Ohio Governor John Kasich
After more than a month of waiting, Governor Kasich’s administration has responded to our request for answers to basic questions
about the clean energy job freeze, SB 310. Our ask was simple and clear. What we got back can charitably called an evasion. The response we received is from an administration that doesn’t want to be honest with the public.
Our request seeks written public record of contacts the governor and/or his staff may have had with the Koch Brothers and the groups they fund, and with Ohio utilities. Our request is limited to records relating to Governor Kasich’s decision to freeze the state’s popular and successful renewable energy and energy standard.
Our request pertaining to the Koch Brothers asks for:
“…copies of public records of conversations and/or emails pertaining to Senate Bill 310 between Governor Kasich, hi staff and 
representatives of organizations that are known to receive financial support from Charles and David Koch , as well as their respective family foundations. This includes but is not limited to the American Legislative Exchange Council and Americans for Prosperity.” (emphasis added).
Governor Kasich’s response ducks our question:
“The Governor’s Office has no public records responsive to your request for any emails or meetings between the Governor, his staff and Charles and David Koch or representatives of their foundations” (emphasis added).
Tellingly, their response leaves out ALEC and Americans for Prosperity, as well as any of the other front groups that may receive Koch money.
They also dodge our request about conversations with the utilities. They have decided to duck behind legalisms rather than be transparent with the public.
They say that our request in this matter “does not provide enough guidance as to the specific records we are seeking”.
We simply want to know what their record of contact was with utilities that pushed for this freeze on clean energy jobs. Governor Kasich pushed this freeze despite opposition from the business community, criticism from the state’s editorial pages, and in the face of overwhelming support from the public.
We believe our request is self-evident, but we are working on a clarification for Governor Kasich’s office. Governor Kasich is doing the public a disservice by playing a bureaucratic cat-and-mouse game about the state’s energy jobs future. This is doubly true as we’ve seen two recent examples of clean energy manufacturers opting to site in surrounding states, and not in Ohio.
When we made this records request, we were hopeful that the Kasich administration would look at it as an opportunity to be honest with Ohio voters. The response we received makes it clear that they instead prefer to hide their actions from the public.
You can read the Kasich administration’s full response here.
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