COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio lawmakers approved $40 million for a new state fund that will provide direct financial assistance to firefighters, police officers and EMS personnel diagnosed with post-traumatic stress injury.
The funding is included in House Bill 184, a wide-ranging spending measure that is awaiting Gov. Mike DeWine’s signature.
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Section 12 of the bill directs the state to transfer money from the General Revenue Fund into the State Post-Traumatic Stress Fund on July 1, 2026, or as soon as possible thereafter, WCPO reported. Lawmakers noted the fund was created in 2020 but has remained idle and unfunded until now.
The fund is intended to help cover lost wages and medical costs for first responders who become disabled by job-related PTSD.
“We are finally getting money into that fund, and this is important. But it’s also important that we don’t say that we fixed this problem,” Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, D-Westlake, said before the vote.
Volunteer firefighter and state Rep. Thomas Hall, R-Madison Twp., agreed, but called the move “a huge deal,” noting that first responders see trauma “almost on a daily basis” and much of that stress goes untreated. He said the fund will help fill a gap in Ohio’s workers’ comp system, which covers physical injuries on the job but not mental trauma.
Hall said the next step is to meet with first responders and their advocacy groups to develop the framework for how the fund will operate.
