OML UPDATE AT-A-GLANCE
Here are the top five things you need to know from this past week:
- The League congratulates Rep. Bob Cupp (R - Lima) on his election as the new Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives. Speaker Cupp is a former Ohio Supreme Court Justice and Ohio Senator, and served as Lima city prosecutor and Allen County commissioner. The League has enjoyed our long history of working with Rep. Cupp and we look forward to working with him in his new leadership position. Before Speaker Cupp's election, the Ohio House of Representatives voted 90-0, with nine members abstaining from voting, to strip Larry Householder of his Speaker of the House title. Householder continues to serve as a representative.
- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a fourth phase of COVID-19 stimulus funding on Monday. The Senate leadership was not successful in negotiating agreements to move the proposal forward this week and will return next week to continue negotiations. Read the article below for a full federal update.
- On Monday, August 3, at 1:30 p.m., the National League of Cities (NLC) is hosting a "Cities Are Essential" campaign call to prepare for the final push to secure direct local aid. Next week is a critical week for negotiations around the next COVID-19 relief package. The current Senate proposal does not include aid to local governments. Municipalities must fight to protect the future of America's hometowns. NLC will share the most up-to-date intel from the Hill and Administration and offer on-the-ground examples to help mobilize your efforts before Congress breaks for recess. We strongly encourage our members to join this call. You can register HERE.
- If your municipality plans on participating in the Coronavirus Relief Fund Local Government Assistance Program, which allocates CARES Act funds as outlined in HB 481), you must register your municipality HERE and pass and submit a resolution as soon as possible. You can find sample resolution language HERE and resolutions can be sent to the Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM) at grants@obm.ohio.gov.
- OBM has released a tracking sheet of all HB 481 portal registrations and resolution submissions of Friday, July 24. You can access that tracking sheet HERE. If your municipality is not marked as received on this list, then your registration and resolution were not received. Please register again and re-submit your resolution.
OBM PROVIDES LIST OF HOW CITIES CAN USE CARES ACT FUNDS; CITIES USE CARES ACT FUNDS FOR SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS
The Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM) has provided the League with a list of some of the ways that municipalities can use Coronavirus Relief Funding (CRF) from the CARES Act. As a reminder, all municipalities must, in all cases, maintain documentation of why each expenditure is necessary due to COVID-19.
- Assist adult day care centers, senior centers, childcare centers, and organizations serving persons with disabilities in your community by providing economic relief payments to organizations that have been impacted by COVID and/or by providing subgrants to purchase COVID-necessary supplies and services.
- Provide assistance to local health departments for expenses necessary to respond to the COVID public health emergency, including supporting public outreach and COVID-safety messaging and communications efforts.
- Provide rental/mortgage/utility payment assistance to individuals who have been economically impacted by the COVID public health emergency.
- Provide resources to community organizations, including senior centers, community recreation centers, libraries and other similar locations to assist with COVID safety, sanitation, maintaining services while social distancing, and/or economic relief payments.
- Fund personnel costs for substantially dedicated public safety and public health employees.
- Fund personnel costs for employees performing substantially different functions to respond to COVID (for instance, if an employee has been reassigned to assist with cleaning playgrounds or other community areas).
- Purchase thermo scanning equipment for public screening in public facilities.
- Provide COVID testing for residents free of charge.
- Purchase COVID protective gear for first responders and public employees.
- Provide training to increase number of fire personnel that can assist in COVID runs.
- Purchase PPE (masks) for community distribution and/or for distribution to community organizations or schools.
- Provide an economic relief program for small businesses.
- Support increased costs for cleaning/sanitation of public buildings and areas frequented by the public.
- Transfer funds for COVID-necessary expenses by entering into subgrants or contracts with other government organizations and/or nonprofit organizations (fire districts, park districts, schools, food banks).
- Update public facilities with touchless equipment (automatic doors, touchless faucets, etc.).
- Address costs necessary to telework during the public health emergency, including increasing IT infrastructure to handle remote work environment and video meetings to include the increase of capacity and security.
- Assist courts with remote capabilities (examples: remote technology enablement projects; technology to enable public access to online hearings/trials; online dispute resolution technology; online notarization technology; digital scan fingerprinting technology; guardianship and estate technology solutions; minor building modifications to ensure the safety of the public and staff (plexiglass or glass barriers, disinfecting services, etc.).
OBM will be providing a completed list in the near future, which we will make available to our members.
As mentioned in OBM's list, Ohio municipalities can use their state distribution of CARES Act funds as allocated in HB 481 to provide grants for small businesses affected by COVID-19. If your municipality is interested in creating a similar grant program, below are some examples of resolutions and grant programs created by other cities:
- The City of Centerville has created the Centerville COVID-19 Business Relief Grant Program. You can find the resolution HERE and information about the program HERE.
- The City of Columbus created Columbus COVID-19 Small Business Response and Recovery Fund, which is a $5.5 million loan and grant initiative designed to help small businesses in Columbus get through the challenges of COVID-19. You can find the resolution language HERE and more information about the grant program HERE.
We are aware of a number of municipalities that have not passed a resolution providing them access to the CARES Act distributions out of concern that they may not have enough COVID-19 expenses that will qualify for the funds. However, with the potential that the federal government will provide more flexibility in the future regarding how these dollars can be spent, such as filling budget shortfalls. It is important that municipalities have access to these funds in the event that the federal government allows greater flexibility for Ohio's cities and villages revenue needs.
NLC FEDERAL UPDATE: U.S. SENATE UNVEILS AND THEN FAILS TO ADVANCE PHASE 4 COVID-19 RELIEF BILL, NEGOTIATIONS ONGOING
We want to once again thank Irma Esparza Diggs, Senior Executive and Director of Federal Advocacy for the National League of Cities (NLC) for providing continuing updates on the efforts of the federal government to reach an agreement on additional assistance to state and local governments. Below is the latest information on where the negotiations stand.
We also want to thank Ohio Senators Portman and Brown for their ongoing support for more state and local federal relief aid. We appreciate their continued advocacy on behalf of Ohio's local governments.
Senate Plans to Pass Altered HEROS Act:
After failing to advance the Senate Republican HEALS Act, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has stated that the Senate GOP will now be stripping down the House-passed HEROS Act and including their changes to enhanced unemployment benefits. We will provide more information next week.
Republicans Unveil HEALS Act:
On Monday, the Senate GOP finally unveiled their long-awaited bill, the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act. The bill includes the following proposals:
- No additional financial assistance to state and local governments, but provides greater flexibility for how state and local governments can spend monies from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), including backfilling lost revenue
- Allows CRF funds to be used to cover a revenue shortfall if the state government has distributed 25% of the money downstream - for example, from a state to a city. Additionally, a government could only use 25% of allocated money to back fill lost revenue
- Ohio meets this qualification as the $350 million distributed to local governments is over 25% of its $1.2 billion CARES Act distribution
- Changes to current unemployment insurance resulting in a proposed federal supplemental check of $200 per week per individual, which is modified from the current $600 a week supplemental federal support. This change will be made through September and then ultimately replaced with a system that will take into account a person's wages prior to being laid off. Starting in October, this payment would be replaced with a payment (variable, up to $500) that, when combined with the state unemployment insurance payment, would replace 70% of lost wages
- Create five-year liability shield protection for businesses, health care providers, schools, colleges and government agencies, retroactive from December 1, 2019 to October 1, 2024
- Provide stimulus checks of $1,200 to individuals making less than $75,000 and $2,400 to couples making less than $150,000 with $500 for each dependent regardless of age
- Allocate a second round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for certain small businesses and create a $60 billion long-term working capital loan program for impacted businesses most affected by the pandemic
- Extend the deadline for CARES funds to be used
- Allocates:
- $105 billion for schools, reserving a large portion reserved for schools that open physically
- $15 billion for child care
- $16 billion for COVID-19 testing
- $40 billion for the research and development of a COVID-19 vaccine
- $306 billion for agriculture, including $20 billion for farmers and ranchers
- $30 billion for the military
- Additionally, the White House has requested a new FBI headquarters and the inclusion of a provision covering 100% of business means through the end of the year
NLC continues to push for direct aid to cities and is hopeful that when a final deal comes together aid to cities will be part of the final package, reiterating in a letter to
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that flexibility alone is insufficient.
The sticking point in the ongoing negotiations is unemployment benefits.
At the end of this week, the enhanced unemployment insurance of $600 per week that out-of-work Americans have been receiving since March will expire, pressuring lawmakers to act.
According to Senate rules, a bill needs 60 votes to proceed to the floor for final consideration. Therefore, significant Democrats support might be needed to move the bill through the Senate.
Democrats have thus far stood firm on state and local aid, so the chances that some money will be in a final package are increasing. When a deal is reached, it will have significant input from Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer.
Now is time to get engaged.
We strongly encourage our members to call their senators and House members to reiterate to them how important funding is for cities. If you have not yet called, please call. If you have already called, call again. If you have any questions or need help reaching your elected officials, reach out to
advocacy@nlc.org
.
The Senate is scheduled to recess on August 8.
House Passes Water Resources Bill:
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Water Resources Development Act (H.R. 7575) by a voice vote under suspension of the rules. The bipartisan bill would authorize construction and feasibility studies for flood control, navigation, and ecosystem restoration projects under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Additionally, the bill allows for full utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for its intended purposes - a key NLC priority. Community resilience is an important pillar of the bill, with provisions on sea level rise calculations, consideration of natural and nature-based infrastructure (green infrastructure), addressing future water supply needs and reducing repetitive flooding.
On the Senate side, the Environment and Public Works Committee took a two-part approach. In May, the Committee unanimously passed two bipartisan bills: the America's Water Infrastructure Act (S. 3591) to authorize water resources projects under the Army Corps, as well as Clean Water Act programs, and the Drinking Water Infrastructure Act (S. 3590) to authorize Safe Drinking Water Act programs, including funds for cleaning up contamination from PFAS chemicals. The legislation is awaiting a vote on the Senate floor. Since 2014, Congress has passed bipartisan water resources bills on a biannual basis.
Council on State Governments Report Shows Massive Declining Revenues:
States now face an estimated $169-253 billion shortfall in declining general fund revenue receipts and increased Medicaid expenditures for the combined fiscal years ending (FYE) in 2020 and 2021, as a result of COVID-19, based on the latest state estimates compiled by the Council on State Governments (CSG).
The 33-page report, "CSG Report: Fiscal Impact to States and Strategies for Recovery," discusses a range of fiscal topics. You can read the report HERE.
Two conclusions can be drawn from the report.
First, while the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) did provide financial assistance to states for expenditures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, states are not allowed to use these funds to address revenue shortfalls. States hopeful for flexibility in the requirements for the CARES Act direct allocation have found little relief in the current guidance from the U.S. Treasury.
Second, state leaders must effectively deploy short- and long-term strategies to recover from the fiscal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future unknown disasters. The report offers three categories of strategies, compiled from historic and emerging state actions, that provide key considerations for state leaders when developing a roadmap to recovery:
- Assessing the situation,
- Designing next steps,
- Implementing recovery plans.
State and Local Groups Aligned in Calling on Congress for More Aid:
The National Governors Association (NGA) called for increased aid for state and local governments in a communication to the Hill this week.
In the letter sent to Congress, NGA warned that 3 percentage points of GDP could be lost this year and millions of state and local workers could be laid off with additional direct funding for state and local governments, according to Moody's Analytics.
The continued partnership between state and local groups on appealing to Congress will hopefully help secure money in a final package.
NLC CREATES EMERGENCY PREPARDNESS GUIDE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
While Ohio's cities and villages continue to grapple with the spread of the coronavirus, local leaders must also consider the threat of other potential natural disasters. The nation is approaching a highly-active hurricane season, a period of normal to above-normal wildfires and record-high temperatures. Local leaders must prepare their communities against these potential natural disasters despite economic toll of the pandemic, which has resulted in severely-reduced revenues and cuts to critical services.
In light of this, the National League of Cities (NLC) has created a resource to help local leaders prepare their communities and keep residents safe. The new guide, entitled "Emergency Preparedness Amidst COVID-19", includes the following:
- tips on effectively managing sheltering and evacuations;
- resident communication and preparedness;
- improving local response capacity in advance of extreme events;
- links to checklists;
- resources to share with residents;
- mental health resources for staff and first responders;
- FEMA's Operational Guidance document; and
- additional guidance on heat and wildfire emergencies from the American Flood Coalition and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
It is NLC's hope that this compilation serves as a helpful resource for local leaders and their communities. You can find that resource HERE.
OHIO CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE
- As of Thursday afternoon, Ohio is reporting 89,626 cases of coronavirus, 3,442 deaths, 10,678 hospitalizations and 2,534 ICU admissions.
Bar and Restaurant Update:
- After seeing outbreaks associated with bars across Ohio, Gov. DeWine has asked the Ohio Liquor Control Commission to call an emergency meeting to consider enacting a statewide emergency rule to limit liquor sales at establishments that serve alcohol for on-site consumption. The rule would prevent the sale of alcohol at these liquor-permitted establishments beginning at 10:00 p.m. each night. On-premises consumption must end by 11:00 p.m. Businesses may stay open, and establishments that sell food can continue serving meals until closing.
- Separately, Gov. DeWine is also asking the commission to raise the number of liquor and mixed drinks permitted to be purchased for carryout with a meal from two drinks to three drinks. The Ohio Liquor Control Commission will hold its emergency meeting tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. If the emergency administrative rule is approved, Governor DeWine will sign an executive order making it effective tomorrow night.
Child Care Updates:
- Child care providers in Ohio may return to their normal, statutory ratios and class sizes beginning on August 9, 2020. Child care providers have a choice to increase the number of children and staff members to the normal statutory ratios or to maintain their current, lower ratios to help slow the spread of COVID-19. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) is structuring a financial incentive to providers that maintain smaller ratios and classroom sizes.
- All child care providers must comply with stringent health and safety requirements including: face coverings for all staff and children over 10, unless they have a health exemption; symptom and temperature checks when staff and children arrive; washing hands throughout the day, including upon arrival and before departure; frequent cleaning of high-touch surfaces; and regular deep cleanings.
County and Independent Fairs Update:
- County and independent fairs with an opening day on or after July 31, 2020, will be limited to specific junior fair events. Junior fair activities such as livestock competitions and 4-H and Future Farmers of America competitions for kids and teenagers may continue as planned, but junior fairs must develop a plan that reduces crowding in barns, such as limiting entrance to only the immediate family of those actively showing their animals or projects. A 10 p.m. curfew will also be instituted for the barns, buildings, and midways. Harness racing can proceed with no spectators, but rides, games, and grandstand events will be prohibited to limit crowds and better prevent coronavirus spread. You can read the order HERE.
Mass Gathering Update:
- Ohio will separate its mass gathering guidance into its own order. Mass gathering guidance was most recently referenced as part of other orders, and combining this information into a stand-alone order will allow citizens to easily find guidance on holding gatherings in a safe manner. Mass gatherings in Ohio remain limited to 10 people. The order will still permit Ohioans to go to work, worship, go to school, and acquire goods and services, however, this order will offer clear recommendations on safely holding gatherings.
Jobs and Employment Update:
- Ohioans filed 27,937 initial jobless claims last week, according to statistics the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) reported to the U.S. Department of Labor today. This was 246,278 fewer than the peak earlier this year. Ohioans filed 423,452 continued jobless claims last week, which were 352,850 fewer than the peak earlier this year. Over the last 19 weeks, ODJFS has distributed more than $5.7 billion in unemployment compensation payments to more than 764,000 Ohioans. Of the more than 1 million applications the agency has received, about 94% have been processed, with about 6% pending.
OML/OMAA TO HOST WEBINAR ON SUPREME COURT RULINGS ON DISCRIMINATION LAWS REGARDING EMPLOYEES' SEXUAL OREINTATION AND TRANSGENDER STATUS
On Thursday, August 13, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., the League and the Ohio Municipal Attorney's Association (OMAA) will be hosting a webinar entitled "U.S. Supreme Court Rulings on Sexual Orientation and Transgender Status: Legal and Practical Meanings."
- PRESENTER: Jonathan Downes, Zashin & Rich
- PROGRAM OVERVIEW:
Discrimination laws continually evolve with the latest development involving how employees' sexual orientation and transgender status must be treated in the workplace. This session will analyze the Supreme Court decision for both the legal and practical aspects for employers.
For more information and to register, click HERE.
FORMER LEAGUE PRESIDENT MAURICE CRON PASSES AWAY
The League is saddened to report that Maurice (Mauri) Cron, age 84, passed away July 24 at Miami Valley Hospital due to complications from coronavirus. He served as Mayor for the Village of Coldwater for 20 years. He served as a past president of both the Ohio Municipal League and the Ohio Mayors Association. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
Due to COVID-19 concerns, a mass of Christian Burial will be private on July 30, 2020 at Holy Trinity Church with no public viewing. Fr. Richard Walling officiating. Mass at 2:00pm. Livestream will be at
https://www.coldwatercluster.org/information/watch-mass-online
. Burial will follow in St. Elizabeth cemetery. Hogenkamp Funeral Home Coldwater is handling arrangements. Memorial gifts can be made to Med Foundation Mercer Health, Coldwater athletic booster club or a charity of your choice. The family will have a celebration of life at a later date.
NEW LEGISLATION OF MUNICIPAL INTEREST
Here are several bills that have been introduced that would impact Ohio's municipalities:
- HB 733 - COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. Sponsored by Rep. Russo (D - Upper Arlington) and Rep. Crossman, (D - Parma), would make employees of the General Assembly and any state agency of the legislative branch subject to the Public Employees' Collective Bargaining Law and require a public employer to collectively bargain with an exclusive representative of those employees.
- HB 735 - LAW ENFORCEMENT ID. Sponsored by Rep. Smith (D - Euclid) and Rep. Robinson (D - Solon), would require certain law enforcement officers to wear a clearly visible badge and identification on their person while on duty and impose a fine on the appointing authority of an officer who fails to comply.
