal
federal benefits and services for Ohio veterans and their
dependents, and encouraging veterans service commissions to
maximize the federal benefits and services to which veterans and
their dependents are entitled;
(W)(V) Developing and maintaining relationships with the
several veterans organizations, encouraging the organizations in
their efforts at assisting veterans and their dependents, and
advocating for adequate state subsidization of the organizations;
(X)(W) Requiring the several veterans organizations that
receive funding from the state annually to report to the director
of veterans services and prescribing the form and content of the
report;
(Y)(X) Investigating complaints against county veterans
services commissioners and county veterans service officers if the
director reasonably believes the investigation to be appropriate
and necessary;
(Z)(Y) Taking any other actions required by this chapter.
Sec. 5907.01. (A) As used in this chapter:
(1) "Armed forces of the United States" has the same meaning
as in section 5903.11 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Domiciliary" means a separate area within the Ohio
veterans' home providing domiciliary care.
(3) "Domiciliary care" means providing shelter, food, and
necessary medical care on an ambulatory self-care basis to
eligible veterans who do not need the nursing services provided in
nursing homes.
(4) "Nursing home" means a nursing home within a veterans'
home has the same meaning as in section 3721.01 of the Revised
Code.
(2)(5) "Veterans' home" means a veterans' home operated by
the Ohio veterans' home agency Veteran" has the same meaning as in
section 5901.01 of the Revised Code.
(B) There
is are hereby established the Ohio veterans' home
agency as part of homes within the department of veterans
services. The
agency
department shall maintain and operate state
veterans' and nursing homes for honorably discharged veterans as
administered under the state veterans' home programs defined in
Title 38 of the United States Code.
Sec. 5907.02. The director of veterans services shall govern
the Ohio veterans' home agency homes and have charge and custody
of the
agency's
homes' facilities. The director shall govern,
conduct, and care for veterans' homes, the property of the homes,
and the veterans residing in the
home homes.
All supplies for the
agency veterans' homes shall be
purchased as provided in sections 125.04 to 125.15 of the Revised
Code.
The director shall appoint a superintendent of the Ohio
veterans' home agency homes upon any terms that are proper, and
the superintendent, with the advice and consent of the director,
shall employ aides, assistants, and employees, and perform other
duties that may be assigned to the superintendent by the director
or become necessary in the carrying out of the superintendent's
duties. The superintendent shall be responsible directly to the
director.
Subject to section 5907.021 of the Revised Code, the
superintendent may appoint one or more employees at each veterans'
home as veterans' home police officers authorized to act on the
grounds of that home. The superintendent shall provide to those
employees a copy of the rules that apply to their appointment. The
rules shall specify whether or not the police officers may carry a
firearm.
Subject to section 5907.021 of the Revised Code, the
superintendent shall appoint a chief of police
of the Ohio
veterans' home agency, determine the number of officers and other
personnel required by each veterans' home, and establish salary
schedules and other conditions of employment for veterans' homes
police officers. The chief of police shall serve at the pleasure
of the superintendent and shall
appoint
recommend appointment of
officers and other personnel as the veterans' homes may require,
subject to the rules and limits that the superintendent
establishes regarding qualifications, salary ranges, and the
number of personnel. The superintendent, with the approval of the
director, may purchase or otherwise acquire any police apparatus,
equipment, or materials, including a police communication system
and vehicles, that the veterans' homes police officers may
require. The superintendent may send one or more of the officers
or employees nominated by the police chief to a school of
instruction designed to provide additional training or skills
related to their work assignment at their veterans' home. The
superintendent may send those officers or employees to the Ohio
peace officer training academy that the superintendent considers
appropriate.
The director shall make an annual report to the governor as
to all expenditures and as to the management of the Ohio veterans'
home agency.
Sec. 5907.021. (A) As used in this section, "felony" has the
same meaning as in section 109.511 of the Revised Code.
(B)(1) The superintendent of the Ohio veterans' home agency
homes shall not appoint a person as a chief of police
of the
agency or an employee as a Ohio veterans' home police officer on a
permanent basis, on a temporary basis, for a probationary term, or
on other than a permanent basis if the person or employee
previously has been convicted of or has pleaded guilty to a
felony.
(2)(a) The superintendent shall terminate the employment of a
chief of police or the employment as a veterans' home police
officer of an employee appointed as a veterans' home police
officer if that chief of police or employee does either of the
following:
(i) Pleads guilty to a felony;
(ii) Pleads guilty to a misdemeanor pursuant to a negotiated
plea agreement as provided in division (D) of section 2929.43 of
the Revised Code in which the chief of police or employee agrees
to surrender the certificate awarded to that chief of police or
employee under section 109.77 of the Revised Code.
(b) The superintendent shall suspend from employment a chief
of police or from employment as a veterans' home police officer an
employee appointed as a veterans' home police officer if that
chief of police or employee is convicted, after trial, of a
felony. If the chief of police or the employee files an appeal
from that conviction and the conviction is upheld by the highest
court to which the appeal is taken or if the chief of police or
the employee does not file a timely appeal, the superintendent
shall terminate the employment of that chief of police or that
employee as a veterans' home police officer. If the chief of
police or the employee files an appeal that results in that chief
of police's or that employee's acquittal of the felony or
conviction of a misdemeanor, or in the dismissal of the felony
charge against that chief of police or that employee, the
superintendent shall reinstate that chief of police or that
employee as a veterans' home police officer. A chief of police or
an employee who is reinstated as a veterans' home police officer
under division (B)(2)(b) of this section shall not receive any
back pay unless the conviction of that chief of police or that
employee of the felony was reversed on appeal, or the felony
charge was dismissed, because the court found insufficient
evidence to convict the chief of police or the employee of the
felony.
(3) Division (B) of this section does not apply regarding an
offense that was committed prior to January 1, 1997.
(4) The suspension from employment, or the termination of the
employment, of a chief of police or a veterans' home police
officer under division (B)(2) of this section shall be in
accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.
Sec. 5907.04. Subject to the following paragraph, all
members of the armed forces veterans, who served
in the regular or
volunteer forces of the United States or the Ohio national guard
or members of the naval militia during the war with Spain, the
Philippine insurrection, the China relief expedition, the Indian
war, the Mexican expedition, World War I, World War II, or during
the period beginning June 25, 1950 and ending July 19, 1953, known
as the Korean conflict, or during the period beginning August 5,
1964, and ending July 1, 1973, known as the Vietnam conflict,
during a period of conflict as determined by the United States
department of veterans affairs or any person who is awarded either
the armed forces expeditionary medal established by presidential
executive order 10977 dated December 4, 1961, or the Vietnam
service medal established by presidential executive order 11231
dated July 8, 1965, who have been honorably discharged or
separated under honorable conditions therefrom, or any discharged
members of the Polish and Czechoslovakian armed forces who served
in armed conflict with an enemy of the United States in World War
I or World War II who have been citizens of the United States for
at least ten years, provided that the above-mentioned persons have
been citizens of this state for five consecutive years one year or
more at the date of making application for admission, are disabled
by disease, wounds, or otherwise, and are by reason of such
disability incapable of earning their living, and all members of
the Ohio national guard or naval militia who have lost an arm or
leg, or their sight, or become permanently disabled from any
cause, while in the line and discharge of duty, and are not able
to support themselves, may be admitted to a veterans' home under
such rules as the director of veterans services adopts.
A person veteran who served in the armed forces of the United
States as defined in division (E)(7) of section 5903.11 of the
Revised Code is eligible for admission to a veterans' home under
the preceding paragraph only if the person has the characteristics
defined in division (B)(1) of section 5901.01 of the Revised Code.
The superintendent of the Ohio veterans' home agency shall
promptly and diligently pursue the establishment of the
eligibility for medical assistance under Chapter 5111. of the
Revised Code of all persons admitted to a veterans' home and all
residents of a home who appear to qualify and shall promptly and
diligently pursue and maintain the certification of each home's
compliance with federal laws and regulations governing
participation in the medical assistance program to include as
large as possible a part of the home's bed capacity.
Veterans' homes may reserve a bed during the temporary
absence of a resident or patient from the home, including a
nursing home within it, under conditions prescribed by the
director, to include hospitalization for an acute condition,
visits with relatives and friends, and participation in
therapeutic programs outside the home. A home shall not reserve a
bed for more than thirty days, except that absences for more than
thirty days due to hospitalization may be authorized.
Sec. 5907.08. When a resident of a veterans' home becomes
dangerous to the community due to a mental illness, the
superintendent of the Ohio veterans' home agency homes shall file
with the probate judge of the county in which the home is located
substantially the following affidavit:
"The State of Ohio, .......... county, ss. ...........,
superintendent of the Ohio veterans' home agency homes, being duly
sworn, says that the superintendent believes that ............, a
resident of the veterans' home located in .......... county, has a
mental illness; that, in consequence of the resident's mental
illness, the resident's being at large is dangerous to the
community, and that the resident was received into the home from
............ county, on the ...... day of ........., .....
Sec. 5907.10. (A) The Ohio veterans' home agency
homes shall
maintain and operate a nursing home as part of each veterans' home
for the benefit of honorably discharged veterans admitted to a
veterans' home under this chapter. The nursing homes are subject
to sections 3721.01 to 3721.09 and 3721.99 of the Revised Code.
(B) The nursing home within the veterans' home located in
Sandusky shall be known as "The Robert T. Secrest Nursing Home."
Sec. 5907.11. (A) The superintendent of the Ohio veterans'
home agency homes, with the approval of the director of veterans
services, may establish a local fund for each veterans' home to be
used for the entertainment and welfare of the residents of the
home. Each fund shall be designated as the residents' benefit fund
and shall be operated for the exclusive benefit of the residents
of the associated home. Each fund shall receive all revenue from
the sale of commissary items at the associated home and shall
receive all moneys received as donations by the associated home
from any source.
(B) The residents' benefit funds also may be used to receive
and disburse any donations made for events sponsored by the Ohio
veterans hall of fame.
(C) The superintendent, subject to the approval of the
director, shall establish rules for the operation of the
residents' benefit funds.
Sec. 5907.12. The director superintendent of veterans
services the Ohio veterans' homes may utilize the services of
volunteers to assist in attending to and caring for residents,
assisting in resident activities, caring for veterans' homes'
buildings and grounds, and participating in any other services
that accomplish any of the
director's superintendent's purposes
related to veterans' homes. All volunteer programs are subject to
the
director's superintendent's approval. The director
superintendent may recruit, train, and supervise the services of
community volunteers or volunteer groups for volunteer programs.
The director superintendent may designate volunteers as state
employees for the purpose of motor vehicle accident liability
insurance under section 9.83 of the Revised Code and for the
purpose of indemnification from liability incurred in the
performance of their duties under section 9.87 of the Revised
Code.
Sec. 5907.13. Residents of veterans' homes may be assessed a
fee to pay a portion of the expenses of their support, dependent
upon their ability to pay. Subject to controlling board approval,
the director of veterans services shall adopt rules for
determining a resident's ability to pay. Each resident shall
furnish the
director required statements of income, assets,
debts, and expenses that the director requires.
All fees contributed by the residents under this section
shall be deposited into an interest-bearing account in a public
depository in accordance with section 135.18 of the Revised Code.
All of these fees shall be paid to the treasurer of state within
thirty days after the end of the month of receipt, together with
all interest credited to the account to date. The treasurer of
state shall credit eighty per cent of these fees and of this
interest to the Ohio veterans' homes operating fund and twenty per
cent of these fees and of this interest to the Ohio veterans'
homes fund.
The fee for each resident shall be based upon the level of
care provided to the resident by the resident's home. The director
shall determine authorized levels of care for residents. The
assessment for each resident shall not exceed the difference
between the total per diem amount collected by the state for
maintenance from all sources on the resident's behalf and the
average annual per diem cost for the resident's maintenance,
computed in accordance with veterans administration regulations.
Sec. 5911.10. If any armory erected or purchased by the
state becomes vacant because of the deactivation of the
organizations quartered in that armory, the governor and the
adjutant general may lease that armory for periods not to exceed
one year; or, when authorized by an act of the general assembly,
may sell that armory or lease it for a period of years.
The proceeds from the sale or lease of such an armory, or
from the sale or lease of other facilities and land owned by the
adjutant general, shall be credited to the armory improvements
fund, which is hereby created in the state treasury. The moneys in
the fund shall be used to support Ohio army national guard
facility and maintenance expenses as the adjutant general directs.
Any fund expenditure related to the construction, acquisition,
lease, or financing of a capital asset is subject to approval by
the controlling board. Investment earnings of the fund shall be
credited to the general revenue fund.
Sec. 5913.01. (A) The adjutant general is the commander and
administrative head of the Ohio organized militia. The adjutant
general shall:
(1) Be provided offices and shall keep them open during usual
business hours;
(2) Have and maintain custody of all military records,
correspondence, and other documents of the Ohio organized militia;
(3) Superintend the preparation of all returns and reports
required by the United States from the state on military matters;
(4) Keep a roster of all officers of the Ohio organized
militia, including retired officers;
(5) Whenever necessary, cause the military provisions of the
Revised Code and the orders, regulations, pamphlets, circulars,
and memorandums of the adjutant general's department to be printed
and distributed to the organizations of the Ohio organized
militia;
(6) Prepare and issue all necessary Ohio organized militia
forms and attest to all commissions issued to officers of the Ohio
organized militia;
(7) Have a seal, and all copies of orders, records, and
papers in the adjutant general's office certified and
authenticated with that seal shall be competent evidence in like
manner as if the originals were produced. All orders issued from
the adjutant general's office shall bear a duplicate of the seal.
(8) Keep and preserve the arms, ordnance, equipment, and all
other military property belonging to the state or issued to the
state by the federal government and issue any regulations
necessary to keep, preserve, and repair the property as conditions
demand;
(9) Issue adjutant general's property to the units of the
Ohio organized militia as the necessity of the service or
organizational or allowance tables requires;
(10) Submit an annual report to the governor at such time as
the governor requires of the transaction of the adjutant general's
department, setting forth the strength and condition of the Ohio
organized militia and other matters that the adjutant general
chooses;
(11) Command the state area command joint force headquarters
of the Ohio national guard.
(B) The adjutant general shall issue and distribute all
orders issued in the name of the governor as the commander in
chief of the Ohio organized militia and perform the duties that
the governor directs and other duties prescribed by law.
(C) The adjutant general may enter into cooperative
agreements, contractual arrangements, or agreements for the
acceptance of grants with the United States or any agency or
department of the United States, other states, any department or
political subdivision of this state, or any person or body
politic, to accomplish the purposes of the adjutant general's
department. The adjutant general shall cooperate with, and not
infringe upon, the rights of other state departments, divisions,
boards, commissions, and agencies, political subdivisions, and
other public officials and public and private agencies when the
interests of the adjutant general's department and those other
entities overlap.
The funds made available by the United States for the
exclusive use of the department shall be expended only by the
department and only for the purposes for which the federal funds
were appropriated. In accepting federal funds, the department
agrees to abide by the terms and conditions of the grant or
cooperative agreement and further agrees to expend the federal
funds in accordance with the laws and regulations of the United
States.
Sec. 5913.011. The adjutant general of Ohio is hereby
authorized to enter into a contract with the federal department of
health, education and welfare social security administration for
the purpose of securing social security benefits, under the
national social security act, for those employees of the Ohio
national guard who are paid from federal funds, and for whom the
federal congress appropriates funds to cover employer's share of
social security payments.
Sec. 5913.02. (A) The military staff of the governor may
consist of any of the following:
(1)(A) An adjutant general in the grade of major general, who
shall perform the duties of quartermaster general;
(2)(B) An assistant adjutant general for army in the grade of
major general;
(3)(C) An assistant adjutant general for air in the grade of
major general;
(4)(D) An assistant quartermaster general in the grade of
colonel or brigadier general or any retired officer who has
appropriate qualifications for the position, as determined by the
adjutant general and the governor.
All persons named in divisions (A)(1) to (4)(D) of this
section shall be appointed by the governor and shall hold office
during the governor's pleasure.
(B) The governor's military staff also shall include four
aides-de-camp, who shall be appointed by the governor and hold
office during the governor's pleasure.
Sec. 5913.021. (A) The adjutant general at the time of
appointment shall be a federally recognized officer in the Ohio
national guard in the grade of colonel or above.
(B) The assistant adjutant general for army at the time of
appointment shall be a federally recognized officer in the Ohio
army national guard in the grade of colonel or above.
(C) The assistant adjutant general for air at the time of
appointment shall be a federally recognized officer in the Ohio
air national guard in the grade of colonel or above.
(D) The assistant quartermaster general at the time of
appointment shall be a federally recognized officer in the Ohio
army national guard in the grade of lieutenant colonel or above
brigadier general, or any retired officer who has appropriate
qualifications for the position, as determined by the adjutant
general and the governor.
(E) The adjutant general, the assistant adjutant general for
army, the assistant adjutant general for air, and the assistant
quartermaster general at the time of appointment shall each have
not less than ten years' commissioned service in the armed forces
of the United States, not less than five years of that service
being in the Ohio national guard, and shall at all times during
their tenure of office be federally recognized officers of the
Ohio national guard.
(F) The provisions of this section relative to federal
recognition shall be suspended during any period of emergency when
the majority of the units of the Ohio national guard are in the
federal service. In that event, retired officers of the Ohio
national guard shall be eligible to serve as adjutant general,
assistant adjutant general for army, assistant adjutant general
for air, and assistant quartermaster general for the duration of
such emergency or until a majority of the units of the Ohio
national guard are released from federal service.
Sec. 5919.06. Persons shall be commissioned as officers of
the Ohio national guard
shall be selected only from the following
classes: officers or enlisted men of the national guard; officers,
active or retired, reserve officers, and former officers of the
armed forces of the United States; persons who hold certificates
of eligibility for commission; enlisted men and former enlisted
men of the armed forces of the United States who have received an
honorable discharge; graduates of the United States military,
naval, and air force academies; graduates of the reserve officer
training corps; and for the technical branches and services, such
other civilians as may be specially qualified for duty therein as
provided under army, air force, and national guard regulations.
Sec. 5919.26. The adjutant general shall provide by order
the reports to be made by the officers of the Ohio national guard,
which requirements shall, as far as practicable, be upon similar
blanks and in similar form to the reports required under the
regulations of the government for the armed forces of the United
States.
Sec. 5919.28. The system of tactics, field exercises, and
training and evaluation for the United States army or air force
shall be the system of tactics, field exercises, and training and
evaluation for the Ohio national guard.
Sec. 5919.29. (A) The governor as commander in chief may
order individuals and units of the Ohio national guard to perform
any training or duty authorized under the "Act of August 10,
1956," 70A Stat. 596, 32 U.S.C.A. 101 to 716, and under
regulations prescribed by the president of the United States, the
secretary of defense, the secretary of the army, the secretary of
the air force, or the chief of the national guard bureau.
(B) When ordered by the governor to perform training or duty
under this section or section 5923.12 of the Revised Code, members
of the Ohio national guard shall have the protections afforded to
persons on federal active duty by the "The Soldiers and Sailors
Service Members Civil Relief Act of 1940," 54 Stat. 1178 Pub. L.
No. 108-189, 50 App. U.S.C.A. 501-548 and 560-591596, and by the
"Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of
1994," 108 Stat. 3149, 38 U.S.C.A. 4301 to 4333.
Sec. 5919.34. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Academic term" means any one of the following:
(a) Fall term, which consists of fall semester or fall
quarter, as appropriate;
(b) Winter term, which consists of winter semester, winter
quarter, or spring semester, as appropriate;
(c) Spring term, which consists of spring quarter;
(d) Summer term, which consists of summer semester or summer
quarter, as appropriate.
(2) "Eligible applicant" means any individual to whom all of
the following apply:
(a) The individual does not possess a baccalaureate degree.
(b) The individual has enlisted, re-enlisted, or extended
current enlistment in the Ohio national guard or is an individual
to which division (F) of this section applies.
(c) The individual is actively enrolled as a full-time or
part-time student for at least six three credit hours of course
work in a semester or quarter in a two-year or four-year
degree-granting program at an institution of higher education or
in a diploma-granting program at an institution of higher
education that is a school of nursing.
(d) The individual has not accumulated ninety-six eligibility
units under division (E) of this section.
(3) "Institution of higher education" means an Ohio
institution of higher education that is state-assisted, that is
nonprofit and has received a certificate of authorization from the
Ohio board of regents pursuant to Chapter 1713. of the Revised
Code, that is a private institution exempt from regulation under
Chapter 3332. of the Revised Code as prescribed in section
3333.046 of the Revised Code, or that holds a certificate of
registration and program authorization issued by the state board
of career colleges and schools pursuant to section 3332.05 of the
Revised Code.
(4) "State university" has the same meaning as in section
3345.011 of the Revised Code.
(B)(1) There is hereby created a scholarship program to be
known as the Ohio national guard scholarship program. For the
fiscal year 2000, the number of participants in the program for
the fall term is limited to the equivalent of two thousand five
hundred full-time participants; the number of participants in the
program for the winter term is limited to the equivalent of two
thousand five hundred full-time participants; the number of
participants in the program for the spring term is limited to the
equivalent of one thousand six hundred seventy-five full-time
participants; and the number of participants in the program for
the summer term is limited to the equivalent of six hundred
full-time participants. Except as provided in division (B)(2) of
this section for the fiscal year 2001 and succeeding fiscal years,
the number of participants in the program for the fall term is
limited to the equivalent of three thousand five hundred full-time
participants; the number of participants in the program for the
winter term is limited to the equivalent of three thousand five
hundred full-time participants; the number of participants in the
program for the spring term is limited to the equivalent of two
thousand three hundred forty-five full-time participants; and the
number of participants in the program for the summer term is
limited to the equivalent of eight hundred full-time participants.
(2) After the application deadline for any academic term in
fiscal year 2001, the adjutant general may request the controlling
board, if sufficient appropriated funds are available, to approve
the following number of additional participants for that term:
(a) For the fall or winter academic term, up to the
equivalent of five hundred additional full-time participants;
(b) For the spring academic term, up to the equivalent of
three hundred seventy-five additional full-time participants;
(c) For the summer academic term, up to the equivalent of one
hundred twenty-five additional full-time participants.
(C) If the adjutant general estimates that appropriations and
any funds in the Ohio national guard scholarship reserve fund are
insufficient to pay for all scholarships applied for under this
section and likely to be used during an academic term are
inadequate for all eligible applicants for that academic term to
receive scholarships, the adjutant general shall promptly inform
all applicants not receiving scholarships for that academic term
of the next academic term that appropriations will be adequate for
the scholarships. Any such eligible applicant may again apply for
a scholarship beginning that academic term if the applicant is in
compliance with all requirements established by this section and
the adjutant general for the program. The adjutant general shall
process all applications for scholarships for each academic term
in the order in which they are received. The scholarships shall be
made without regard to financial need. At no time shall one person
be placed in priority over another because of sex, race, or
religion.
(D)(1) Except as provided in division (I) of this section,
for each academic term that an eligible applicant is approved for
a scholarship under this section and either remains a current
member in good standing of the Ohio national guard or is eligible
for a scholarship under division (F)(1) of this section, the
institution of higher education in which the applicant is enrolled
shall, if the applicant's enlistment obligation extends beyond the
end of that academic term or if division (F)(1) of this section
applies, be paid on the applicant's behalf the applicable one of
the following amounts:
(a) If the institution is state-assisted, an amount equal to
one hundred per cent of the institution's tuition charges;
(b) If the institution is a nonprofit private institution or
a private institution exempt from regulation under Chapter 3332.
of the Revised Code as prescribed in section 3333.046 of the
Revised Code, an amount equal to one hundred per cent of the
average tuition charges of all state universities;
(c) If the institution is an institution that holds a
certificate of registration from the state board of career
colleges and schools, the lesser of the following:
(i) An amount equal to one hundred per cent of the total
instructional and general charges of the institution;
(ii) An amount equal to one hundred per cent of the average
tuition charges of all state universities.
(2) An eligible applicant's scholarship shall not be reduced
by the amount of that applicant's benefits under "the Montgomery
G.I. Bill Act of 1984," Pub. L. No. 98-525, 98 Stat. 2553 (1984).
(3) An eligible non-prior service applicant's scholarship
shall be reduced by the amount of the applicant's tuition benefits
under "The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008,"
110 Pub. L. No. 252, 122 Stat. 2323 (2008). An eligible prior
service applicant's scholarship shall be reduced by the amount of
the applicant's tuition benefits under "The Post-9/11 Veterans
Educational Assistance Act of 2008" unless the applicant qualified
for one hundred per cent tuition under that act and transfers the
federal benefits under that act's portability provisions.
(E) A scholarship recipient under this section shall be
entitled to receive scholarships under this section for the number
of quarters or semesters it takes the recipient to accumulate
ninety-six eligibility units as determined under divisions (E)(1)
to (3) of this section.
(1) To determine the maximum number of semesters or quarters
for which a recipient is entitled to a scholarship under this
section, the adjutant general shall convert a recipient's credit
hours of enrollment for each academic term into eligibility units
in accordance with the following table:
|
|
The |
|
|
Number of |
|
following |
|
The following |
credit hours |
|
number of |
|
number of |
of enrollment |
|
eligibility
|
|
eligibility |
in an academic |
|
units if a |
|
units if a |
term |
equals |
semester |
or |
quarter |
|
|
|
|
|
12 or more hours |
|
12 units |
|
8 units |
9 but less than 12 |
|
9 units |
|
6 units |
6 but less than 9 |
|
6 units |
|
4 units |
(2) A scholarship recipient under this section may continue
to apply for scholarships under this section until the recipient
has accumulated ninety-six eligibility units.
(3) If a scholarship recipient withdraws from courses prior
to the end of an academic term so that the recipient's enrollment
for that academic term is less than six three credit hours, no
scholarship shall be paid on behalf of that person for that
academic term. Except as provided in division (F)(3) of this
section, if a scholarship has already been paid on behalf of the
person for that academic term, the adjutant general shall add to
that person's accumulated eligibility units the number of
eligibility units for which the scholarship was paid.
(F) This division applies to any eligible applicant called
into active duty on or after September 11, 2001. As used in this
division, "active duty" means active duty pursuant to an executive
order of the president of the United States, an act of the
congress of the United States, or section 5919.29 or 5923.21 of
the Revised Code.
(1) An For a period of up to five years from when an
individual's enlistment obligation in the Ohio national guard
ends, an individual to whom this division applies is eligible for
scholarships under this section for those academic terms that were
missed or could have been missed as a result of the individual's
call into active duty. Scholarships shall not be paid for the
academic term in which an eligible applicant's enlistment
obligation ends unless an applicant is eligible under this
division for a scholarship for such academic term due to previous
active duty.
(2) When an individual to whom this division applies
withdraws or otherwise fails to complete courses, for which
scholarships have been awarded under this section, because the
individual was called into active duty, the institution of higher
education shall grant the individual a leave of absence from the
individual's education program and shall not impose any academic
penalty for such withdrawal or failure to complete courses.
Division (F)(2) of this section applies regardless of whether or
not the scholarship amount was paid to the institution of higher
education.
(3) If an individual to whom this division applies withdraws
or otherwise fails to complete courses because the individual was
called into active duty, and if scholarships for those courses
have already been paid, either:
(a) The adjutant general shall not add to that person's
accumulated eligibility units calculated under division (E) of
this section the number of eligibility units for the academic
courses or term for which the scholarship was paid and the
institution of higher education shall repay the scholarship amount
to the state.
(b) The adjutant general shall add to that individual's
accumulated eligibility units calculated under division (E) of
this section the number of eligibility units for the academic
courses or term for which the scholarship was paid if the
institution of higher education agrees to permit the individual to
complete the remainder of the academic courses in which the
individual was enrolled at the time the individual was called into
active duty.
(4) No individual who is discharged from the Ohio national
guard under other than honorable conditions shall be eligible for
scholarships under this division.
(G) A scholarship recipient under this section who fails to
complete the term of enlistment, re-enlistment, or extension of
current enlistment the recipient was serving at the time a
scholarship was paid on behalf of the recipient under this section
is liable to the state for repayment of a percentage of all Ohio
national guard scholarships paid on behalf of the recipient under
this section, plus interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum
calculated from the dates the scholarships were paid. This
percentage shall equal the percentage of the current term of
enlistment, re-enlistment, or extension of enlistment a recipient
has not completed as of the date the recipient is discharged from
the Ohio national guard.
The attorney general may commence a civil action on behalf of
the adjutant general to recover the amount of the scholarships and
the interest provided for in this division and the expenses
incurred in prosecuting the action, including court costs and
reasonable attorney's fees. A scholarship recipient is not liable
under this division if the recipient's failure to complete the
term of enlistment being served at the time a scholarship was paid
on behalf of the recipient under this section is due to the
recipient's death; discharge from the national guard due to
disability; or the recipient's enlistment, for a term not less
than the recipient's remaining term in the national guard, in the
active component of the United States armed forces or the active
reserve component of the United States armed forces.
(H) On or before the first day of each academic term, the
adjutant general shall provide an eligibility roster to each
institution of higher education at which one or more scholarship
recipients have applied for enrollment. The institution shall use
the roster to certify the actual full-time or part-time enrollment
of each scholarship recipient listed as enrolled at the
institution and return the roster to the adjutant general
within
thirty days after the first day of the academic term. The adjutant
general shall report to the chancellor of the Ohio board of
regents the number of students in the Ohio national guard
scholarship program at each institution of higher education. The
Ohio board of regents chancellor shall provide for payment of the
appropriate number and amount of scholarships to each institution
of higher education pursuant to division (D) of this section. If
an institution of higher education fails to certify the actual
enrollment of a scholarship recipient listed as enrolled at the
institution within thirty days of the end of an academic term, the
institution shall not be eligible to receive payment from the Ohio
national guard scholarship program or from the individual
enrollee. The adjutant general shall report on a quarterly basis
to the director of budget and management, the speaker of the house
of representatives, and the president of the senate the number of
Ohio national guard scholarship recipients and a projection of the
cost of the program for the remainder of the biennium.
(I) The chancellor of the Ohio board of regents and the
adjutant general may adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the
Revised Code governing the administration and fiscal management of
the Ohio national guard scholarship program and the procedure by
which the Ohio board of regents chancellor and the department of
the adjutant general may modify the amount of scholarships a
member receives based on the amount of other state financial aid a
member receives.
(J) Notwithstanding division (A) of section 127.14 of the
Revised Code, the controlling board shall not transfer all or part
of any appropriation for the Ohio national guard scholarship
program.
Sec. 5923.05. (A)(1) Permanent public employees who are
members of the Ohio organized militia or members of other reserve
components of the armed forces of the United States, including the
Ohio national guard, are entitled to a leave of absence from their
respective positions without loss of pay for the time they are
performing service in the uniformed services, for periods of up to
one month, for each calendar year in which they are performing
service in the uniformed services.
(2) As used in this section:
(a) "Calendar year" means the year beginning on the first day
of January and ending on the last day of December.
(b) "Month" means twenty-two eight-hour work days or one
hundred seventy-six hours, or for a public safety employee,
seventeen twenty-four-hour days or four hundred eight hours,
within one calendar year.
(c) "Permanent public employee" means any person holding a
position in public employment that requires working a regular
schedule of twenty-six consecutive biweekly pay periods, or any
other regular schedule of comparable consecutive pay periods,
which is not limited to a specific season or duration. "Permanent
public employee" does not include student help; intermittent,
seasonal, or external interim employees; or individuals covered by
personal services contracts.
(d) "State agency" means any department, bureau, board,
commission, office, or other organized body established by the
constitution or laws of this state for the exercise of any
function of state government, the general assembly, all
legislative agencies, the supreme court, the court of claims, and
the state-supported institutions of higher education.
(e) "Service in the uniformed services" means the performance
of duty, on a voluntary or involuntary basis, in a uniformed
service, under competent authority, and includes active duty,
active duty for training, initial active duty for training,
inactive duty for training, full-time national guard duty, and
performance of duty or training by a member of the Ohio organized
militia pursuant to Chapter 5923. of the Revised Code. "Service in
the uniformed services" includes also the period of time for which
a person is absent from a position of public or private employment
for the purpose of an examination to determine the fitness of the
person to perform any duty described in this division.
(f) "Uniformed services" means the armed forces, the Ohio
organized militia when engaged in active duty for training,
inactive duty training, or full-time national guard duty, the
commissioned corps of the public health service, and any other
category of persons designated by the president of the United
States in time of war or emergency.
(g) "Public safety employee" means a permanent public
employee who is employed as a fire fighter or emergency medical
technician.
(B) Except as otherwise provided in division (D) of this
section, any permanent public employee who is employed by a
political subdivision, who is entitled to the leave provided under
division (A) of this section, and who is called or ordered to the
uniformed services for longer than a month, for each calendar year
in which the employee performed service in the uniformed services,
because of an executive order issued by the president of the
United States, because of an act of congress, or because of an
order to perform duty issued by the governor pursuant to section
5919.29 of the Revised Code is entitled, during the period
designated in the order or act, to a leave of absence and to be
paid, during each monthly pay period of that leave of absence, the
lesser of the following:
(1) The difference between the permanent public employee's
gross monthly wage or salary as a permanent public employee and
the sum of the permanent public employee's gross uniformed pay and
allowances received that month;
(2) Five hundred dollars.
(C) Except as otherwise provided in division (D) of this
section, any permanent public employee who is employed by a state
agency, who is entitled to the leave provided under division (A)
of this section, and who is called or ordered to the uniformed
services for longer than a month, for each calendar year in which
the employee performed service in the uniformed services, because
of an executive order issued by the president of the United
States, because of an act of congress, or because of an order to
perform duty issued by the governor pursuant to section 5919.29 or
5923.21 of the Revised Code is entitled, during the period
designated in the order or act, to a leave of absence and to be
paid, during each monthly pay period of that leave of absence, the
difference between the permanent public employee's gross monthly
wage or salary as a permanent public employee and the sum of the
permanent public employee's gross uniformed pay and allowances
received that month.
(D) No permanent public employee shall receive payments under
division (B) or (C) of this section if the sum of the permanent
public employee's gross uniformed pay and allowances received in a
pay period exceeds the employee's gross wage or salary as a
permanent public employee for that period or if the permanent
public employee is receiving pay under division (A) of this
section.
(E) Any political subdivision of the state, as defined in
section 2744.01 of the Revised Code, may elect to pay any of its
permanent public employees who are entitled to the leave provided
under division (A) of this section and who are called or ordered
to the uniformed services for longer than one month, for each
calendar year in which the employee performed service in the
uniformed services, because of an executive order issued by the
president or an act of congress, such payments, in addition to
those payments required by division (B) of this section, as may be
authorized by the legislative authority of the political
subdivision.
(F) Each permanent public employee who is entitled to leave
provided under division (A) of this section shall submit to the
permanent public employee's appointing authority the published
order authorizing the call or order to the uniformed services or a
written statement from the appropriate military commander
authorizing that service, prior to being credited with that leave.
(G) Any permanent public employee of a political subdivision
whose employment is governed by a collective bargaining agreement
with provision for the performance of service in the uniformed
services shall abide by the terms of that collective bargaining
agreement with respect to the performance of that service, except
that no collective bargaining agreement may afford fewer rights
and benefits than are conferred under this section.
Sec. 5924.136. (A) The following persons of the organized
militia may administer oaths for the purposes of military
administration, including military justice, and affidavits may be
taken for those purposes before those persons who shall have the
general powers of a notary public:
(1) The state judge advocate and all assistant state judge
advocates;
(2) All law specialists;
(3) All summary courts-martial;
(4) All adjutants, assistant adjutants, acting adjutants, and
personnel adjutants;
(5) All commanding officers of the naval militia;
(6) All legal officers;
(7) The president, military judge, trial counsel, and
assistant trial counsel for all general and special
courts-martial;
(8) The president and counsel for the court of any court of
inquiry;
(9) All officers designated to take a deposition;
(10) All persons detailed to conduct an investigation; and
(11) All other persons designated by regulations of the
governor adjutant general.
(B) Officers on the state reserve list and state retired list
shall not be authorized to administer oaths as provided in this
section unless they are on active duty in or with the organized
militia under orders of the governor as prescribed in this code.
(C) The signature without seal of any such person, together
with the title of his the person's office, is prima-facie evidence
of his the person's authority.
SECTION 2. That existing sections 123.024, 141.02, 2108.72,
2108.73, 3313.616, 3721.50, 4503.46, 5111.21, 5533.785, 5902.02,
5907.01, 5907.02, 5907.021, 5907.04, 5907.08, 5907.10, 5907.11,
5907.12, 5907.13, 5911.10, 5913.01, 5913.011, 5913.02, 5913.021,
5919.06, 5919.26, 5919.28, 5919.29, 5919.34, 5923.05, and
5924.136, and sections 5907.023, 5907.05, and 5913.04 of the
Revised Code are hereby repealed.
SECTION 3. That Section 409.10 of Am. Sub. H.B. 1 of the
128th General Assembly, as amended by Am. Sub. H.B. 48 of the
128th General Assembly, be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 409.10. DVS DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS SERVICES
General Revenue Fund
GRF |
900100 |
|
Personal Services |
|
$ |
25,219,282 |
|
$ |
25,219,282 |
GRF |
900200 |
|
Maintenance |
|
|
4,427,264 |
|
|
4,427,264 |
GRF |
900321 |
|
Veterans' Homes |
|
$ |
29,646,546 |
|
$ |
29,646,546 |
GRF |
900402 |
|
Hall of Fame |
|
$ |
118,750 |
|
$ |
118,750 |
GRF |
900403 |
|
Veteran Record Conversion |
|
$ |
40,631 |
|
$ |
40,631 |
GRF |
900408 |
|
Department of Veterans Services |
|
$ |
2,054,790 |
|
$ |
2,054,790 |
TOTAL GRF General Revenue Fund |
|
$ |
31,860,717 |
|
$ |
31,860,717 |
General Services Fund Group
4840 |
900603 |
|
Veterans' Homes Services |
|
$ |
770,000 |
|
$ |
850,000 |
TOTAL GSF General Services Fund Group |
|
$ |
770,000 |
|
$ |
850,000 |
Federal Special Revenue Fund Group
3680 |
900614 |
|
Veterans Training |
|
$ |
745,892 |
|
$ |
745,892 |
3740 |
900606 |
|
Troops to Teachers |
|
$ |
100,000 |
|
$ |
100,000 |
3BX0 |
900609 |
|
Medicare Services |
|
$ |
2,000,000 |
|
$ |
2,200,000 |
3L20 |
900601 |
|
Veterans' Homes Operations - Federal |
|
$ |
16,979,245 |
|
$ |
17,454,046 |
TOTAL FED Federal Special Revenue |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fund Group |
|
$ |
19,825,137 |
|
$ |
20,499,938 |
State Special Revenue Fund Group
4E20 |
900602 |
|
Veterans' Homes Operating |
|
$ |
9,314,438 |
|
$ |
9,780,751 |
6040 |
900604 |
|
Veterans' Homes Improvement |
|
$ |
1,541,020 |
|
$ |
1,700,000 |
TOTAL SSR State Special Revenue |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fund Group |
|
$ |
10,855,458 |
|
$ |
11,480,751 |
Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts Compensation Fund
Group
7041 |
900641 |
|
Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts Compensation |
|
$ |
50,000,000 |
|
$ |
50,000,000 |
TOTAL 041 Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts Compensation Fund Group |
|
$ |
50,000,000 |
|
$ |
50,000,000 |
TOTAL ALL BUDGET FUND GROUPS |
|
$ |
113,311,312 |
|
$ |
114,691,406 |
VETERANS' HOMES OPERATIONS
The foregoing appropriation item 900321, Veterans' Homes
Operations, shall be used by the Department of Veterans Services
to carry out its responsibilities under this section and Chapter
5902. of the Revised Code. On the effective date of this section,
or as soon as possible thereafter, the Director of Budget and
Management may cancel any existing encumbrances against
appropriation item 900100, Personal Services, and 900200,
Maintenance, and may reestablish the encumbrances in appropriation
item 900321, Veterans' Homes Operations. The Director may also
transfer appropriation to reestablish such encumbrances in
different appropriation items within the agency as the Director
determines necessary. The Director may also transfer any
unencumbered or unallotted balances to the appropriate line item
to be used for the same purposes. The reestablished encumbrances
are hereby appropriated.
PERSIAN GULF, AFGHANISTAN, AND IRAQ CONFLICTS COMPENSATION
The foregoing appropriation item 900641, Persian Gulf,
Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts Compensation, shall be used by the
Department of Veterans Services to provide all or part of the
moneys required to pay the compensation established by Section 2r
of Article VIII, Ohio Constitution. Eligible costs are those costs
of paying compensation to veterans of the Persian Gulf,
Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts to which the proceeds of the
Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts Compensation Fund
(7041) are to be applied, together with the expenses of
administering Section 2r of Article VIII, Ohio Constitution. If
the Director of Veterans Services determines that additional
appropriations are necessary for this purpose, the Director shall
certify to the Director of Budget and Management the estimated
amount of the additional appropriation needed in appropriation
item 900641. Upon receipt of the estimated amount, the Director of
Budget and Management shall increase the appropriation in
appropriation item 900641. These increased amounts are hereby
appropriated.
Amounts advanced to the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq
Conflicts Compensation Fund (7041) for the purpose of defraying
the cost of administration or compensation with the explicit
expectation of reimbursement from the proceeds of obligations paid
into Fund 7041 may also be reimbursed from Fund 7041.
An amount equal to the unexpended, unencumbered portion of
the foregoing appropriation item 900641, Persian Gulf,
Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts Compensation, at the end of fiscal
year 2010 is hereby reappropriated to the Department of Veterans
Services for the same purpose for fiscal year 2011.
SECTION 4. That existing Section 409.10 of Am. Sub. H.B. 1 of
the 128th General Assembly, as amended by Am. Sub. H.B. 48 of the
128th General Assembly, is hereby repealed.
SECTION 5. The sections of law contained in this act, and the
items of which they are composed, are not subject to the
referendum. Therefore, under Ohio Constitution, Article II,
Section 1d and section 1.471 of the Revised Code, the sections of
law contained in this act, and the items of which they are
composed, go into immediate effect when this act becomes law.
SECTION 6. Section 5907.021 of the Revised Code is presented
in this act as a composite of the section as amended by both Am.
Sub. H.B. 490 and H.B. 675 of the 124th General Assembly. The
General Assembly, applying the principle stated in division (B) of
section 1.52 of the Revised Code that amendments are to be
harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation, finds
that the composite is the resulting version of the section in
effect prior to the effective date of the section as presented in
this act.
|