Who Is Being Rescued by Ohio’s American Rescue Plan State Fiscal Recovery Funds?

Last week, $1.31 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding was allocated in two bills over two days, with only one day of possible public testimony. 

Just before being voted out, House Bill 377 was amended in the Senate Finance Committee to include $500 million in ARPA funding for the Appalachian Community Grant Program. The program will award $15 to $30 million in planning grants and will fund development projects focused on infrastructure, workforce, and health care for an underserved area of our state that has been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. This initiative was announced in Governor Mike DeWine’s State of the State address earlier this year. 

An additional $809.1 million in ARPA funding will help fund projects in the Capital Budget, House Bill 687, which includes:

• $100 million to the Facilities Construction Commission for physical school security enhancement grants
• $34.15 million for Department of Rehabilitation and Correction institutional upgrades
• $50 million to the Department of Natural Resources for construction, improvements, and repairs for water and wastewater facilities
• $15 million to the Department of Natural Resources to repair trails and trail facilities, including construction of new trails
• $137 million to the Department of Natural Resources for improvements and repairs to state park facilities
• $71.7 million to the Department of Agriculture for a new animal disease laboratory
• $401.2 million as part of the incentive package to bring Intel to Ohio for local water and sewer infrastructure ($101.2 million) and a water reclamation project ($300 million)

Ohio still has approximately $1.9 billion in State Fiscal Recovery Funds remaining out of the total $5.36 billion Ohio was awarded. These funds must be allocated by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026.

Unfortunately, none of our asks to support legal aid, food banks, health care navigators, affordable housing, and lead poisoning prevention were considered in these bills. We will continue to advocate for funding to support an equitable recovery for all Ohioans. 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will Extend the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Past Mid-July

The current public health emergency was extended through July 15, 2022. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) committed to providing the states with a 60-day notice prior to termination or expiration of the declaration. As of May 16th, the 60-day deadline, states had not received notice of expiration indicating that it will be extended beyond July. If renewed for another 90 days, the public health emergency will be extended until October 13th, 2022. 

The public health emergency allows for any COVID-19 vaccines or treatments under emergency use authorization (EUA) to continue to be used. As of June 1, 2022, children under the age of five years old remain ineligible for vaccination. The Food and Drug Administration will review data from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna regarding EUA for vaccinations in that age group later in June. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will sign off on the doses, as done previously with other age groups. 

In addition, health care coverage continues to be flexible regarding COVID-19 tests, treatment, and the use of telehealth. More than 400,000 Ohioans may lose Medicaid coverage when the PHE declaration ends. Under the declaration, states were prohibited from disenrolling individuals from Medicaid, even if they became ineligible. Approximately 3.3 million Ohioans were enrolled in Medicaid as of February 2022, an increase from around 2.8 million in 2020.