DeWine Stay at Home Order – What You Need To Know

Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton issued a Stay At Home order which required Ohio residents and businesses to stay at home or cease operations unless they are defined as ‘essential’ in the order.  Yesterday, the Governor extended the Stay at Home order to May 1st.   The goal of the order is to limit movement and interaction between individuals to only those activities and businesses that are most essential. Reduced interaction and social distancing are critical components to slowing the spread of COVID-19.  Businesses who are defined as essential need to be aware of the order’s provisions.

Essential Business and Activities
In general, the order includes provisions that apply to individuals and also to businesses. Citizens and workers may leave their home to perform essential activities (i.e. seeking medical care, procuring food, helping relatives, exercising outdoors) as well as to travel to and perform work at an essential business or operation. Businesses are deemed essential if they fall under a detailed list included in the order or if they part of a category listed on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Memorandum on Identification of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers During CIVOD-19 Response.  In general, any business involved in agriculture (either in retail, cultivation, or supply chain) is considered essential. Additionally, any businesses that support essential businesses are deemed essential as well; this would include contractors, gas stations and repair shops, and business support (i.e. legal, accounting, finance).

What Businesses Need to Do
If a business is deemed essential, it must still comply with mandates regarding social distancing and minimum essential staffing. Businesses should allow as many employees as possible to work from home. Further, employees and customers must remain at least six feet apart as much as possible. Hand sanitizer and cleaning products should be readily available. Finally, businesses should prepare documents for employees, drivers, and other personnel that provide information regarding the essential nature of the business and the employees activities. This should help with discussing operations with local health officials, law enforcement, and the public should the need arise.

Support for Small Business
Both the State and Federal government have enacted several protections for businesses during this time. The tax filing deadline for state and federal filings has been moved to July 15th and professional licenses issued by the state (along with drivers licenses) have been extended to avoid expiration during the COVID-19 emergency declaration.  BWC premiums and health insurance premiums are also deferred until the pandemic passes. Additional resources can be found here:https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/home/covid-19-checklists/businesses-employers-covid-19-checklist

At the federal level, the U.S. Small Business Administration is offering loans and assistance to businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most notably, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) offers assistance to businesses through loans to cover the cost of payroll. More details can be found here: https://www.sba.gov/page/coronavirus-covid-19-small-business-guidance-loan-resources

Census 2020

As of April 1st, the 2020 Decennial Census is underway. This marks the first year that responses can be filled out electronically and all residents should have received information in the mail regarding the census. The Ohio Census Advocacy Coalition (https://www.ohiocensus.org) has number of resources for Ohio businesses and individuals. Census takes will start visiting homes this summer to ensure people who do not fill out a paper or electronic census are counted. The census is vital to the distribution of federal funds and apportionment of Congressional seats.

Ohio Primary Moves to Absentee Only

In-person voting for the March 17th Ohio Primary was cancelled under order of Dr. Acton, however absentee voting was permitted to continue. Following Dr. Acton’s order, the Ohio General Assembly passed HB 197 (COVID-19 relief bill), which extended the window for absentee voting through April 28th. There will be no rescheduled in-person voting day. Many states have delayed their primaries or moved to absentee only amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Voters can request an absentee ballot from their local Board of Elections. All ballots must be postmarked by April 27th.

Welcome to the March 2020 OPARR update, including information about the "State of the State," items of interest, and of course, election updates!

Be sure to learn more about how you can help advance the mission of OPARR by looking at the new support levels: https://oparr.net/Support-OPARR.

Written by Belinda Jones, OPARR Executive Director

STATE OF THE STATE

The State of the State in the legislature is "relatively uncooperative".  As you may have read in the news, the republican controlled House and the Senate are at odds on a number of issues with one of the main bones of contention being HB 9, Ed Choice Scholarships (otherwise known as the voucher program).  Unable to reach consensus, HB 9 is pending in conference committee that has set forth an aggressive schedule.  For example, yesterday, a state holiday, the conference committee on HB 9 met for 10 hours.  Other less contentious bills have also been sent to conference committees. 

Meanwhile, the House and the Senate have been gathering information for the capital bill which is usually an election year bonus for members to tout successes during their election stops.  The plan has been for the capital bill to be introduced in late February and voted out of both chambers by the end of March; however, the apparent lack of cooperation in other matters calls in to question the likelihood of prompt passage of the capital bill.

PENDING LEGISLATION OF INTEREST

SB 2, (Dolan, Peterson) would create the Statewide Watershed Planning and Management Program under the administration of the Director of Agriculture and to make changes to the law governing regional water and sewer districts.

A.  One of the main priorities for the Ohio Senate, SB 2 addresses long-term watershed based focus to address water quality issues by utilizing Soil and Water Conservation Districts and establishing statewide/regional watershed planning.

B.  Unanimously passed the Ohio Senate June 12, 2019 32-0

C.  Currently pending in House Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Fifth hearing is scheduled for Feb. 19.  The committee will be accepting amendments.  At deadline, I am waiting on a call from Sen. Peterson about the content of the amendments.

D.  For more information, see:  https://www.ohiosenate.gov/legislation/GA133-SB-2

HB 7 (Ghanbari, Patterson) To create the H2Ohio Trust Fund for the protection and preservation of Ohio's water quality, to create the H2Ohio Advisory Council to establish priorities for use of the Fund for water quality programs, and to authorize the Ohio Water Development Authority to invest the money in the Fund and to make recommendations to the Treasurer of State regarding the issuance of securities to pay for costs related to the purposes of the Fund.

A.  Dubbed as a priority bill for the House, HB 7 passed the House June 20, 2019 90-3

B. Currently pending in the Senate Finance Committee where it had it is first and only hearing to date on October 22, 2019.

C. https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA133-HB-7

SB 246 (Roegner, McColley) would require an occupational licensing authority to issue a license or government certification to an applicant who holds a license, government certification, or private certification or has satisfactory work experience in another state under certain circumstances.

A.  Currently pending in the Senate General Government and Oversight Committee; Fifth hearing, "all testimony" scheduled for February 19, 2020. 

B.  OPMA and others have some concerns that the bill will allow reciprocity for pesticide applicator licenses from other states that may or may have less stringent licensing requirements that Ohio.  We have a call in to ODA to check their opinion on this concern.

C. For more information, see: https://www.ohiosenate.gov/legislation/GA133-SB-246

2020 HAS ALL LOOKING TOWARD A BIG ELECTION YEAR

Certainly, we are looking forward  to the Presidential election in 2020 but there are some contentious races already heating up in the Ohio House and the Ohio Senate, including primary contests with incumbents.

Republicans currently hold a super majority in the Ohio House (61-38) and in the Ohio Senate (24-9).  It is highly unlikely that democrats could win control of but democrat caucuses to win at least a few seats to negate the supermajority which would allow them to override a veto by the governor and put measures on the statewide ballot without democratic votes.  In addition to the partisan challenges, there are some primary races that are already drawing attention. 

For example, in southwest Ohio, there is an open Senate seat created by the departure of term-limited Senator Bill Coley.  Representative Candice Keller, Representative George Lang and Chester Township Trustee Lee Wong are both vying for Colley's Senate seat.

Another Senate seat that has a contentious primary is Senate District 26, a seat currently held by term-limited State Senator Dave Burke (R; Marysville).  This Senate District is a very large district that stretches from Lake Erie to Marysville.  State Representative Bill Reineke (R; Tiffin) will face off against Melissa Ackison.  Ackison has run previously (unsuccessfully) for the US Senate and has been accused of a few campaign violations but to date no penalty has been assessed against her. 

As you may know, Franklin County has become a solid "blue county" so it is no surprise that the one Republican Senate Republican, State Senator Stephanie Kunze (R; Hilliard) has three democratic challengers:  Justin Adkins, Troy Doucet and Crystal Lett.  Certainly, this seat is considered vulnerable.  Expect this race to be one that results in heavy campaign spending on both sides. 

Most of the other primary races are in districts where the incumbent is departing due to term limits, including:

• House District 25 in central Ohio where seven democrats are vying to take the place of democrat Rep. Bernadine Kent who isn't running presumably due to contention within the caucus

• Term limited Fred Strahorn (D; Dayton) is leaving the House and a number of democrats have filed to try to replace him

• As mentioned above, Rep. Candice Keller (R; Butler County) is leaving her House seat to run for the Senate and several republicans are tee'd up to run for that seat

• House Districe 66 in southwest Ohio has an open seat made available by the departure of term-limited Rep. Doug Green; three republicans have filed to run in the primary for this district

Another interesting primary with a green industry bent is in the 43rd House District, a seat currently held by Rep. J. Todd Smith of eastern Ohio.  Smith recently announced he will not seek re-election.  One republican of interest seeking that post is Preble County Commissioner and lawn care company owner Rodney Creech. 

Overall there are 17 open House seats (12 Republican and five democratic) and five open seats in the Senate.

The eyes of the nation may be on Ohio for our electoral college delegates for the presidential race but our eyes need to be focused on races that are closer to home that in some ways mean more to our businesses that those at the federal level.

If you have local "intel" on any of these candidates, please contact me.