"Attorney General Dave Yost said Friday he would file a complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission after a disclosure Thursday that former House Speaker Larry Householder used campaign cash to cover legal fees since his July arrest on federal corruption charges.

In a tweet Friday morning, Yost said the spending was illegal and that he was directing staff in his office to pursue a formal complaint.

The post came a day after Householder's pre-general election campaign finance filing, which included seven expenditures since mid-July totaling more than $1 million to three separate law firms, including $660,000 to Marein & Bradley in Cleveland, the firm currently representing him in federal court."

-- Marc Kovac, The Columbus Dispatch 

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COLUMBUS -- "Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder has spent nearly $950,000 from his campaign account on legal fees since his arrest in July on a federal corruption charge, according to the campaign-finance report he filed with the state on Thursday.

Nearly all of that money -- $920,000-- went to two law firms that are aiding in his criminal legal defense. Two experts in state campaign-finance law called the spending questionable, since the Ohio Elections Commission, which interprets and enforces election law in Ohio, repeatedly has found that spending campaign money on a candidate’s criminal defense is illegal under state law.

Maggie Sheehan, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican who is the state’s top elections official, said: 'Yet again, it appears that the former speaker’s campaign flagrantly disregards state law and will result in another referral to the Ohio Elections Commission.'"

-- Andrew Tobias, cleveland.com 

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"Fehrman, who reported that lobbyist to the FBI, spoke during a virtual rally to repeal HB6, calling the legislation 'horribly written policy.'

He added, 'It is also a disgusting attempt by lobbyists, political operatives, and elected officials to set themselves above the law and get away with crimes that have detrimental effects on the trust of the people of our state.'

A U.S. district attorney says former House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) and others are accused of running a bribery scheme to help get HB6 passed. 

Fehrman says he is the source listed as CHS 1 in the FBI affidavit which details him helping investigators gather recordings of Matt Borges, a former lobbyist for FirstEnergy and defendant in the racketeering case.

'If I had the opportunity I would do it again 1,000 times over. Even the parts that put my life and career at great risk,' says Fehrman."

-- Andy Chow, Statehouse News Bureau 

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watch the hearing from October 21st on youtube

learn more about the hearings and sign up at www.ohiocitizen.org/testify

"Even when hearings were held in the House and Senate, most of those testifying were legislators and officials representing groups such as the Ohio Manufacturers Association and the Ohio Consumers' Counsel.

Citizens, on the other hand, haven't had their say, Leppla said.

'Essentially what we are seeing is that the public is not being invited to testify,' she said. 'It is a really corrupt piece of legislation. It's really important for the public to be heard.'

The fund along with several other groups such as the Ohio Citizen Action, Black Environmental Leaders and Solar United Neighbors have come together to hold the hearings, the first of which was held Wednesday."

-- Mark Williams, The Columbus Dispatch 

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watch the hearing from October 21st on youtube

learn more about the hearings and sign up at www.ohiocitizen.org/testify

"Along with phasing out the energy efficiency requirement and surcharge, HB 6 guts the state’s renewable portfolio standard. That’s a mandate that utilities get at least 12.5% of their power from renewable sources by 2027. Under the bill, the standard drops to 8.5% immediately and disappears in 2027.

These programs, essential to spurring innovation and investment in clean energy, already were modest compared with those of other states. Slashing them further is an embarrassment to Ohio, highlighting the General Assembly’s shortsightedness and lack of leadership.

Lawmakers can fix that by repealing HB 6 and crafting an energy bill that works for Ohioans rather than for moneyed interests, lobbyists and politicians on the take."

-- The Columbus Dispatch Editorial Board

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COLUMBUS -- "In February, seven months after Gov. Mike Dewine signed the $1.3 billion ratepayer bailout that mostly would subsidize two Northern Ohio nuclear plants, FirstEnergy might have gotten an even bigger break in U.S. bankruptcy court. That’s when Judge Alan M. Koschik signed off on a settlement that largely excused FirstEnergy from footing part of the bill to clean up the aging nuclear plants in Ohio and another in Pennsylvania that it had bequeathed to to its successor, now known as Energy Harbor, in the event that company goes belly up.

If the new company can’t make a go of it with the nuclear and coal plants that had been owned by FirstEnergy, taxpayers could well be on the hook for whatever part of the estimated $10 billion nuclear cleanup that Energy Harbor and a trust fund it’s required to maintain can’t.

Those are cleanups that, for financial reasons, will take 60 years — decades during which the crumbling cooling tower of the company’s Davis-Besse plant, for example, will loom over the Lake Erie shoreline in view of South Bass Island, one of Ohio’s premier tourist attractions."

-- Marty Schladen, Ohio Capital Journal

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"The main reason, lawmakers and observers say, is because – much like congressional Republicans' unsuccessful attempts to repeal Obamacare in 2017 – there’s no consensus among GOP lawmakers on what, if anything, to replace HB6 with.

Some favor a straight repeal of HB6. Others think it should be replaced, and at least a few believe nothing at all should be done to alter it.

'They are all over the place,' said state Rep. Mark Romanchuk of Richland County about his fellow Republicans.

There are other reasons as well. Even Republicans who favor repealing and replacing House Bill 6 say they need time to study HB6, an enormously complex law that goes far beyond the nuclear bailout, and make sure that any changes they make to it won’t have unintended consequences for Ohioans."

-- Jeremy Pelzer, cleveland.com 

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If you want to contact your legislator about HB 6, visit repealhb6.com

"An S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis shows Energy Harbor Corp.'s 908-MW Davis-Besse and 1,268-MW Perry nuclear plants, both in northern Ohio, have operating costs higher than wholesale electricity prices. A mid-2019 analysis showed the plants with operating costs running below wholesale electricity prices.

The most recent analysis shows wholesale prices in the PJM Interconnection rising through the end of 2020 and into 2021, which is when Ohio's clean air credit for nuclear plants kicks in.

House Bill 6, which establishes a $9/MWh credit for clean air resources, provides $150 million in annual financial support for the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear units beginning Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2027."

-- S&P Global Market Intelligence

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COLUMBUS -- "Now it’s October. But 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.

Ohio electricity consumers must wonder why the legislature hasn’t already repealed HB 6, given how prosecutor DeVillers described the alleged $60 million scheme to pass the bill: '[It] was bribery, plain and simple. This was a quid pro quo. This was pay to play.'"

-- Thomas Suddes, opinion, cleveland.com

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(OH-September 23, 2020) -- Today, Ohio Attorney General David Yost announced that the state is filing an injunction to ensure that no entity or individual slated to benefit from any portion of the $1.5 billion bailout awarded to FirstEnergy Solutions under House Bill 6 will receive payment.

This legislation is so steeped in corruption that our state’s Attorney General felt compelled to play legal gatekeeper to prohibit defendants and others included in the FBI investigation surrounding House Bill 6 from profiting. The fact that this action is necessary is not normal. It is not okay. But this is where the Ohio General Assembly has left us.

Even worse, today’s injunction does nothing to keep dollars in the pockets of Ohio consumers. The state will still begin collecting fees from all Ohio electricity customers on January 1st until a final decision is made by the Ohio General Assembly on the future of House Bill 6.

We thank Attorney General Yost for his leadership on this issue. But now it is time for our legislators to stand up and offer this same kind of leadership. Ohioans deserve better than to have their hard-earned dollars sitting in a black hole in the state coffers because their elected officials will not take action.

We call on the members of the Ohio General Assembly to do their jobs. Fully repeal House Bill 6 now. No excuses. Your constituents are watching, and time is running out.

-- Rachael Belz, Director, Ohio Consumers Power Alliance