Today, we saw Republicans revealed to be at the center of a staggering corruption scandal at the Statehouse. At the heart of the issue is that under gerrymandered maps, politicians are more beholden to extremists and lobbyists than they are to their voters.
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Thread to follow.
So what happened? Speaker Larry Householder and four lobbyists were arrested in a $60 million racketeering and bribery scandal surrounding the passage of controversial HB6 - a bill that gutted our clean energy standards and bailed out two failing nuclear plants.
Ohioans overwhelmingly support investing in green energy and acting on climate. That HB6 was even on the table for conversation is a direct result of gerrymandering - if our elected officials cared about their constituents' opinions this bill would have never gone anywhere.
But this scandal points to other systemic problems that come with map manipulation. The scandal highlights a belief that being unaccountable to voters thanks to gerrymandered maps makes an elected official unaccountable period. It’s false, It’s wrong, and it’s corrupt.
Exchanging political appointments for campaign contributions and working to undercut efforts for a citizen referendum to overturn HB 6 is what happens when elected officials believe they don’t have to answer to their constituents.
The reality is that our elected officials sold the people of Ohio out. The culture of corruption that plagues the Statehouse is only exacerbated by gerrymandered maps under which politicians can rise to political power unchecked by the people.
This scandal, while a blow to Ohioans, highlights how important the fight for #FairMaps is. With them, Ohioans could not only elect representatives of our choosing - who pass bills that voters support - but we could also hold them accountable.
With #FairMaps we could provide our elected officials with an incentive to be partners in good government. Politicians should serve us, not themselves.
Join our fight to get the maps, and politicians, Ohioans deserve.
AllOnTheLine.org
Join our fight to get the maps, and politicians, Ohioans deserve.
AllOnTheLine.org
