Ohio Governor Says He Does Not Support Repealing House Bill 6

COLUMBUS, OH — Gov. Mike DeWine does not support repealing House Bill 6, the legislation at the heart of a racketeering allegation involving $61 million and Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder.

House Bill 6 provided a $1.3 billion bailout for two FirstEnergy nuclear plants in Ohio. Previous attempts to bail out the FirstEnergy nuclear plants had stalled in the legislature before Householder became speaker. Months after taking over, he rolled out a new plan to subsidize the plants and eliminate renewable energy incentives. The proposal was approved a year ago despite opposition from many business leaders and the manufacturing industry.

During a news conference, DeWine said he supports a "balanced" energy policy for Ohio. He said he was saddened by the allegations in the affidavit surrounding the legislation, but he would not change his opinion on the bill.

The governor argued that nuclear power was the only way to drastically cut Ohio's carbon emissions in the near future.

"My position on this predated the bill. Our position has been that we need nuclear power. We need non-carbon polluting energy," DeWine explained.

Democrats in the Ohio House have already rolled out a proposal to repeal House Bill 6. The bill was sponsored by state Rep. Michael Skindell and Rep. Michael O’Brien. State Rep. Randi Clites vowed his support for the repeal on Wednesday.

“I was always opposed to House Bill 6, so in light of the corruption involved with the legislation, it is clear to me that it needs to be repealed,” Clites said. “Ohioans deserve lawmakers that truly work for them. We need legislation that will protect consumers, improve energy efficiency standards, and support for the growth of clean energy jobs.”

DeWine said he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing on Householder's part. However, he did admit to being surprised by the amount of advertising run on the issue in Ohio.

The governor said he had no contact with investigators and first learned of the allegations on Tuesday. He also reiterated his call for Householder to resign on Wednesday.

FirstEnergy said they have been asked to participate in the Department of Justice's investigation. The following statement was forwarded to Patch:

This afternoon, FirstEnergy Corp.received subpoenas in connection with the investigation surrounding Ohio House Bill 6. We are reviewing the details of the investigation and we intend to fully cooperate.

Reporting and writing from The Associated Press were used in this report