To amend sections 5502.29 and 5502.41 and to enact section 5502.301 of the Revised Code regarding workers' compensation coverage for a member of an urban search and rescue unit rendering assistance in Ohio at the request of the state's Emergency Management Agency Executive Director.
SB343 revises Ohio’s emergency mutual aid laws and creates a new workers’ compensation rule for certain urban search and rescue personnel. The bill amends the state’s intrastate and interstate mutual aid provisions to formalize how political subdivisions request and provide emergency assistance for incidents, disasters, exercises, training activities, planned events, and emergencies that require extra resources. It also establishes the “intrastate mutual aid compact,” which is intended to coordinate resource sharing among participating political subdivisions, set procedures for requests, and preserve command structures, liability protections, and reimbursement rules.
A major new provision would treat a member of a designated urban search and rescue team as an employee of the state emergency management agency for purposes of Chapters 4121 and 4123 when the person is injured or contracts an occupational disease while rendering assistance in Ohio at the request of the agency’s executive director under an agreement. The bill also extends workers’ compensation and related benefits to personnel providing mutual aid outside their home political subdivision, and it clarifies that responding personnel remain employees or agents of their own political subdivision for tort and immunity purposes rather than becoming employees of the requesting subdivision.
The bill would amend Revised Code sections 5502.29 and 5502.41 and add new section 5502.301. In practical terms, it would expand and codify Ohio’s mutual aid framework for emergency management, including cross-jurisdictional assistance, recognition of out-of-state licenses and certifications, liability protections, reimbursement rules, and treatment of regional response teams. It would also create a specific workers’ compensation pathway for designated urban search and rescue team members assisting in Ohio at the request of the state emergency management agency, potentially shifting benefit eligibility and claim handling under Chapters 4121 and 4123.
The bill’s structure suggests a generally supportive policy approach toward emergency preparedness, intergovernmental cooperation, and protection of responders. By clarifying command, liability, reimbursement, and benefit rules, it appears designed to make it easier for local, regional, and out-of-state responders to assist Ohio during emergencies without creating legal uncertainty. No committee transcript or vote record was provided, so there is no direct evidence of opposition or amendment debate in the available materials.
The main points of potential contention are likely to involve cost allocation, workers’ compensation exposure, and the scope of liability and immunity protections. Local governments may be concerned about reimbursement timing and the rule that the first eight hours of mutual aid are not reimbursable, while others may question whether the state should deem outside urban search and rescue members to be state employees for compensation purposes. There may also be policy questions about how broadly the compact applies, how much discretion local officials retain, and whether private companies and regional response teams should be included in mutual aid operations.