As the 135th General Assembly gets underway, lawmakers elected moderate Republican Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) as the new Speaker of the Ohio House on Tuesday to succeed State Representative Bob Cupp (R-Lima).
The choice comes despite the Republican Caucus’ previous selection in November of State Representative Derek Merrin (R-Moncolva) as the new Speaker.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed to block the payment of nuclear bailout money from House Bill (HB) 6.
HB 6, a bill that bailed out of the nuclear company First Energy, is at the center of the corruption scandal that led to the ousting and arrest of former Ohio Speaker of the House Larry Householder.
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FirstEnergy donated generously to Mike DeWine, his son Patrick DeWine, Larry Householder, who wanted to become House speaker for the second time in his life, as well as the Ohio Republican Party, as our special series shows.
FirstEnergy, as well as Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken, helped Householder achieve his dream in January 2019. His first time as speaker was 2001-2004.
Householder, according to a story by cleveland.com, recruited a group of candidates for the House’s 2018 election who would need his help to gain office, the newspaper said, citing a federal charging document.
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The Dayton Daily News in January 2014 reported on allegations of pay-to-play in Attorney General DeWine’s office concerning an advisory panel.
His calendar shows he met frequently with (now deceased) Alex Arshinkoff, a lobbyist and the chairman of Summit County Republican Party who represented four companies doing business with DeWine’s office.
DeWine was not the only Ohio Republican engaging in pay-to-play. Indeed, previous news reports and public records show the Ohio Republican Party funneled money to DeWine and now disgraced former House Speaker Larry Householder from such donors as FirstEnergy.
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Rep. Bob Cupp (R-Lima) has been selected to replace Larry Householder (R-Glenford) as Ohio’s new Speaker of the House.
After being charged with participating in a $60 million corruption scandal, Householder was removed in a 90-0 vote. Householder, who is accused of being part of a “racketeering conspiracy involving a 2019 nuclear power plant bailout bill” faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
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Even as the Ohio House of Representatives looks to replace disgraced Speaker Larry Householder, a coalition of conservative organizations is urging lawmakers to be thoughtful in how they do so.
Householder and four others were arrested July 21 in connection with a $60 million federal bribery probe in connection with the Legislature’s 2019 bailout of FirstEnergy and its nuclear power plants.
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Details are emerging on how Tyler Fehrman came to help the FBI bust Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, Matt Borges and three others in an alleged $60 million bribery scheme.
Cleveland.com reported on the details, including an interview with Fehrman, here.
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Is Jane Timken the leader the Ohio State Republican Party needs to help President Donald Trump win re-election when her party seems to be engaged in a civil war? The stakes are high in the Buckeye State. Trump and Biden are locked in a dead heat, according to a poll available here by RealClearPolitics. GOP insiders say the number of Republican-registered voters in the state has fallen from 2.2 million in June 2016 to 1.9 million last month. Meanwhile, Timken and Gov. Mike DeWine went on a state tour early this year to say how great things are, The Ohio Star reported. They touted the pre-pandemic economy, government spending and children’s programs while ignoring the governor’s red flag laws, his policy to allow dangerous refugees into the state and primary endorsements that the two have drawn heat on. Since then, DeWine and Timken have not addressed conservatives’ concerns over Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof’s late-night move to kill a vote on a bill to curb Dr. Amy Acton’s unrestrained powers in strangling the economy. Now, conservative-leaning county parties are showing their displeasure with state leadership by sending strongly worded letters to DeWine. It may be that letters are the…
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Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) expressed sharp criticism on Monday for Governor Mike DeWine’s plans to reopen the economy during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic over what he called an “unwillingness to recognize” the needs of small business.
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Some Ohio Republican lawmakers are calling for Gov. Mike DeWine to reopen the state.
The governor said Friday he would create a plan to gradually reopen the state, The Plain-Dealer said.
House Speaker Larry Householder convened a task force that will study how to reopen the economy. State Rep. Paul Zeltwanger (R-OH-54) said Ohio needs to plan for controlling the disease for when segments of the economy reopen. He pointed out that some question whether 253 deaths as of Sunday justify the closures.
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Skeptics are calling Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s June 2 primary election date theoretical, saying the Legislature, not he, has the power to move the date.
Adjectives that are being thrown around include “anarchy” and “executive fiat.”
LaRose is already dictating the rules 88 county boards of elections should follow, the Ohio Capital Journal said. These LaRose rules include the dictate that county boards of election should not accept any new voter registrations ahead of the not-yet-official June 2 election.
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Eight Democrats in the Ohio House of Representatives signed a joint statement Saturday calling their Speaker’s opposition to LGBTQ-centric events designed for children to be held in area public libraries “unfortunate.” “As we enter the month of PRIDE, Ohio celebrates its diversity in culture and speech – that is why the recent comments from our House Speaker are unfortunate,” the joint statement begins. It continues: It now appears another Library system is shutting down its PRIDE programming because of the furor this statement created. Let’s be clear—the promise of America is not that we all agree on everything—but that we all agree to let everyone have their voice. That is certainly true for the nearly 500,000 LGBTQ Ohioans. At a time when the national political discourse has reached new lows—let us in Ohio embrace our diversity so that all can flourish. The Democrats’ statement was in in response to an open letter, addressed to the Ohio Library Council and signed by Rep. Larry Householder (R-Glenford) as Speaker of the Ohio House. He wrote, in part, “When I was first informed our public libraries were being used to teach teen age boys how to become drag queens, I thought it was a…
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