Major initiatives that would have created a dedicated funding stream for climate resiliency are in jeopardy at the state Legislature. Uncertainty regarding federal funding is pushing lawmakers to make tough decisions.
Two House committees deferred Gov. Josh Green’s bill that would have used interest from the state’s $1.5 billion reserve fund for climate resiliency.
House Water and Land Committee Chair Mark Hashem told lawmakers the money is needed for the state’s rainy day fund.
"This is a novel way to fund climate mitigation items. Unfortunately, I discussed this with the Finance chair and because of the federal situation that is going on right now, we have no clarity. And we're going to need all the money that we can reserve," Hashem said.
Because the bill was deferred, lawmakers can pick it up next legislative session — but it will not pass this year.
This bill was an effort to fill a $1.4 billion hole that the governor's Climate Advisory Team says is needed over the next five years to address climate resiliency issues.
In a statement, the governor's Senior Advisor Will Kane wrote that he is still hopeful another measure increasing the state's transient accommodations tax will pass this session.
That bill has already been significantly changed since it was introduced. The proposed tax increase would no longer go into a fund specifically for climate initiatives. Instead, the Legislature would just appropriate a still undetermined amount to climate resiliency projects.
During Tuesday's hearing on the measure, Sen. Angus McKelvey warned that significant federal cuts could mean sacrifices regarding climate resiliency.
"I've supported numerous bills and voted against bills because of the environment, but we got Medicaid is gonna be destroyed soon. We've got kids who may not be able to get free meals anymore. I hope as this bill moves that there could be strong consideration that the revenues raised for this will protect our state against these cuts," McKelvey said.
