Ohio lawmakers ended their 2020 legislative session late Tuesday without repealing or replacing House Bill 6.
The scandal-tainted bill will provide a $1 billion dollar bailout for two Ohio nuclear power plants. Customers across Ohio were to begin paying a monthly fee starting in January to subsidize the plants. A judge in Columbus gave the legislature a temporary reprieve Monday by issuing a preliminary injunction to stop fees from being collected. In July, the former speaker of the Ohio House Larry Householder and four others are facing federal charges in a bribery scheme to get the bill pass. Governor Mike DeWine says it up to the Ohio House and Senate to get something done.
“The legislature is a separate branch of government. They are working their will. We will see what they send me. I have made it clear that my preferences is total repeal and replace. Because I think when we look behind the curtain and saw how this bill became law it looks unseemly and was unseemly and this kind of stinks up the whole room,” says Gov. Mike DeWine. "And so we are better off starting over again.”
A new company acquired the nuclear plants and other first energy assets in February in a bankruptcy court deal.
