COLUMBUS –State Senator Steve Huffman announced the Ohio Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed Senate Bill 310, authorizing the distribution of $350 million of federal coronovirus relief funding to local communities across Ohio for COVID-19 pandemic-related expenses.

This funding will be made available to counties, municipalities and townships for necessary expenses associated with the current public health emergency and will be distributed based on the proportion of Local Government Fund revenue allocated to them in 2019.

“Senate Bill 310 will provide critical financial relief to our local governments that have been tremendously burdened by this pandemic,” said Senator Huffman. “I’m grateful for Senator Dolan’s hard work to introduce this legislation and ensure that federal CARES Act funding will be distributed as quickly as possible.”

The County Commissioners Association, Ohio Mayors Alliance, Ohio Municipal League, and Ohio Township Association voiced their support for S.B. 310.

The funding authorized excludes Ohio’s six jurisdictions with populations over 500,000 because they already qualify for a direct payment from the act; this includes the city of Columbus and Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Montgomery and Summit county governments. Municipalities and townships within these counties, however, are still eligible for the funding appropriated in S.B. 310.

The legislation passed with an emergency clause, making the bill effective immediately upon being signed by the governor.

The bill now moves to the Ohio House for consideration.