[ad_1]
COLUMBUS, Ohio – FirstEnergy Solutions has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to declare illegal the proposal for a referendum to cancel the new rescue plan for the Ohio nuclear power plant because it is a tax.
FirstEnergy Solutions, which will receive $ 150 million a year for seven years under Bill 6, says the new "charge" of 85 cents a month imposed on all Ohio taxpayers to pay the plan to Rescue is a tax. The Ohio Constitution prohibits any tax levy by referendum.
The lawsuit cites, among other cases, the US Supreme Court's 2012 ruling that the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (which provides for fines for those who do not have health insurance) is a tax, even though the legislation called it a "penalty".
The filing notes that a number of opponents of HB6 have argued that it was a tax during the legislative debate on the measure early in the year. .
The lawsuit was filed against Secretary of State Frank LaRose – the state's election official – as well as against Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts, the group lobbying for the referendum.
Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts got the go-ahead last week to start collecting the approximately 266,000 valid petition signatures from registered voters in order to place the referendum on the 2020 ballot. until October 21 to submit signatures.
FirstEnergy Solutions has asked the Supreme Court to rule quickly, stating that "The more the Court quickly invalidates the referendum application, the fewer there will be Ohio voters who will be misled by the. the committee's illegal referendum effort and fewer public resources will be available, wasted in determining the sufficiency of signatures and other legal requirements relating to the vain referendum petition. "
FirstEnergy Solutions, which is in bankruptcy proceedings as it seeks to divest itself of parent company FirstEnergy Corp., said it would close its Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants in northern Ohio if the proposed Rescue law did not pass. Governor Mike DeWine signed HB6 in July.
The new law also grants $ 20 million a year to six solar power projects, eviscerates state standards for renewable energy and energy efficiency (which taxpayers are currently paying in addition to ), and creates separate and publicly funded grants in the Ohio Valley. Electric Corporation will consolidate its coal plants in Ohio and Indiana.
The spokesman of the Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts, Gene Pierce, called the case of FirstEnergy Solutions a "ridiculous argument". this bill creates any tax of any kind.
"It's another smoke screen," said Pierce. "They are trying to divert the Ohioans from a bailout of a billion dollars."
Here is the complete process:
[ad_2]
Source link