State Rep. D.J. Swearingen of Ottawa and Erie counties announced the Ohio General Assembly this past week approved House Bill 614, which provides $650 million of federal CARES Act funding to local communities across Ohio for COVID-19 pandemic-related expenses.

The funding will be made available to counties, municipalities, and townships. Passed by the House and Senate, the legislation now heads to the governor’s desk.

“I hope that this money is targeted responsibly and is utilized for the people who were impacted the hardest by COVID-19 and the shutdown,” said Swearingen.

The allocations for Ottawa County includes:

• Ottawa County – $1,460,349; Clay Center Village – $10,883; Elmore Village – $50,306; Genoa Village – $82,053; Marblehead Village – $31,135; Oak Harbor Village – $97,549; Port Clinton City – $222,557; Put-in-Bay Village – $5,081; Rocky Ridge Village – $14,667;
• Allen Township – $123,242; Bay Township – $41,621; Benton Township – $78,053; Carroll Township – $75,171; Catawba Island Township – $127,170; Clay Township – $95,315; Danbury Township – $151,602; Erie Township – $42,810; Harris Township – $55,783; Portage Township – $45,874; Put-in-Bay Township – $17,189; and Salem Township – $92,288.

The allocations for Erie County includes:

• Erie County – $2,676,231; Bay View Village – $21,694; Bellevue City – $72; Berlin Heights Village – $25,693; Castalia Village – $29,369; Huron City – $247,530; Kelleys Island Village – $11,207; Milan Village – $35,459; Sandusky City – $885,182; Vermilion City – $165,260;
• Berlin Township – $105,693; Florence Township – $85,188; Groton Township – $49,261; Huron Township – $130,053; Margaretta Township – $158,161; Milan Township – $91,351; Oxford Township – $42,594; Perkins Township – $420,825; and Vermilion Township – $171,638

The $650 million for COVID-19 pandemic-related expenses incurred by local governments is for between March 1 and the end of 2020 while unused dollars will be returned to the state. The dollars can be used for purposes such as work of first responders, local services, PPE, extra equipment, equipment for remote work or counties needing additional dollars for testing.

The measure is similar to the approval of $350 million to help local governments by the Ohio House of Representative under House Bill 481 signed into law over the summer.

House Bill 614 will also improve Ohio’s unemployment compensation system by creating the Unemployment Compensation Modernization and Improvement Council to evaluate the claim filing process and technological infrastructure. Under the bill, the Auditor of State is required to examine and make recommendations on the efficiency of the process, and the Director of Job and Family Services is required to create a constituent referral system and strategic staffing plan to better serve Ohioans.

The legislation contains an emergency clause and will be effective immediately upon the governor’s signature.