Rep. Robinson statement on removing Larry Householder as speaker, House votes in new Speaker Bob Cupp
COLUMBUS— State Rep. Phil Robinson (D-Solon) issued a statement on the Ohio House voting unanimously to strip Larry Householder (R-Glenford) of his role as Speaker of the House.
“It is my hope that removing Larry Householder from the House Speakership will begin to build public trust, start the process of healing in our state, and get the House back to work. This way we can move forward with the real issues facing Ohio, such as COVID-19 and the impact it is having on our family’s health, the state’s economy, and our children’s education,” said Rep. Robinson.
House Republicans voted to select Rep. Bob Cupp (R-Lima) as the next Speaker of the House. Every member of the Democratic Caucus voted against his candidacy.
“At the beginning of this General Assembly, I had high hopes that there could be bipartisanship and cooperation between the two parties in serving the people of Ohio. And there was for a brief period of time. We made great progress in the state operating budget, education policy reform efforts, passing House Bill (HB) 4 and other bipartisan bills, and instituting live streaming of House committee hearings.
However, Republican’s FirstEnergy bailout at the expense of Ohio rate payers and divestment from wind power and other clean energy competitors of FirstEnergy is one of many backward steps that hurt the early progress we achieved.
Householder and Republicans choice of attaching COVID-19 school relief to a problematic bill such as HB 164, attacks on women’s medical choices and gun safety reform, ignoring systemic racism and real policing reform, their defense of the Confederate flag, and politicization of wearing masks and sound health policy during the pandemic has chipped away at those hopes.
The HB 6 bribery scheme created a crack that might be too large to fix. Speaker Bob Cupp will have to work very hard to undo the damage and rebuild trust and my hopes,” added Rep. Robinson.
Householder and four associates were indicted by a federal grand jury today amid an ongoing FBI criminal investigation into his connection to an alleged $60 million public corruption and bribery scheme, the largest in state history.
“With Speaker Cupp, there have now been five Republican House Speakers in the last three years. Two have left or were removed from their post while under FBI investigations. When a single party has control of a state as long as Republicans have with supermajorities in both chambers, it creates a breeding ground for a culture of corruption.
We need to prove to Ohio that the actions of Republicans and their backroom deals are not a reflection of our state government as a whole. Our state government must work for everyone, not just the powerful and well-connected.
We need to repeal HB 6 and we need to pass the Ohio Anti-Corruption Act, shedding light on dark money in Ohio. I call on Speaker Cupp and Republicans to join Democrats in support of reform and justice. These are the types of actions that will show Ohioans we work for them,” stated Rep. Robinson.
Rep. Robinson is a cosponsor to HB 738, which repeals HB 6, and HB 739, the Ohio Anti-Corruption Act, which would require dark money groups to identify their funders and disclose their spending in Ohio, while also strengthening restrictions against foreign corporations and governments from influencing Ohio elections.
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