O’Brien Named to Committee Tasked with HB6 Repeal

COLUMBUS, Ohio – State. Rep. Michael O’Brien has been named to the Ohio House of Representatives committee tasked with repealing House Bill 6.

The Select Committee on Energy Policy and Oversight will hear legislation designed to repeal HB6, the $2 billion bailout of FirstEnergy’s nuclear division led by former Speaker of the House Larry Householder. 

“From its onset, House Bill 6 was only crafted for political gain and the benefit of one company,” said O’Brien, D-Warren, in a statement. “I jointly sponsored House Bill 738 to repeal House Bill 6 because we cannot allow this tainted legislation to stand as Ohio law.”

Bipartisan legislation offering a “clean repeal” of the law was before the Committee on Rules and Reference without movement for a month before being passed to the Select Committee.

When the Ohio House returned to session Sept. 1, Democrats were prepared to introduce amendments that would repeal HB6, O’Brien said, by Speaker Bob Cupp, R-Lima ended the session before hearing the amendments.

“As co-chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy Generation, I heard testimony from countless witnesses regarding the mockery House Bill 6 made of Ohio’s competitive energy markets,” O’Brien said.. “I was a vocal opponent of House Bill 6 from the very beginning, and I will remain so until this bill is repealed.”

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.