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H. B. No. 271 As IntroducedAs Introduced
129th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2011-2012 |
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Representatives Antonio, Foley
Cosponsors:
Representatives Hagan, R., Ramos, Celeste, Lundy, Murray, Barnes, Garland, Okey, Williams, Gerberry, Weddington, Boyd, Driehaus, Luckie, Letson, O'Brien, Stinziano, Pillich, Phillips
A BILL
To enact sections 6302.01, 6302.02, 6302.03, 6302.04,
and 6302.05 of the Revised Code to create the Ohio
Works Progress Administration, and to require the
General Revenue Fund surplus revenue to be used
for operation of the Ohio Works Progress
Administration.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 6302.01, 6302.02, 6302.03, 6302.04,
and 6302.05 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 6302.01. The Ohio works progress administration (OWPA)
shall perform work for the public good, improve public property,
provide needed public services, and provide participants with work
experience. Examples of these purposes include:
(A) Planting, pruning, and cutting trees.
(C) Cleaning and repair of drainage ditches.
(D) Roadway, waterway, and community beautification.
(E) Demolition or renovation of foreclosed or abandoned
homes, or other properties, in the possession of the state or of a
political subdivision, for the purpose of preparing the property
for use by the state or a political subdivision, or for sale.
(F) Renovation of foreclosed or abandoned homes, or other
properties, in the possession of the state or of a political
subdivision, for the purpose of creating residential housing for
OWPA field workers.
(G) Assisting with an environmental remediation program
managed by the Ohio environmental protection agency or the United
States environmental protection agency.
(H) Designing, installing, and maintaining public art
projects.
(I) Providing basic home maintenance and repair services to
senior citizens.
(J) Providing home weatherization services to citizens.
(K) Maintaining the grounds and facilities of public
cemeteries.
(L) Maintaining the grounds and facilities of public parks.
(M) Development and maintenance of community gardens.
(N) Lead paint abatement.
Sec. 6302.02. There is the Ohio works progress
administration. The Ohio works progress administration may be
referred to by its initials, OWPA.
OWPA shall be administered by the director of OWPA, who shall
be appointed by the governor with advice and consent of the
senate. The director is entitled to a salary of seventy-five
thousand dollars per year.
The director shall appoint field workers under section
6302.03 of the Revised Code and other professional, technical,
clerical, and supervisory personnel as are necessary to achieve
the purposes of OWPA.
The director and the employees of OWPA are in the
unclassified service.
OWPA may apply for, and may receive and accept grants, and
may receive and accept gifts and contributions, from public and
private sources, including agencies and instrumentalities of the
United States and of this state, and shall deposit the grants,
gifts, or contributions into the Ohio works progress
administration fund.
Sec. 6302.03. (A) There shall be field worker positions in
OWPA. Application for a field worker position shall be in writing
and on a form prescribed by the director of OWPA. An individual
may be employed as an OWPA field worker if the individual meets
all the following qualifications:
(1) The individual is a resident of this state;
(2) The individual is at least eighteen years of age;
(3) The individual is unemployed, as that term is defined in
section 4141.01 of the Revised Code; and
(4) The individual has been awarded a high school diploma or
a certificate of high school equivalence issued for achievement of
specified minimum scores on the general educational development
test of the American council on education.
An individual may obtain a three-month exemption from the
educational requirement by providing a signed affidavit stating
that the individual is preparing to take the general educational
development test.
An individual may be employed as an artist field worker if
the director determines that the individual has skill and
experience as a fine artist in one or more media, including
painting, drawing, or sculpture.
The director may not rely on a person's prior conviction of a
felony as the sole reason for not employing a person as a field
worker.
(B)(1) A minimum of fifty field workers shall be employed in
each county, at least two of whom are artists. The artists may
engage in work projects to fulfill the public art purpose of OWPA.
The director shall establish policies and procedures for
assigning field workers to the several counties. The policies and
procedures shall be designed to achieve a gender and racial
demographic of OWPA field workers within a county that closely
matches the gender and racial demographic of the county.
(2) In addition to the field workers assigned to the several
counties, the director shall employ and assign to each county
supervisory personnel as are necessary to schedule, direct, and
supervise field workers. The supervisory personnel shall be
knowledgeable and experienced in the types of work projects that
the field workers under their supervision will be engaged in. The
supervisory personnel are responsible, under the director's
guidance, for identifying, and assigning field workers to, work
projects that fulfill the purposes of OWPA.
(C) The director shall procure housing in each county and
shall make the housing available to field workers. The housing
shall include necessary utilities for heat, water, and cooking.
Field workers residing in the housing are not obligated to pay
rent or to pay for the utilities. Field workers shall provide
their own food, necessities, and work clothing. Field workers who
choose not to live in the housing are not entitled to a housing
allowance. Field workers are responsible for their own
transportation to and from the OWPA job site to which they are
assigned.
(D) OWPA field workers are entitled to a salary of twenty
seven thousand five hundred dollars per year.
Sec. 6302.04. The director of OWPA shall adopt rules under
Chapter 119. of the Revised Code on the following subjects:
(A) Standards to govern work assignments;
(B) Job descriptions and responsibilities for professional,
technical, and clerical employees of OWPA, and for supervisory
personnel;
(C) Field worker standards of conduct;
(D) Eligibility standards for senior citizens to receive
basic home maintenance and repair services from OWPA field
workers;
(E) Eligibility standards for citizens to receive home
weatherization services from OWPA field workers;
(F) Any other subjects that will help to achieve the purposes
of OWPA.
Sec. 6302.05. There is the Ohio works progress
administration fund in the state treasury. The fund shall consist
of general revenue fund surplus revenue transferred to the fund,
and of gifts, grants, and contributions. Investment earnings of
the fund shall be deposited into the fund. The director shall use
money in the fund to operate OWPA.
Section 2. As used in this section, "surplus revenue" and
"required year-end balance" have the meanings defined in section
131.44 of the Revised Code.
Notwithstanding divisions (B) and (C) of section 131.44 of
the Revised Code, the Director of Budget and Management shall
determine the General Revenue Fund surplus revenue that existed on
June 30, 2011, in excess of the required year-end balance, and
transfer that amount from the General Revenue Fund to the Ohio
Works Progress Administration Fund.
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