Corruption runs deep in the Buckeye State

With the FirstEnergy racketeering trial underway, we should ask ourselves how and why these things happen -- and what we should do about it

Feb 04, 2023

Way back in the time before time of 2018, FirstEnergy’s coal and nuclear arm, FirstEnergy Solutions, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This meant that they would be allowed to continue operating as usual after forgiving some debts and restructuring the company, hoping that the best was yet to come. But unlike most Chapter 11 bankruptcies, the OH General Assembly, with the blessing on high of Daddy Dewine, swooped in and came to their rescue with a $1 billion bailout.

So what was OH House Bill 6?

Well, it all goes back to GOP House Rep. Larry Householder. Householder served as an OH House Rep. from 1997 to 2004 and as Speaker of the House from 2001 to 2004, at which time he was term-limited. From 2004 to 2006, Householder was investigated by the US DOJ for suspected kickbacks to vendors through the House Republican Campaign Committee which he had led at the time. The investigation was dropped in 2006 with no charges and little fanfair. Householder was then re-elected to the House in 2016 where he pioneered OH House Bill 6.1

HB 6 overhauled OH’s energy policy in favor of FirstEnergy and the post-bankruptcy nuclear and coal company, Energy Harbor. Among many other things, HB 6 revamped renewable energy and energy efficiency mandates and, most notably, facilitated a massive $1 billion wealth transfer from OH taxpayers to any “owner or operator of a qualifying nuclear resource or qualifying renewable resource.”2 OH only has 2 “nuclear resources,” which are owned by FirstEnergy-spinoff Energy Harbor, and the definition of “qualifying renewable resource” only applies to the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation, which is part-owned by FirstEnergy. Clever? Not at all, and people saw through this right away.

But the opposition to HB 6, which was staunch and substantial, ultimately didn’t matter as FirstEnergy allegedly pumped dark money into Householder and his allies, stemming back from Householder’s House bid in 2016, to pass HB 6. The opposition tried to get an issue on the ballot for everday Ohioans to vote on this foundational shift in energy policy, but the army of lobbyists allegedly acting at the behest of FirstEnergy annihilated this movement,3 and HB 6 became law.

On its own, this is business-as-usual for corporations and GOP politicians, but the corruption doesn’t end there. Others arrested include “political operative” Jeff Longstreth and lobbyists Juan Cespedes and Neil Clark.4 Clark committed suicide on March 15, 2021, wearing a DeWine for Governor t-shirt.5 Many others, including Governor Mike Dewine himself, were implicated but not charged.6

A lazy crime that didn’t need to be.

The difference between bribery and lobbying can oftentimes come down to circumstance. While there are clear differences between some types of activities at the extremes, the grey area is substantial, even the majority, of the in-between. Some people even hold the opinion that lobbying is just “bribery in a suit.”7 At the end of the day, whether someone who otherwise follows the law is investigated for bribery as a result of their lobbying activities is a matter of opinion.

Dark money is a hotbed of corruption, though the practice of using 501(c)(4) organizations as shields against revealing donor lists is common. Money under (or even over) the table in exchange for information that could be used in influencing the “official acts” of public officials, on the other hand, is clearly bribery. That there’s even a question about this is indicative of the times.

In our amateur opinion, Householder and friends would’ve gotten away with it if they had just settled on over-the-table transactions and conventional means to influence politicians and public policy. What we think did them in were the events on Sept. 1-2, 2019, where former OH GOP chair Matt Borges allegedly attempted to purchase “insider information” from Tyler Fehrman, another political operative for the GOP who was working to overturn HB 6.8 Whether other, similar events occurred before then is something we’ll come to see as the trial progresses.

The important takeaway from a political perspective is that there’s always a legal, over-the-table way to achieve illegitimate ends, such as HB 6. What seems to be unique to OH, as with the Jimmy Dimora case, is that OH politicians more often than not opt into the illicit means, landing them in prison.

But this all could’ve been prevented.

On one hand, just obey the law. But white-collar criminals will be white-collar criminals, so relying on this alone is not enough.

Public utilities and public services should never be left to the free market, in the hands of businesspeople on the lookout for an easy buck. Profit extraction is the status quo under capitalism, but state-owned enterprises are a simple—albeit temporary means—to accommodate a capitalist economy and the needs of everyday folks. Public subsidies in the form of hand-outs and tax credits must be replaced by fully state-owned enterprises, either purchased at book value minus goodwill or seized by statute. Anyone looking to offer private alternatives should either be prohibited from doing so or must face strict and far-reaching regulations to protect the public.

All forms of corruption, whether legal and over-the-table or illegal and under it, are harmful to everyone. Short-term power plays cannot stand in the way or take priority over long-term prosperity, which only the left is capable of bringing about. What Ohioans need most are politicians willing to stand up to the corporate powers that be to regain control of OH’s future and make this state work for everyday Ohioans.

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This info was pulled from a Cincinnati.com article from USA Today Network Ohio Bureau (2021, rev. 2023) https://www.cincinnati.com/in-depth/news/politics/2021/06/03/ohio-corruption-house-bill-6-bribery-timeline-larry-householder/5248218001/

OH House Bill 6, as amended https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/133/hb6

This info was pulled from a Cincinnati.com article by Jessie Balmert (2023) https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/20/ohio-corruption-trial-larry-householder-matt-borges-firstenergy-house-bill-6-scandal/69748168007/

This info was pulled from a Columbus Dispatch article by Jessie Balmert (2023) https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/20/ohio-corruption-trial-larry-householder-matt-borges-firstenergy-house-bill-6-scandal/69748168007/

This info was pulled from a Columbus Dispatch article by Jessie Balmert (2021) https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/08/prominent-columbus-lobbyist-neil-clark-died-suicide-while-wearing-blue-dewine-governor-t-shirt-accor/7583922002/

See Footnote 1

Quoted from an Investopedia article by Troy Siegel (rev. 2022) https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0912/the-differences-between-bribery-and-lobbying.aspx