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.

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.