The state budget Governor Josh Shapiro just signed into law demonstrates that there’s a bipartisan consensus in Harrisburg to protect our rivers, streams and open space, create good union jobs and clean up our environment.
While the budget didn’t deliver everything we hoped for, we were able to make serious progress — despite being the only state in the nation to have a divided legislature. And at a time of increasingly unbearable heat waves and more and more climate-caused health concerns, we’re pleased that Pennsylvania’s leaders acted in bipartisan fashion to advance meaningful environmental policies.
This budget highlights how important it is to elect pro-environment lawmakers to the state legislature. For years, advocates spent tremendous effort each budget season to ward off legislative plays designed to weaken public health protections while enriching powerful, polluting corporations.
But now that old paradigm has shifted, and after years of careful work, a coalition of environmental advocates, labor unions, legislators and Governor Shapiro has come together to deliver real results to make Pennsylvania more sustainable. This new consensus has also been focused on making sure that Pennsylvania is able to get its fair share of billions of dollars in federal funding that are flowing to states thanks to President Biden’s legislative initiatives.
The budget we passed will help make sure that we are able to compete for this funding and use it in a way that maximizes the benefits for our environment and our communities.
This budget’s top environmental achievement will also be a significant cost-saver for taxpayers. The budget includes a $25 million investment in the new Solar for Schools program. This program is designed to leverage federal funding made available through President Biden’s historic climate law to help schools install solar panels. This move to clean energy is good for our environment, while helping lower energy costs for school districts and taxpayers and creating union jobs.
READ: ‘Roadspreading’ Returns: How Pennsylvania’s Oil Industry Quietly Dumped Waste Across the State
Pennsylvania will also be investing an additional $11 million to cap abandoned oil and gas wells. This investment will leverage federal funds — this time through President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law — to help address the harmful environmental legacy of Pennsylvania’s extractive industries. This program will put Pennsylvanians to work reducing climate emissions from old oil and gas wells while also mitigating the harm caused to rivers and streams from toxic stormwater runoff.
Building off prior budget investments, the bipartisan legislature added $50 million to the Clean Streams Fund to protect our rivers and streams from pollution. This investment will help move Pennsylvania closer to compliance with national environmental guidelines, while encouraging natural solutions, like tree plantings, to restore sensitive ecologies and bring back native populations of fish and other wildlife.
Additionally, the state sets aside money for a new Agriculture and Innovation Grant Program that will help farmers implement the newest strategies to improve energy efficiency and water quality of rivers and streams located near Pennsylvania farms.
However, despite these gains, Harrisburg fell short in several critical areas.
First, the legislature passed expanded tax credits for waste coal that will give a longer lease on life to one of the dirtiest forms of power generation.
Second, Governor Shapiro and the state legislature were unable to come up with a long-term funding solution to head off devastating fare increases and service cuts to Pennsylvania’s public transit systems. This fix is essential to reducing congestion and greening our transportation sector.
READ: Pennsylvania Lawmakers Must Make Environmental Justice a Top Priority
And third, a major opportunity was missed to add funding to the Whole-Home Repairs program to help low-income families stay in their homes while also reducing their energy costs. This program was immensely popular in its first iteration and additional investments can be transformational for low-income communities.
The good news is that the legislature has a window during its fall legislative session to address many of the priorities that remain on the table.
And now is not the time to let up.
We will work with our partners in the legislature to build off the momentum generated by this state budget season to continue delivering results for our environment, our workers and our communities across Pennsylvania.
