Ohio House Democrats introduced a new bill this week that would repeal House Bill (HB) 6, which bailed out nuclear power plants in the state. HB 6 was at the heart of the $60 million corruption scandal that led to state Rep. Larry Householder (R-Glenford) being stripped of his House speakership position.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested Householder and four other people on July 21 for allegedly having “worked to corruptly ensure that HB 6 went into effect by defeating a ballot initiative to overturn the legislation,” according to the DOJ press release.
In a press release state Rep. Michael J. Skindell (D-Lakewood), one of the bills co-sponsors, said, “Corruption has no place in our government, regardless of political party. When corruption is revealed, it is important we act quickly to fix what has been broken”
State Rep. Michael O’Brien (D-Warren), the repeal bill’s other co-sponsor stated, “House Bill 6, whether good policy or not, was founded on and funded by a scheme to defraud taxpayers and circumvent the will of the people of our state. It should be repealed.”
Ohio Republicans are in the process of drafting their own repeal law and in a press conference state Rep. Laura Lanese (D-Grove City) asked that HB 6 be repealed “not only because it was bad policy from the start, but because we need to reassure Ohioans that their representatives, Democrat or Republican, are truly working in their interest.”
State Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R-Franklin County) said HB 6 “was a scheme to basically rip off taxpayers of Ohio.” And that “we need to start from scratch.”
Ohio Governor Mike Dewine has called for HB 6’s repeal as well. Of the repeal, Dewine said, “It needs to happen in the open and it needs to happen very quickly.”
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Ben Kolodny is a reporter at The Ohio Star and the Star News Network. You can follow Ben on Twitter. Tips can be sent to [email protected].
Photo “Perry Nuclear Powerplant” by FirstEnergy Solutions. CC BY-ND 2.0.
