By Jen Quinn, Legislative and Political Director, Sierra Club Pennsylania Chapter
It’s been a fairly quiet summer with the legislature in recess but they are returning next week. The House will actually be returning a week early (9/20) to try and find a way to overturn the Governor’s masks in schools mandate. The legislature will probably also try to issue subpoenas for the election audit that certain members support. Below is a brief recap of what has happened this summer and what we’re expecting for the fall.
RGGI
The rulemaking to allow PA to participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative passed its final two regulatory hurdles. The Environmental Quality Board (EQB) voted 15-4 to adopt the final form rule making in July. The Independent Regulatory Review Community (IRRC) also voted 3-2 to approve the rulemaking on 9/1.
The following day, Chairman Daryl Metcalfe convened the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee where they passed a disapproval resolution for the RGGI rule. The Senate ERE Committee did the same on 9/25. The legislature has 10 legislative days or 30 calendar days to pass the resolution and send it to the Governor. We know they have the votes to pass this resolution. We also know the Governor will veto it. Once it’s vetoed, the legislature will have 10 legislative days or 30 calendar days to try to override his veto with a 2/3 majority vote in both chambers.
The veto override is where we have work to do. Some democrats are currently waffling due to pressure from labor and we need to work to ensure they will support the Governor’s veto. If you would like any guidance or talking points regarding this, please let me know.
Sb 119/Hb 637
These are bills requiring legislative approval to allow PA to participate in RGGI, essentially halting the current process to join RGGI. Sb 119 has already passed the Senate. And as you might have guessed, these bills provide two more opportunities for the legislature to try a veto override vote because we know the Governor will veto this terrible legislation. Keep in mind the legislators saying NO to RGGI have not offered any alternatives to address the climate crisis.
There’s also no ‘clock’ on these bills like the disapproval resolution mentioned above, so if they were passed and vetoed by the Governor later this year, the legislature could attempt a veto override anytime during the remainder of this legislative session, which doesn’t expire until the end of 2022. And the veto override attempt for these bills is, again, where we have work to do.
Hb 1555 - Community Solar
We and our partners are still working to get more cosponsors for this bill and to get it out of the House Consumer Affairs Committee, where it’s been languishing for months. There’s still optimism that it could pass and there’s no reason it shouldn’t. Community solar makes sense and many other states have already recognized the benefits and have legislation in place.
Sb 525 - Growing Greener 3
This bill would allocate $500 million of American Rescue Plan (ARP) money for state parks, trails, watershed protection projects, open space preservation, and many other conservation efforts Growing Greener is known for. Republican Senators Gordner and Mensch are the prime sponsors, which bodes well for the bill because if democrats introduced the same bill, it would be dead on arrival.
This blog was included as part of the Fall 2021 Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!