GOP needs to acknowledge the corruption in our system so we can uproot it: Bride Rose Sweeney

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Most Ohioans know about the largest political corruption scandal in Ohio’s history. That’s because power conglomerate FirstEnergy and the crooked former Speaker of the House Larry Householder were at the center of a criminal ring behind a $1.3 billion bailout for two nuclear power plants, $60 million in bribes, multiple arrests including the recent state indictment of three alleged conspirators, and immeasurable damage to the people’s trust in our state’s government.

What most Ohioans don’t know is the fact that, despite all of those crimes, not one law has been passed that would prevent any public official from doing it again.

It’s not because of a lack of effort. Well before House Bill 6, there were numerous proposals to curb political corruption, some I personally championed. If they had been taken up, Householder and HB 6 could have been stopped before inflicting so much financial and institutional damage to Ohio.

Ever since the truth on HB 6 came out, I’ve been part of a movement at the Statehouse introducing legislation that, if passed, would weed out corruption from our political system, repeal all of HB 6 and refund the more than $240 million Ohioans have so far paid in HB 6 subsidies, and much more.

The gerrymandered majority controlling every level of government in Ohio has unsurprisingly ignored anti-corruption proposals at every turn, until last month that is. Last month, Republican State Sens. Theresa Gavarone and Rob McColley introduced Senate Bill 215 that aims to ban foreign nationals contributing to political candidates and increase transparency for ballot issue campaigns.

Let’s be clear, this bill was not introduced in a response to the HB 6 scandal and it’s not meant to weed out political corruption. It’s a knee-jerk reaction to the GOP losing the battle over reproductive rights in Ohio. The senators claim a Swedish billionaire helped tip the scales in favor of the movement codifying reproductive rights in Ohio’s constitution, despite overwhelming support of that issue from a bipartisan majority of Ohioans.

Dark money of any kind should be eliminated from our political system. But don’t be hypocritical and say a liberal Swedish billionaire is a problem, but the conservative Illinois billionaire Dick Uihlein is acceptable. Once again, they don’t like what the people want, so they’re changing the rules of the game. That’s not putting people first. That’s putting politics first.

It’s about time my Republican colleagues recognize that corruption is a real issue with our elections. For almost a year, they have completely ignored my House Bill 112, the Ohio Anti-Corruption Act, introduced with Rep. Jessica Miranda that also would bear down on foreign nationals involvement in ballot issues campaigns. If they would have acted a year ago, perhaps they could have achieved their flimsy goal, though I have zero doubt it would have changed the outcome of November’s election.

Unlike the Republicans’ misguided proposal, the Ohio Anti-Corruption Act goes much deeper to expose secret money in our elections and close treacherous loopholes. Not only would it ban domestic corporations with foreign owners and decision makers from spending in our elections, it also closes loopholes for big-money special-interest groups by requiring corporations and LLCs disclose contributions meant to influence elections. It would also strengthen disclosure by requiring corporations and LLCs to tell us more about their true owners and the actual source of funds behind the benign names of their organizations. Integrity of our democracy depends on openness and accountability. The Ohio Anti-Corruption Act would do just that.

Solving a problem starts with realizing you have a problem. The people know Ohio has a corruption problem, and the people deserve to have Republicans honestly recognize that problem. The people don’t deserve Republicans trying to pull a fast one on them because Republicans didn’t like the results of the reproductive rights vote. The people’s best interest should come before Republicans’ self-interest.

Bride Rose Sweeney is currently serving her third term as a Democratic member of the Ohio House representing western Cuyahoga County. She is the Ranking Member of the Ohio House Finance Committee and lead sponsor of House Bill 112, the Ohio Anti-Corruption Act.