Akron Beacon Journal. May 10, 2024.
Editorial: HB 6 scandal proves it’s time to shed light on dark money groups in Ohio
The ripple effects from one of the nation’s largest corruption scandals are still being felt across Ohio. But how much has really changed since the House Bill 6 transgressions first came to light nearly four years ago?
Not enough.
In July 2020, FBI agents arrested five men in the public corruption case involving Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. funneling $60 million in bribes through dark money groups to pass and defend House Bill 6.
The main purpose of HB 6: to provide subsidies for two nuclear power plants owned by a company that was, at the time, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy.
Ex-House Speaker Larry Householder is serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison for his role in the scandal and is facing additional state charges.
In February, a Summit County grand jury indicted former FirstEnergy President and CEO Chuck Jones and Michael Dowling, FirstEnergy’s ex-senior vice president of external affairs, on scores of state felony charges related to their alleged roles in the HB 6 scandal.
Despite the nefarious way HB 6 was enacted, only portions of the measure have been repealed.
The subsidies of about 85 cents per month, or $170 million a year over six years, for the nuclear power plants were repealed in March 2021, about a year after the scandal blew up.
But HB 6 also includes a subsidy for two coal-fired power plants. Electricity customers are still paying a fee of as much as $1.50 a month through 2030 to support those plants — the Kyger Creek plant in Cheshire in southern Ohio and Clifty Creek in Madison, Indiana.
Additionally, the parts of HB 6 that reduced energy efficiency and renewable energy are still in effect.
In July 2020, Ohio House Democrats introduced a bill to repeal House Bill 6 in its entirety. Not surprisingly, given the Democrats’ minority status in the state legislature, the measure died in committee.
In a press release announcing the bill, two of the measure’s co-sponsors accurately summed up the situation:
Despite the nefarious way HB 6 was enacted, only portions of the measure have been repealed.
The subsidies of about 85 cents per month, or $170 million a year over six years, for the nuclear power plants were repealed in March 2021, about a year after the scandal blew up.
But HB 6 also includes a subsidy for two coal-fired power plants. Electricity customers are still paying a fee of as much as $1.50 a month through 2030 to support those plants — the Kyger Creek plant in Cheshire in southern Ohio and Clifty Creek in Madison, Indiana.
Additionally, the parts of HB 6 that reduced energy efficiency and renewable energy are still in effect.
In July 2020, Ohio House Democrats introduced a bill to repeal House Bill 6 in its entirety. Not surprisingly, given the Democrats’ minority status in the state legislature, the measure died in committee.
In a press release announcing the bill, two of the measure’s co-sponsors accurately summed up the situation:
“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,” said Rep. Michael J. Skindell (D-Lakewood). “With deeply gerrymandered districts, Republican politicians feel invincible and are more beholden to special interest groups and corporations than they are to their own constituents. HB 6 was the manifestation of this alleged corruption.”
“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,” said Rep. Michael O’Brien (D-Warren). “Recent events have been a black eye for our institution, and our legislation is the first step toward repairing the damage to the public trust caused by Republican leaders in the Ohio House.”
Making matters worse, Ohio has done nothing to shed light on dark money groups in the wake of HB 6, unlike some other states that faced similar scandals.
In Arizona, for instance, a utility spent millions through dark money groups to hand-pick candidates with influence over customers’ electric bills. Voters responded by passed legislation to unmask the donors behind dark money groups influencing their politics.
It’s time for Ohio to truly right the wrongs of House Bill 6.
Repeal HB 6 in its entirety and enact reforms to keep a similar scandal from happening again.
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Columbus Dispatch. May 9, 2024.
Editorial: Yost’s idea of using anti-KKK law against peaceful college protesters shameful
What was Dave Yost thinking?
In a letter to Ohio’s college presidents Monday, the state attorney general advised that prosecutors could use a generations-old law intended to curtail KKK activities to instead charge campus protesters with a felony. He even offered folksy fatherly advice on why young people would want to avoid a felony conviction.
Approved in 1953, Ohio Revised Code 3761.12 makes it a felony to commit a crime with two or more people while wearing white caps, masks or other disguise. “Even a misdemeanor, such as trespass,” Yost added in his shameful correspondence.
Yost, a Republican, is not so subtly claiming that local prosecutors could add this charge to those arrested on the Ohio State University campus last month during protests related to the Israel-Gaza War.
About 40 people advocating for Palestinians face misdemeanor charges mostly for failing to disperse when ordered to do so by police. Some were wearing medical masks and other face coverings when they were detained.
Those arrested, including many people of color, are essentially accused of violating the university’s space policies that allow for protests but restrict times and encampments. None are facing felonies, nor was any violence witnessed or reported to justify such a more serious charge.
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein faces pressure to drop all of the charges, which is not unusual in many minor protest arrests. It’s far more likely he will drop some cases than follow Yost’s suggestion.
Regardless, the key word in the 1953 law is “white,” the hallmark of racist KKK disguises including masks, hoods and robes that completely blocked the identity of cowards who terrorized Black people across the United States. We doubt the courageous lawmakers who passed this law in our segregated society of that era intended for it to be used against diverse people they sought to protect.
Whether the law would apply here to a protester wearing any other colored mask than “white” or religious head coverings is questionable and hardly worthy of a warning. It’s difficult to imagine any sane prosecutor standing in court seeking to convict a Muslim woman on this felony charge.
Nor can Yost himself file charges in these cases unless local prosecutors invite his team to handle the matters.
We don’t recall Yost issuing similar guidance when much larger and violent protests erupted after the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota four years ago this month and resulted in many misdemeanor arrests across Ohio. We also don’t recall any talk of the 1953 law when the Proud Boys, designated a hate group just like the KKK, masked up and protested outside a drag storytime in Columbus, although there were no arrests.
Yost is smart enough to know all of this. So why did he send the letter? We believe he’s trying to intimidate people from protesting at all, seeking to suppress their First Amendment rights.
That’s fundamentally wrong for a powerful elected official sworn to uphold the constitution.
Yost, a likely candidate for Ohio governor in 2026, has embarrassed himself before when he claimed the story of a 10-year-old girl who had been raped in Ohio and received an abortion in Indiana was “likely fabricated.” The events came while our state’s “Heartbeat” abortion law was in effect during the summer of 2022. He was wrong.
And he’s now doing everything he can to block the will of Ohio voters who overwhelmingly voted in November to enshrine reproductive care rights in the state constitution. Some also argue he’s taking a United States Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action too far and keeping scholarships from deserving college students.
If Dave Yost wants to be governor of Ohio, he needs to stop pandering to conservative Republicans and wasting tax dollars on idle threats.
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Toledo Blade. May 10, 2024.
Editorial: STRS reformers targeted
Gov. Mike DeWine sees a “red flag” in the resignation of fiduciary governance adviser Aon at the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio.
The more accurate term, though Mr. DeWine might not agree, is “red herring.”
The governor, aided by Attorney General Dave Yost, is trying to undo the takeover of the board of the State Teachers Retirement System by reform-minded members who want to curtail the pension system’s investments in obscure Wall Street funds that pay high fees to the fund managers but haven’t generated the revenue that the pension for retired teachers depends on.
Those fees guarantee enormous profits for Wall Street firms who share the wealth through campaign contributions to political action committees for both parties. Only the teachers who were denied a cost of living increase from 2017 to 2022 were victimized by overpayment and underperformance.
Aon’s recent resignation as fiduciary governance adviser to STRS should, indeed, be a red flag or a warning signal to the governor and the General Assembly.
We don’t bewail the departure of Aon. Based on a Securities and Exchange Commission finding and settlement in January on their flawed work for the Pennsylvania teachers pension system they should not have been let in the door in the first place.
The governor is attempting to weaponize the Aon controversy into an attack on STRS Board member Wade Steen. Mr. Steen represents reformers on the board, who now have a majority. Mr. DeWine appointed Mr. Steen, but later removed him, citing his attendance record and his involvement with a questionable proposed investment strategy in 2022. But a state appeals court ordered Mr. Steen to be reinstated, ruling that the governor did not have the power to remove him.
Now Governor DeWine says the reform board members at STRS are facilitating a “hostile takeover.” Attorney General Dave Yost has opened an investigation to remove members under a state law covering breach of fiduciary duty. (“Yost intervenes with state teachers pension fund,” Friday).
The investigation is driven by an investment debate at STRS that occurred in the summer and fall of 2022.
Reform board members Steen and Rudy Fichtenbaum proposed a $65 billion investment in a startup firm that planned to generate profits through short-term loans to Goldman Sachs.
STRS funds would have allowed the Wall Street giant to evade Federal Reserve restrictions limiting their investment leverage. The scheme was not a good idea and was resoundingly defeated by the STRS board.
But now the implication that Mr. Steen and Mr. Fichtenbaum crossed the line legally in dealings with principals in the firm they supported for the project is being used to keep STRS reformers from taking majority control of the board.
Though the investment was ill-advised, there has been no formal allegation made that either Mr. Steen or Mr. Fichtenbaum violated ethical or criminal codes.
State government is racing to take action now to get Mr. Steen back off the board because the STRS reform majority has pledged full transparency on investments.
Disclosure of the terms and conditions of the one-sided contracts STRS and Ohio’s other pensions have entered into will show the interests of pension beneficiaries have taken a backseat to the advantage of pension staff and state politicians.
If STRS reformers hold their majority and make good on promised transparency, Wall Street profits will be threatened across the country and Ohio political fundraising hurt as a result.
The investigation of STRS is not to prevent a hostile takeover but rather to protect the hostile takeover by Wall Street that has already happened.
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Youngstown Vindicator. May 9, 2024.
Editorial: A step in the right direction
It’s hard to believe there wasn’t already one in place, but better late than never as Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration starts work on the Buckeye State’s first climate action plan.
According to a report by Energy News Network, the state is seeking $189 million in federal Inflation Reduction Act dollars to establish a statewide fund. That money would be used for electrifying government fleets, retrofitting public buildings and — for those of you still hung up on the electricity for those vehicles being provided by fossil fuels — install solar generation on city, county and state properties.
Energy News Network reports the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority were looking for a quick start to the work, and decided leading from the top was the way to go.
“Governments really control significant assets in terms of fleets and building stock across Ohio,” Brooke White, an air quality evaluation and planning supervisor with the Ohio EPA, told Energy News Network.
Ohio’s climate plan — the Priority Resilience Plan — starts with cutting emissions, renewable electricity generation and building energy efficiency. The grant program would send 60% of its funding to low-income and disadvantaged communities, ENN reported. The idea is not only to improve air quality in those communities, but to add jobs in the renewable energy, energy efficiency and electric vehicle industries.
“Resilience funding is climate funding, and it’s also smart city planning,” Joe Flarida, executive director of Power a Clean Future Ohio, told ENN. He also said, “local governments are just the start of this work. It’s the tip of the iceberg.”
Good. A statewide plan for getting it right as we diversify and expand our economy while trying to do a better job for the planet and the people on it is essential. If the federal government sees potential in it — and is willing to send money –all the better. But municipal, county and state officials must not stop here. This must be just the beginning.
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Marietta Times. May 10, 2024.
Editorial: Lawmakers must take precise approach
Lawmakers looking to reduce the number of gun crimes without stepping on the Second Amendment have to take a precise approach if they are to do any good. In Columbus, it seems the “Repeat Offenders Act” might be a good start.
Introduced by Reps. Bernie Willis, R-Springfield, and Josh Williams, R-Sylvania Township, the bill would increase penalties for a person caught a second or third time having a gun illegally, according to a report by WBNS. It would increase penalties for using a gun during a violent crime, and provide mandatory sentences for some offenses.
“These repeat offenders, people who have been told by judges at sentencing, you shall never own a gun or ammunition again in your life unless your rights are restored, some of them get out and within six months they’re caught doing another crime,” Williams said, according to WBNS.
The idea is not to affect responsible, legal gun owners while addressing criminals who use guns.
“This bill is surgically targeted toward not owners but actors that use guns for illegal reasons,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said, according to WBNS. “This will make our cities safer, it will take the bad guys with guns off the street and not affect the rights of law abiding citizens.”
House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, noted this legislation does cover one piece of the problem, but there is still work to do.
Surely the proposal will require some adjustments — almost everything does. But at first glance, it seems to be a thoughtful approach to a problem we must never stop trying to solve.
END