The Ohio Controlling Board met a second time this month on April 20 to consider additional funding issues related to the COVID-19 crisis.
The Controlling Board is a mechanism for handling necessary adjustments to the state budget. The Board meets approximately every two weeks to consider and vote on requests for action that are submitted by state agencies.
The Board consists of seven members
- The Director of Budget and Management, or designee (the President of the Board)
- The Chair of the Finance and Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives
- The Chair of the Finance Committee of the Senate
- Two members of the House appointed by the Speaker of the House, one from the majority party and one from the minority party
- Two members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate, one from the majority party and one from the minority party
At the April 20 meeting, The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) asked Controlling Board to release $8,556,587 in Public Health Emergency Preparedness after the CDC provided additional funding for the coronavirus pandemic. ODH plans to use the funds to support the efforts of the state’s local health departments in providing services related to monitoring, investigation, containment, and mitigation ($4,788,843). The funds will also be used to distribute throughout the state specimen collection kits for COVID-19 lab testing ($1,289,304), and make available medication to providers to combat COVID-19 ($1,289,303). ODH is proposing to use $1,189,137 in National Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program funding to support the urgent preparedness and response needs of hospitals and front-line workers and set aside funding for the state’s Special Pathogen Treatment Center.
Previously, Controlling Board met and approved the creation of an “Ohio Coronavirus Relief Fund,” which allows state agencies to use funds from the federal CARES Act. The fund allocated $76 million to the Ohio Department of Administrative Services to purchase 2,000 ventilators and 5 million N-95 masks. The Department of Public Safety was allocated $50 million for personal protective equipment to be dispersed to county emergency management agencies, hospitals and other medical facilities. $39 million will be used for supplies for specimen collections, different testing kit materials, and lab equipment for testing allocated to the Ohio Department of Health. The Ohio Adjutant General was allocated $8.8 million to pay for operating costs for temporary medical facilities and 600 National Guard and service members.
