House Bill 6 Goes Into Effect

Earlier this week, the controversial House Bill 6 became effective — 90 days after Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill into law.

Some opponents of the bill proposed a referendum to overturn the law, but that effort appears to have bottomed out. The referendum committee Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts failed to obtain the needed number of signatures to place the matter on the November 2020 ballot. In a Hail Mary effort, the committee asked a federal court for more time to gather signatures, but the request was denied.

Now the work of implementing HB 6 is underway. The OMA is participating in the proceedings conducted by state agencies responsible for implementing the law. HB 6 will drive new costs for manufacturers to benefit select generators and utilities. The new clean air costs will not hit customer bills until 2021; however, all customers will begin seeing new charges the first of the year to bail out the two coal power plants owned by OVEC. 10/24/2019