Legislative Update - October 2020

CEA Continues to Fight For Balance In Ohio Unemployment Proposals
 

HB 614 passed both Houses of the Ohio General Assembly and was signed by Governor DeWine. It became effective on October 1, 2020. As this legislation made its way through the process, CEA made sure the bill’s provisions stayed strictly to administrative review. CEA’s stance is any solvency unemployment compensation proposals need to be thoroughly discussed, and legislation needs to be balanced where construction employers retain the ability to provide fairly for workers and retain the ability to recruit and keep a viable workforce. HB 614 originated in response to the struggles the state’s unemployment service program had responding to constituents during the current COVID pandemic. The bill creates the unemployment compensation modernization and Improvement council. The legislation requires the State Auditor to examine and make a recommendation on the unemployment compensation process.  

It assigns the Director of Job and Family Services tasks including:

• creating a strategic staffing plan 
• creating a system that participants in the unemployment benefit application process can use to make customer service complaints
• requiring the Director to maintain a consolidated list of contacts related to inquiries about unemployment benefits
• revising the process by which the Director notifies an applicant for unemployment benefits of eligibility issues

CEA will keep members updated on the work of ODJFS, the State Auditor, and the modernization and improvement council.
 

Millions in CARES ACT Money Is Allocated To Ohio Local Governments – With CEA Continuing To Promote The Capabilities Of Our Industry 
 

HB 614 gained amendments inserting a separate bill SB 357 into the legislation. This amendment appropriates $650 million of federal aid for distribution to county coronavirus relief distribution funds. The money is to be used by December 30. The bill specifies that the distribution of the funds is to be calculated based on the population of each eligible subdivision as a share of the total population of all eligible subdivisions. Unexpended balances must be returned to the state treasury by February 1, 2021. For purposes of the bill, any county, municipal corporation, or township that did not receive a direct federal payment under the CARES Act is an eligible subdivision. The subdivisions that received these direct payments are the city of Columbus and Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Montgomery, and Summit counties. These political subdivisions are not eligible for the payments provided by the bill. Please note, however, that municipalities and townships within these counties, other than the city of Columbus, are eligible for payments under the bill.  CEA has worked to make sure CARES ACT funding can be used by all contractors. 

Mayor Jackson Gives State of the City Speech
 

The Mayor’s speech was focused on how Cleveland has handled the pandemic along with social unrest and the strategies used to address both these issues.   The speech also dealt with the impact to city revenue. The Mayor said controlling the pandemic first will help other issues the city faces. Cleveland’s expenditures exceed revenue by a total of almost $35 million. While there are still some short falls, at this point, the city has been able to continue without major cuts.  The city continues to watch the budget closely.  The Mayor mentioned that street resurfacing programs continue and that in 2021 a fire station, police headquarters, and horse stable will be built.  He stated we must resolve institutional disparities, inequities, and racism. Many people feel they have no stake in the system.  The Mayor said we have to take decisive action which includes reform of the entire criminal justice system. The Mayor spoke about spending in the Cleveland economy and to take a portion of billions and redirect into the local economy. He feels to take advantage of that type of spending workers need to be properly trained. Entities have to give workers a stake in the system. Quality education is imperative as some of the ways we are teaching are not working.  Thus, we need to use technology and modernize instruction. The Mayor concluded that we need institutional changes to move community, not easy incremental changes. If you missed the live broadcast you can watch the entire speech on the City of YouTube pages (note the speech starts at about 2:03:21)

State Adopts New MBE, EDGE, and WBE Rules With Construction Industry Review
 

The State adopted rules that strengthen the State’s Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Encouraging Diversity, Growth, and Equity (EDGE) programs as well as establishes rules for the new Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) certification program.
 
The new WBE certification program enables women-owned businesses to use credentials for opportunities in Ohio and other states. DAS will be seeking to establish reciprocal recognition agreements between Ohio and other states that maintain a similar women-owned business certification. CEA was involved in this process before the rules were drafted and continued to work with DAS throughout the process. We appreciate Director Eric Seabrook of the Equal Opportunity Division’s work on this issue. 
 
Following are highlights of the new rules, which went into effect on October 9, 2020.

• Eliminate the current 10-year EDGE program participation limit. 
• Ensure that only small businesses participate in EDGE by adopting the SBA 8(A) size standard caps. 
• Add ability for the DAS Equal Opportunity Division to identify pre-verified third-party certifiers of comparable programs in order to expedite some MBE and WBE certification applications when the business already holds one of these verified certifications, as with current EDGE program expedited certifications. 
• Eliminate the restriction that the majority of members/officers be a minority individual for MBE or a socially- and economically-disadvantaged individual for EDGE, giving MBE and EDGE companies a greater opportunity to engage any successful business owner as board of directors/executive officers. 

Enhancing program oversight and avoiding pass-through and front companies: 

• All certified business owners will be required to meet the Commercially Useful Function standard, like the existing EDGE rule. 
• Certification will be revoked for any violations of program compliance, like the existing EDGE rule. 
• MBE-certified companies will now be limited to bidding only on set-aside procurement opportunities that match the company’s appropriate industry codes (international designations for products and services) as approved by the DAS Equal Opportunity Division. This helps ensure they are participating in contracts within their area of expertise. 
• Companies will be required to submit additional financial, business, and net worth documents at the time of recertification to help verify continued program compliance. 
• In addition to recertification requirements, certified companies will need to re-apply with an application and all required supporting documentation, as well as an interview every cumulative six years to demonstrate continued program compliance and eligibility. 

DAS is also rescinding inactive administrative rules associated with the Minority Set
 
DAS has stated tips about alleged violations may be reported to the toll-free hotline by calling 1-888-623-8477 (MBE-TIPS).
  

Cuyahoga County Equity Committees Continue to Meet 
 

An internal and external citizens’ committee have held public hearings and continue to work on equity issues with a goal of reporting recommendations later this year.  CEA has been in communication with both committees and County Council.