Create the manufacturing technologies assistance grant program

As Re-Referred by the House Rules and Reference Committee

136th
General Assembly

Regular
Session
Am. H. B. No. 159

2025-2026

Representatives Santucci, Demetriou

Cosponsor: Representative Mathews, T.

To
enact section 122.162 of the Revised Code
to
create the manufacturing technologies assistance grant program and to
make an appropriation.

BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section
1.
That
section 122.162 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec.
122.162.
(A)
As used in this section:

(1)
"Eligible project" means a project intended to increase the
productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness of a manufacturing
operation in this state by adopting and integrating manufacturing
technologies and investing in industrial infrastructure.

(2)(a)
"Eligible manufacturer" means a person that:

(i)
Manufactures, processes, assembles, or refines goods at a facility
located in this state;

(ii)
Has a north American industry classification system code within the
manufacturing sector range of thirty-one to thirty-three;

(iii)
Has operated as a manufacturer in this state for at least three years
before the application date;

(iv)
Has derived, in the three years preceding the application date, at
least fifty-one per cent of the person's gross revenue from the sale
of manufactured goods;

(v)
Employs, as of the application date, not more than five hundred
full-time employees at one or more locations;

(vi)
Demonstrates an ability to provide matching funds from private
sources equal to the requested grant amount;

(vii)
Has no outstanding tax or other liabilities owed to this state and is
in good standing with the secretary of state, department of
development, and any other governmental entity charged with
regulating the person's manufacturing business;

(viii)
Attests that the person is in compliance with all federal, state, and
local requirements applicable to the person's manufacturing business,
including tax payments;

(ix)
Attests that that the person is not currently in bankruptcy.

(b)
"Eligible manufacturer" includes a subsidiary or affiliate
of a person described in division (A)(2)(a) of this section if the
subsidiary or affiliate meets the requirements of divisions
(A)(2)(a)(i), (ii), (vi), (vii), (viii), and (ix) of this section.

(3)
"Full-time employee" means an individual who is employed by
an eligible manufacturer for consideration for thirty-five or more
hours per week, or who renders any other standard of service
generally accepted by custom or specified by contract as full-time
employment.

(4)
"Industrial infrastructure" includes machinery, robotics,
hardware, software, and equipment, and training expenses associated
with any of the foregoing.

(5)
"Ineligible expenses" include all of the following:

(a)
Payment of any federal, state, or local tax obligations;

(b)
Payment of nonbusiness-related expenses;

(c)
Political expenses;

(d)
Expenses for which the person has received, or will receive
reimbursement from another source, including another government grant
or loan program or insurance coverage;

(e)
Mortgage, rent, or lease costs;

(f)
Utility costs, including electric, gas, sewer, water, broadband
services, and trash removal;

(g)
Salaries, wages, or compensation paid to employees or independent
contractors;

(h)
Personal protective equipment, as defined in section 125.05 of the
Revised Code.

(6)
"Manufacturing industry partner" means a regional partner
of the manufacturing extension partnership administered by the
department of development and the national institute of standards and
technology within the United States department of commerce.

(B)(1)
The manufacturing technologies assistance program is created within
the department of development. Under the program, an eligible
manufacturer may apply to the director of development for a grant to
fund one or more eligible projects.

(2)
Before applying for a grant under this section, an eligible
manufacturer shall obtain an assessment of the proposed eligible
project from the Ohio manufacturing extension partnership under the
department of development. The eligible manufacturer shall include
that assessment with the grant application. The director of
development may request that one or more additional manufacturing
industry partners complete a technical review of the application and
make recommendations on whether to approve or deny the application. A
manufacturing industry partner may collaborate with any of the
following in completing the technical review and making
recommendations:

(a)
An industry section partnership, as defined in section 122.179 of the
Revised Code, organized to support the manufacturing sector;

(b)
A regional technology and innovation hub designated under 15 U.S.C.
3722a;

(c)
A regional innovation engine designated under 42 U.S.C. 19108;

(d)
An innovation hub designated by the department of development.

(3)
The director shall review and score applications using a competitive
process under which the director gives preference to all of the
following:

(a)
Applicants that derive a higher percentage of their gross revenue
from the sale of manufactured goods;

(b)
Eligible projects that receive a favorable assessment from a
manufacturing industry partner;

(c)
Applicants that have not previously deployed the manufacturing
technology to be funded through the eligible project;

(d)
Eligible projects that will be started immediately or that involve
industrial infrastructure that will be purchased immediately;

(e)
Eligible projects supported by evidence that the associated
manufacturing technology will increase productivity, efficiency, and
competitiveness.

(4)
Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(5) of this section, the
director of development shall reserve one-half of the funds available
to the program for eligible projects submitted by eligible
manufacturers with fifty or fewer full-time employees, and one-half
of such funds for eligible projects submitted by eligible
manufacturers with more than fifty but not more than five hundred
full-time employees.

(5)
The director, with the approval of the controlling board, may
reallocate funds reserved pursuant to division (B)(4) of this section
for eligible manufacturers with fifty or fewer full-time employees,
or funds reserved pursuant to that division for eligible
manufacturers with more than fifty but not more than five hundred
full-time employees, to eligible projects submitted by the other
class of eligible manufacturers, if the full amount of funds
available to that other class of eligible manufacturers has been
approved for disbursement as grants under the program.

(6)
The director may charge a nonrefundable application fee of up to one
hundred dollars for the purpose of administering the program.

(C)
The director shall not award a grant under this section for any
eligible project initiated before the effective date of this section.
The total grant amount awarded to an eligible manufacturer under this
section shall not exceed one hundred fifty thousand dollars. An
eligible manufacturer receiving a grant under this section shall use
the grant solely to fund the eligible project described in the
application. An eligible manufacturer shall not use the grant for
ineligible expenses.

(D)(1)
An eligible manufacturer that receives a grant under the program
shall keep itemized records of both of the following:

(a)
All expenditures for which the grant is used;

(b)
The amount of private funds raised for the eligible project and the
expenditures for which those funds are used.

(2)
The records may include paid invoices, cancelled checks, payroll
records, and other documentation acquired when the expense occurred.
The eligible manufacturer shall retain the records for at least five
years after the grant funds are fully expended. The records shall be
made available for inspection by the department of development upon
request of the department.

(3)
Upon the completion of the eligible project or two years following
the date the director awarded the grant, whichever is sooner, the
eligible manufacturer shall submit a report to the department of
development that does all of the following:

(a)
Describes implementation of the eligible project;

(b)
Demonstrates the total cost of the eligible project, including the
costs for which private funds were used;

(c)
Provides a full accounting of the expenditures for which grant funds
were used.

(4)
Along with the report required by division (D)(3) of this section,
the eligible manufacturer shall return to the department any grant
funds that have not yet been expended, were used for ineligible
expenses, or that were not matched by private contributions to the
eligible project.

(5)
The director shall certify to the attorney general for collection any
grant amounts required to be returned under division (D)(4) of this
section that remain unpaid ninety days after the report required by
division (D)(3) of this section is due.

(E)(1)
An eligible manufacturer that receives a grant under the program
shall notify the department, in the form and manner prescribed by the
director, if the eligible manufacturer does any of the following in
the ten years following the date the director awards the grant:

(a)
Initiates bankruptcy proceedings;

(b)
Discontinues the manufacturing operations that are the subject of the
eligible project;

(c)
Relocates the manufacturing operations that are the subject of the
eligible project outside of this state;

(d)
Violates any federal, state, or local requirements applicable to the
eligible manufacturer's business, including tax payments.

(2)
The department, upon receiving notice from an eligible manufacturer
or otherwise determining that one or more of the events described in
division (E)(1) of this section has occurred, may require the
eligible manufacturer to repay all or a portion of the grant funds
received. The required repayment shall not exceed the grant amount,
reduced by ten per cent for each full year between the date the
department awards the grant and the date of the event. The department
shall notify the eligible manufacturer of the amount of any required
repayment.

(3)
The eligible manufacturer may appeal, in accordance with Chapter 119.
of the Revised Code, the department's determination that an event
described in division (E)(1) of this section has occurred, the
required repayment amount, or both.

(4)
The director shall certify to the attorney general for collection any
repayment amounts that remain unpaid ninety days after notice is sent
to the eligible manufacturer under division (E)(2) of this section
or, if the eligible manufacturer initiates an appeal, within ninety
days after the appeal is adjudicated.

(F)
The director of development shall adopt rules in accordance with
Chapter 119. of the Revised Code prescribing all of the following:

(1)
An application process for the grant program, including the
designation of one or more periods each year during which
applications will be accepted;

(2)
The competitive process to review and score applications described
under division (B)(3) of this section;

(3)
The form of the final report required by division (D)(3) of this
section.

(G)
The manufacturing technologies assistance fund is created in the
state treasury. The fund shall consist of money appropriated to the
fund by the general assembly, application fees collected under
division (B)(6) of this section, and repayment collected under
division (D) or (E) of this section. Money in the fund shall be used
by the director of development to award grants under the
manufacturing technologies assistance program and to administer this
section. Interest earned on money in the fund shall be credited to
the fund.

Section
2.
All
items in this act are hereby appropriated as designated out of any
moneys in the state treasury to the credit of the designated fund.
For all operating appropriations made in this act, those in the first
column are for fiscal year 2026 and those in the second column are
for fiscal year 2027. The operating appropriations made in this act
are in addition to any other operating appropriations made for these
fiscal years.

Section
3.

1

2

3

4

5

A

DEV
DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT

B

Dedicated
Purpose Fund Group

C

5BF1

1956H6

Manufacturing
Tech Assistance

$12,000,000

$12,000,000

D

TOTAL
Dedicated Purpose Fund Group

$12,000,000

$12,000,000

E

TOTAL
ALL BUDGET FUND GROUPS

$12,000,000

$12,000,000

MANUFACTURING
TECH ASSISTANCE

The
foregoing appropriation item 1956H6, Manufacturing Tech Assistance,
shall be used to administer the Manufacturing Technologies Assistance
Program established under section 122.162 of the Revised Code.

On
the effective date of this section, or as soon as possible
thereafter, the Director of Budget and Management shall transfer
$24,000,000 cash from the General Revenue Fund to the Manufacturing
Technologies Assistance Fund (Fund 5BF1).

Section
4.
Within
the limits set forth in this act, the Director of Budget and
Management shall establish accounts indicating the source and amount
of funds for each appropriation made in this act, and shall determine
the manner in which appropriation accounts shall be maintained.
Expenditures from operating appropriations contained in this act
shall be accounted for as though made in, and are subject to all
applicable provisions of, the main operating appropriations act of
the 136th General Assembly.