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Energy Bill Passes Tricky Ohio House Committee
By: Andy Chow | Statehouse News Bureau
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A controversial energy bill takes another step after legislators passed it out of a House committee Tuesday, but Republican leadership moved the bill while facing strong opposition from members of their own party.
The new energy bill would, among other changes, freeze Ohio’s efficiency and renewable standards for two years. Republican Representatives Mike Duffey of Worthington and Mark Romanchuk of Mansfield wanted to bring that down to a one year freeze.
Duffey says he doesn’t like the bill because it makes a lot of changes without taking what he feels to be the right steps to benefit consumers. His attempts to amend the bill were struck down and while the committee eventually approved the bill, Duffey believes the final vote doesn’t tell the whole story.
“I think that other members of the committee had an inclination to do something on this but when they felt like they couldn’t or they got a lot of pressure from their home districts," Duffey said. "There are a lot of people who would rather not have this bill pass seen today that’re still going to vote for it I think.”
Duffey and Romanchuk were the only Republicans in the committee to vote against the bill along with all but one Democrat. The bill is expected to move to a full House vote this week.