"Stalling repeal of House Bill 6, assuming it ever is repealed, might be the House’s most brazen defiance of public opinion beyond House and Senate inaction on Ohio school funding (which the Ohio Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional more than 23 years ago). Yet any leverage that Ohio voters might have to get HB 6 repealed will dwindle after Election Day — 30 days from today. Only a cynic would suggest that the House committee’s talkathon aims to keep HB 6 alive past Election Day.
In fairness, some members of the special House committee voted against HB 6 in 2019. And those committee members appear to oppose HB 6 now.
But committee action requires a committee vote. Permitting votes is up to the committee’s chair. In turn, the chair and the committee’s other Republicans answer to House Speaker Robert Cupp, a Lima Republican whom fellow House Republicans chose to replace Householder after they’d removed Householder from the speakership."
-- editorial, Columbus Dispatch
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"What any Capitol insider can see clearly is that Republicans are actually just hoping to run out the clock. They want to make the public think they’re moving the repeal process along, when really they’re doing everything in their power to prevent a HB 6 repeal from coming to a vote.
...As a member of the unnecessary Select Committee on Energy Policy and Oversight, created solely to stall the process of repeal, I have done what I can as a member of the Minority Caucus to repeal this problematic bill. Each time this group meets (for invitation-only meetings where the public is not invited to testify), a member of our caucus has made a motion to discharge the bill from committee. Each time, the Republicans rule our motion to be out of order. (Spoiler: it is not)
Enough is enough. Repeal HB 6. Ratepayers have enough to worry about right now; increasing utility bills on top of everything else is unfair."
-- Rep. Sedrick Denson, Opinion contributor, cincinnati.com
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"... HB 6 is still Ohio law, thanks to inaction by the Republican-run Ohio House of Representatives. That’s the House once led by Republican Larry Householder, a Republican from Perry County’s Glenford. In July, a federal grand jury indicted Householder and four others on federal racketeering charges, alleging that a $60 million “money laundering scheme” helped pass HB 6. (Householder and the others are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.)
The Ohio House’s Select Committee on Energy Policy and Oversight has been talking about repealing HB 6. And talking. And talking more. Now, though, the panel’s gone home, probably till after Nov. 3′s general election....
If Ohio consumers want HB 6 repealed, they should, before Election Day, tell members of the select House committee. Reason for the timing: If HB 6 survives beyond Election Day, there’s a very good chance it’ll never be repealed.
And if the bailout isn’t repealed, you’ll need to keep your checkbook handy: Somebody or something allegedly spent $60 million to get Ohio’s General Assembly to pass HB 6. And he, she or it expects a return on that investment."
-- Thomas Suddes, opinion, cleveland.com
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"Lawmakers in the state House and state Senate now must wrangle with the problem of what to do about HB6. A handful of bills to repeal it outright have been introduced, but lawmakers have not demonstrated any urgency to pass them. Leaders of both houses should get serious about replacing HB6, not only to remove the dark cloud of its role in Ohio’s biggest corruption scandal but also because the General Assembly must revisit HB6’s woeful renewable energy element.
Ohio’s energy policy should encourage more use of renewable energy for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is to improve the state’s environment. But green energy also means jobs in Ohio, particularly for the Toledo region where the solar industry has been growing for years.
There are plenty of reasons to wipe away HB6 and replace it with something better. A smart and reasonable renewable energy plan is at the top of the list."
-- editorial, Toledo Blade
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