By Jen Quinn, Legislative and Political Director
For those of you who kept an eye on the previous legislative session, you’ve probably noticed this legislative session is very similar. We’re seeing a lot of the same bills, both good and bad, be reintroduced and we’re hearing many of the same arguments and talking points from both sides of the aisle. There are bills that are, to say the least, concerning, but we also have reasons to be optimistic.
RGGI
The regulatory process that would allow Pennsylvania to participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is moving forward. However, there are those in the legislature that are trying to halt this process by requiring legislative approval to participate in RGGI.
In addition to requiring legislative approval to participate in RGGI, Hb 637 and SB 119 would prevent the DEP from doing anything to regulate carbon in any way without legislative approval. A similar bill, Hb 2025, passed both chambers last session and was vetoed by the Governor. A veto override was not attempted.
We believe it’s likely the legislature will try to pass Hb 637 or Sb 119 during this legislative session (which doesn’t end until November 30, 2022). If passed, the Governor should again veto the bill. It will then be essential to ensure there are not enough votes for a veto override.
HB 989
Currently, proceeds from RGGI must be deposited into the Clean Air Fund and can be used to support the program itself or used in ways that reduce air pollution, which isn’t a bad use of the proceeds, but Hb 989 can add significant flexibility as to how the proceeds are used.
Under this bill, 25% of the proceeds would still go into the Clean Air Fund and the remaining 75% would go into the newly established Energy Transition Fund (ETF). The ETF would provide bill assistance for low-income residents, support for workers and communities impacted by the closure of power plants, weatherization assistance, and funding for solar, energy efficiency, and demand reduction programs.
SB 275
This bill would prohibit local governments from restricting or prohibiting utility connections based on the type of energy provided. In response to California cities banning gas hook ups in new construction, the American Gas Association is pushing back and working to ensure state legislatures across the country pass laws prohibiting these local bans. So far, four states have passed legislation to preempt local governments and similar legislation has been introduced in twelve other states, including SB 275 in Pennsylvania. With this bill, we see the influence the gas industry has in Harrisburg.
Community Solar
The senate version of the community solar legislation, SB 472, was finally introduced last week. We’re anticipating a house bill to be introduced soon and it should be identical or nearly identical to the senate version.
We’re optimistic about this bill passing this session. It had significant bipartisan support last session (roughly 100 cosponsors and 1/3 of those were Republicans) but ended up stuck in the House Consumer Affairs Committee where the majority chair refused to put it up for a vote. That obstructionist chair has been removed and replaced and the bill stands a good chance of passing, should it make it to the floor for a vote.
Electric Vehicle Infrastructure
We also saw the senate version of this bill introduced last week (Sb 435). We’re also optimistic about this bill passing this session. It easily passed the Senate last session but suffered a similar fate to community solar, languishing in the House Consumer Affairs Committee. Should it make it to the floor of the House and Senate, it’s likely it will pass.
State Budget
Late last year, the state budget seemed pretty scary. We were facing a roughly $3.5 billion deficit, due largely to Covid-19 but with the significant amount of federal funding we should receive from the Biden administration, things are far less scary, and cuts to agency budgets and raids on special funds are less likely. The budget could be wrapped up in May, which would be about a month earlier than usual.
This blog was included as part of the Spring 2021 Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!