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H. B. No. 555 As IntroducedAs Introduced
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
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Representatives Rogers, Letson
Cosponsors:
Representatives Mallory, Hagan, R., Antonio, Barborak
A BILL
To enact section 5502.391 of the Revised Code to
require the Emergency Management Agency to operate
the Individual Disaster Relief Pilot Program, to
establish the Individual Disaster Relief Fund, and
to make an appropriation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 5502.391 of the Revised Code be
enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 5502.391. (A) As used in this section, "small business"
means any corporation, partnership, proprietorship, limited
liability company, or other business entity that has fewer than
one hundred employees.
(B) There is an individual disaster relief fund in the state
treasury. The fund consists of all appropriations made to the
fund, cash transferred to the fund from the budget stabilization
fund, and all grants, gifts, and contributions of money made to
the fund from any source. Investment earnings of the fund shall be
credited to the fund. The emergency management agency shall
administer the fund.
(C) The emergency management agency shall operate the
individual disaster relief pilot program. The objective of the
pilot program shall be to assist individuals and small businesses
recover after a disaster through awarding grants to eligible
applicants. The pilot program shall be operated for five years.
(D) As a function of the pilot program, the agency shall use
the money in the individual disaster relief fund to provide grants
to individuals and small businesses for assistance with recovery
after a disaster. The grants shall be used to pay for damage to or
loss of real or personal property, and for disaster recovery
expenses, such as removal of disaster-generated debris. The
maximum grant allowed for each individual or small business is ten
thousand dollars, or the amount of the damage or loss, whichever
is less.
(E) To be eligible to receive a grant under the pilot
program, an individual or small business shall satisfy all of the
following criteria:
(1) Suffer damage or loss not covered by insurance as a
result of a disaster; and
(2) Be located in a municipal corporation, county, or
township where the mayor, board of county commissioners, or board
of township trustees, respectively, has declared that a disaster
occurred and the declaration has been accepted by the governor.
(F)(1) An individual or the owner or chief executive officer
of a small business may apply for a grant under the pilot program
by filing an application with the emergency management agency, on
a form furnished by the agency, setting forth the facts
establishing the individual's or small business's eligibility, and
certifying that, if approved, all grant moneys received will be
used to pay for damage to or loss of real or personal property,
and for disaster recovery expenses, such as removal of
disaster-generated debris. An individual or the owner or chief
executive officer of a small business shall provide detailed
factual information to indicate to the agency how the disaster
caused the damage to or loss of real or personal property or
necessitated disaster recovery expenses. An application must be
submitted within sixty days following the declaration that a
disaster occurred. Only one individual per household or one owner
or chief executive officer per small business is entitled to apply
for a grant.
(2) The emergency management agency shall review an
application to determine whether the individual or small business
meets the eligibility criteria. The agency shall make an
eligibility determination within fifteen days following receipt of
the application.
(G)(1) The emergency management agency shall establish
procedures for the accounting of expenditures of grant moneys
received by an individual or small business through the pilot
program.
(2) The agency shall require an individual and small business
that has received a grant to complete a form, furnished by the
agency, to demonstrate the grant was used to pay for damage to or
loss of real or personal property, or for disaster recovery
expenses. The agency may require an individual or small business
to provide invoices, receipts, or other documents necessary to
demonstrate the grant was properly used.
(3) The agency may investigate the expenditures of an
individual or small business that has received a grant.
(4) The agency shall recover from the individual or small
business all moneys not used to pay for damage to or loss of real
or personal property, or for disaster recovery expenses, by
requiring an individual or small business to repay all such
moneys. If the agency is not able to recover all moneys not used
to pay for damage to or loss of real or personal property, or for
disaster recovery expenses, from an individual or small business,
the agency shall notify the attorney general and shall request
that the attorney general recover such moneys. The attorney
general shall commence a civil action against the individual or
small business to recover all moneys not used to pay for damage to
or loss of real or personal property, or for disaster recovery
expenses.
(H) A mayor, board of county commissioners, or board of
township trustees may declare, for purposes of the individual
disaster relief pilot program, that a disaster has occurred in a
municipal corporation, county, or township. The mayor, board of
county commissioners, or board of township trustees shall notify
the governor of the disaster declaration not later than
forty-eight hours after making the declaration. The governor shall
either accept or reject a disaster declaration and shall notify
the mayor, board of county commissioners, or board of township
trustees of the governor's decision not later than forty-eight
hours after receiving notification of a disaster declaration. The
governor's acceptance of a disaster declaration under this section
is not a declaration by the governor that a state of emergency or
disaster exists.
(I) The emergency management agency may conduct an
adjudication under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code as necessary
in the course of administering the individual disaster relief
fund.
(J) Not later than ninety days after the conclusion of the
pilot program, the emergency management agency shall prepare a
report regarding the pilot program. The report shall include all
of the following information:
(1) The number of applications received and the number of
applications accepted and denied;
(2) The number and amount of grants provided, classified into
descriptive ranges;
(3) A description of the damages or losses sustained by grant
recipients and how grant moneys have been used to pay for the
damage or loss; and
(4) Any other information the agency considers necessary to
give an appropriate account of the pilot program.
The agency shall submit the report to the governor, the
president and minority leader of the senate, and the speaker and
minority leader of the house of representatives.
Section 2. Notwithstanding section 131.43 and division (D) of
section 127.14 of the Revised Code, as soon as a declaration of
disaster has been accepted by the Governor, the Director of Budget
and Management shall transfer up to $15,000,000 cash from the
Budget Stabilization Fund to the Individual Disaster Relief Fund.
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