The Butler County Democratic Party wants the state panel that deals with ethical violations of lawmakers to investigate Republican Rep. Candice Keller, saying she potentially violated ethics rules by sponsoring a bill which would directly benefit an anti-abortion women’s health center she runs in southwest Ohio.
Keller said she will recuse herself from the legislative process for the bill that would provide a refundable tax credit to nonprofit pregnancy centers. But Butler County Democratic Party Director Brian Hester said the horse is already out of the barn now.
“The fact that she, having now been caught and publicly called out on it, says she doesn’t intend to continue to violating the law, doesn’t change the fact that her initial action was a violation,” Hester said.
Tax filings show Keller’s center lost money in recent years. Hester thinks the center and Keller would benefit from the bill.
Ohio’s Legislative Inspector General Tony Bledsoe said he advised Keller to abstain from voting on the bill after she asked him for his opinion last month.
