COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio legislature is putting $40 million in cash into a state fund that promises direct financial help for firefighters, police and EMS first responders who suffer from a post-traumatic stress injury.

The measure was included in a broad spending bill known as House Bill 184 , which awaits a signature from Gov. Mike DeWine before it’s confirmed into law.

Section 12 of the bill mandates the state, on July 1, 2026, or as soon as possible thereafter, to “transfer $40,000,000 cash from the General Revenue Fund to the State Post-Traumatic Stress Fund,” which lawmakers said was created in 2020 but has sat idle and unfunded ever since.

The fund, which H.B 184 will move under the Ohio Department of Public Safety, is designed to help cover wages for responders who become “di

See Full Page