December 15, 2022
We are so excited to report that the Ohio Senate passed the PACE expansion language with the full $50 million federal ARPA appropriation by a vote of 29-0 just before 6:00AM this morning, followed by Ohio House concurrence on the language by a vote of 71-10. The next and final step will be for Governor DeWine to sign the bill.
Our PACE language was folded into a broader package of items, including one-time funds for skilled nursing facilities, in Substitute House Bill 45. Amazingly, this was literally the very last bill of the entire General Assembly before they adjourned for the year. Rep. Bill Roemer and Sen. Matt Dolan, among others, proved to be excellent champions for our efforts and were instrumental in this language passing.
Because the bill contains billions in federal appropriations, the Governor can line-item veto certain provisions of the bill. We have heard no discussion on that for PACE, especially since the Governor’s administration supported this from the beginning.
We are now working with the coalition to draft a letter to Governor DeWine. Our lobbying team is crafting a short letter for the coalition to sign, which will then send to the Governor so as to not leave anything to chance. This letter would urge him to sign the bill and keep the PACE language intact.
As the year winds down and a new year is soon to begin, we are hopeful! Likewise, McGregor PACE will be expanding into Lorain County in late 2023!