COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine announced $429.5 million from the CARES Act funding will be distributed to help people, businesses and organizations struggling from the coronavirus pandemic.
From his podium, DeWine says help is coming to Ohio.
“All of us know certainly that Ohioans, many Ohioans, have been hurting, and many businesses have been hurting. Many organizations, nonprofits, have been hurting.”
Dewine says the $429.5 million will also allocate $50 million in assistance for rent, mortgages and sewer assistance, which State Sen. Stephanie Kunze says will help ease the worry some ohioans have of losing their homes.
“I think home has really come to mean so many different things during the last seven, eight months. And we really want to make sure that Ohioans have a place and can keep their place that they call home,” said Kunze, (R) District 16.
Lt. Gov. Jon Husted says the funding will provide $10,000 grants to eligible small businesses of less than 25 employees, to help pay for expenses, and at least 50 businesses in each county will be funded.
“Some businesses are barely making it. Some have closed and some are struggling. And this is really focused on them. It’s focused on those locally owned businesses, that we’ve come to depend on over our lives. That we want to be there when we get out of this, who are in a time right now when they need some help,” said Husted.
As for reopening the economy, the governor expressed the importance of people doing what’s needed to lower spiking COVID-19 numbers, to keep reopening on the right track.
“We got to knock these numbers down. We knock it down with a mask, we knock it down with distancing, we knock it down with people not doing things with friends, family, and extended family that may seem benign, but in fact turns out to be dangerous.”
On Friday, the Ohio Department of Health announced another record-breaking day for daily COVID-19 cases: 2,518. Across the board, there were increases, from deaths to hospitalizations. DeWine said 39 counties are now in Red Alert Level 3 — the second highest level for COVID-19 spread. That means more than 70% of Ohio’s population is in a high-risk area for contracting the virus.
The funds are pending the Controlling Board’s approval on Monday.
