Cupp: HB 6 on next session’s agenda
By Josh Ellerbrock - jellerbrock@limanews.com
Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp explains some of the difficulties in repealing and replacing the controversial House Bill 6 during an interview with The Lima News staff.
Josh Ellerbrock | The Lima News
LIMA As the Ohio General Assembly wraps its latest legislative session, House Bill 6 remains on the books, and Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp said legislators are still divided on exactly how to approach it.
“Aside from whatever criminal activity may have taken place, the policy in the bill, a lot of it has very good policy,” Cupp said. “You know, members believe that it’s good policy. It’s not just about nuclear plants, it’s about a number of other things as well.”
The Ohio Supreme Court on Monday issued a temporary stay to stop collection of a fee from nearly every electric customer in the state starting Jan. 1 to subsidize two nuclear power plants, a provision included in a scandal-tainted bill approved by the state Legislature in July 2019.
Common Pleas Judge Chris Brown in his ruling from the bench last Monday said, “To not impose an injunction would be to allow certain parties to prevail. It would give the OK that bribery is allowed in the state of Ohio and that any ill-gotten gains can be received.
The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association appealed to the Supreme Court earlier this month after the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio in August cited the legislation known as HB6 in issuing an order approving collection of the fees and then refused to reconsider the group’s request for a new hearing.
The Associated Press
CLEVELAND The Ohio Supreme Court on Monday issued a temporary stay to stop collection of a fee from nearly every electric customer in the state starting Jan. 1 to subsidize two nuclear power plants, a provision included in a scandal-tainted bill approved by the state Legislature in July 2019.
The order signed by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor comes a week after a judge in Franklin County issued a preliminary injunction to stop collection of the fees.
Common Pleas Judge Chris Brown in his ruling from the bench last Monday said, “To not impose an injunction would be to allow certain parties to prevail. It would give the OK that bribery is allowed in the state of Ohio and that any ill-gotten gains can be received.
Cupp: HB 6 on next session’s agenda
By Josh Ellerbrock - jellerbrock@limanews.com
Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp explains some of the difficulties in repealing and replacing the controversial House Bill 6 during an interview with The Lima News staff.
Josh Ellerbrock | The Lima News
LIMA As the Ohio General Assembly wraps its latest legislative session, House Bill 6 remains on the books, and Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp said legislators are still divided on exactly how to approach it.
“Aside from whatever criminal activity may have taken place, the policy in the bill, a lot of it has very good policy,” Cupp said. “You know, members believe that it’s good policy. It’s not just about nuclear plants, it’s about a number of other things as well.”
Unionized workers at the Perry nuclear power plant in Northeast Ohio argue that plant owner Energy Harbor in Akron is trying to force them to pay higher health insurance costs despite a court order forbidding that kind of change.
The union, Utility Workers of America Local 270, represents about 30 workers at the plant. Perry is about 30 miles east of Cleveland on the shore of Lake Erie. The union says the proposed changes amount to a cut in benefits and is seeking to quickly go to arbitration to settle the dispute.
The local says Energy Harbor wants union workers to pay more for health insurance and that violates a court ruling that allowed the creation of Energy Harbor out of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of the former FirstEnergy Solutions. FirstEnergy Solutions was the generation arm of Akron electric utility FirstEnergy Corp. that was placed in Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018 and emerged early this year as Energy Harbor. The company owns Perry and the Davis-Besse nuclear plants.