Ohio Republicans will try to forge energy bill consensus with resistant governor

摘要

After spending several days negotiating terms of Ohio's stalled energy legislation with Governor Ted Strickland and other key lawmakers, House Speaker Jon Husted entered the weekend with the hope that a consensus bill would be ready for a vote on Tuesday. But there were no guarantees, especially after the drama that unfolded last week when Husted's substitute version of S.B. 221 was heard in the House Public Utilities Committee. Before the Republican-controlled panel could hold a late-night April 14 vote on the successor to a bill approved by the Senate last fall (EUW, 4 Nov '07, 4) and based largely on the governor's jobs and energy plan, Democrat members of the committee walked out. Despite the protest, the committee passed the bill anyway. Husted, a Republican, then tried for two days to advance the legislation in the face of proposed amendments by utility, consumer and manufacturing interests before giving up late in the week. The bill became "unrecognizable to him and it was something the Speaker could not support," said his legislative aide, Karen Stivers.