Callender Supports Bipartisan COVID-19 Relief Packages

State Rep. Jamie Callender (R-Concord) voted to support several bills that offer significant COVID-19 relief. The pieces of legislation under Senate Bills 108 and 109 all passed during today’s session.           

“The House has already taken the initiative by passing several COVID-relief bills and now we’ve moved forward in passing the Senate’s versions,” Callender said. “We’re moving effectively and efficiently to deliver this much needed assistance for many of those hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

The bills include the following appropriations for COVID-19 relief:

• Senate Bill 108 – $125 million in grants for bars, restaurants, and the lodging industry
  • $100 million to Ohio’s bars and restaurants
  • $25 million to Ohio’s lodging industry 
• Senate Bill 109 – Over $350 million in support of small businesses, veterans, county fairs, and child care:
  • $150 million for a small business grant relief program
  • $10 million for grants to new businesses 
  • $174.9 million for Ohio's fairs, veterans’ homes and child care services
    • $4.7 million for county and independent fairs
    • $3 million for veterans homes
    • $167.2 million for childcare providers  
  • $20 million for entertainment venues for loss of revenue due to canceled events or performances

Additionally, amendments added to Senate Bill 109 before the legislation’s passage includes:

• Codifying a grant program that the Department of Jobs and Family Services has planned to spend funding, including $44.8 million in FY 2021 for grants to licensed child daycare centers and family daycare homes and $67.4 million in FY 2021 to provide stipends to child care staff and administrators. Specifies that these are retroactive to October 1, 2020.
• Appropriating $41 million to unemployment programs to pay for public/private partnership contracts to continue improving the system
• Appropriating $21 million for food programs (Federal), specifically to the Pandemic- Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program
• Appropriating $26 million for foster care, including the Bridges program
• Appropriating $33.9 million to the TANF Block Grant (Federal) for JFS to provide funds to counties for additional limited TANF program costs
• Appropriating $10 million in emergency food distribution provide administrative funding to food banks to run the temporary emergency food assistance program (TEFAP) and commodity supplemental food program (CSFP)
• Appropriating $20 million for Medicaid program support through JFS to fund an increased county allocation and provide additional federal funding for program administration
• Appropriating $50 million to Medicaid services through DODD to expend additional federal dollars associated with the enhanced FMAP

The bills now head back to the Senate for concurrence.