On Monday, the office of Senate President Larry Obhof announced the state’s approval of over $175 million in additional funding for COVID-19-related expenses for Ohio’s townships, municipalities and counties.
This is the second round of funding provided to Ohio communities through the federal CARES Act for necessary expenses associated with the current public health emergency. The funding will be distributed based on the proportion of Local Government Fund revenue allocated to them in 2019.
“Today’s action will help local governments as they deal with the financial challenges caused by COVID-19,” said Obhof. “I appreciate the state Controlling Board’s work to move these dollars quickly into communities across Ohio. The funding approved today will also help with the pandemic-related expenses of our childcare centers, local health departments and other critical community services.”
In addition to the $175 million for Ohio’s municipalities, the Controlling Board also approved:
- $31 million for Ohio’s Department of Jobs and Family Services to pay publicly funded childcare centers that are choosing to operate with reduced teacher-to-student ratios or class sizes.
- $89.5 million for the Ohio’s Department of Health to continue expanded testing efforts, $5.3 million approved for local health departments for the same efforts and $2.7 million for wraparound services for migrant and seasonal farm workers.
- $15.3 million for Educational Service Centers, $1.7 million to Ohio’s County Boards of Developmental Disabilities that serve school-aged children and $500k for the State Schools for the Blind and Deaf.
- $9 million in CARES Act funding to schools, institutions of higher education, and other education-related entities to fund additional hours of childcare needed as a result of the students not physically being at school.
To date, nearly $2.7 billion in CARES Act funding has been approved by the General Assembly to be distributed Ohio’s communities as they continue to battle and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. More information about the funds approved today can be found here.
