On April 21, House Republicans passed House Bill 1822 (M.Keller-R-Perry) by a party line vote to freeze funding for county conservation districts and from a series of environmental and other funds to support local parks, trails, farm conservation, environmental restoration and other projects.
All Democrats opposed the bill. Four Republicans also opposed the bill-- Reps. Marcia Hahan (R-Northampton), Christopher Quinn (R-Delaware), Todd Stephens (R-Montgomery) and Wendi Thomas (R-Buck).
The bill now goes to the Senate for action.
The bill would freeze any contracts for new expenditures from a series of environmental and other funds, including the County Conservation District Fund, Keystone Recreation, Park & Conservation Fund, Environmental Stewardship (Growing Greener).
The language says, “no department, commission, agency, office or authority of the Commonwealth nor the Administration shall enter into any contract which would require the expenditure of money.”
The funds included the--
-- County Conservation District Fund
-- Environmental Stewardship (Growing Greener) Fund
-- Keystone Recreation, Park & Conservation Fund
-- Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Fund
-- Recycling Fund
-- Solid Waste Resource Recovery Development Fund
-- Energy Development Fund
-- Environmental Education Fund
-- Highway Beautification Fund
-- Historical Preservation Fund
Other funds included: Judicial Reinvestment Fund, Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority Fund, Compulsive and Problem Gambling Treatment Fund, Minority Business Development Fund and the PA eHealth Partnership Fund.
This is a continuation of efforts started by Republicans in 2017 when they passed a budget bill that cut $317 million out of environmental and energy funds that would have crippled community-based environmental protection and recreation projects. Read more here.
It’s condemning that Republicans always take money from environmental funds-- and few others-- to balance the budget-- like $2.93 billion worth since 2003-- so this is nothing new. Read more here.
And not from their own.
$172 Million Just Sitting There
Of course, the Senate and House are still sitting on a $172 million surplus in their own operating accounts, but they don’t seem to want to repurpose the money to help real people recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more here.
Sacrifice is good… for other people in their view, apparently.
Click Here to read more about "legislative privilege" and hiding how the General Assembly spends taxpayer money.
Conservation Districts - Out Of Business
Effectively, this amendment would have put county conservation districts out of business at a time when their services are needed most to help farmers and landowners with projects that will help Pennsylvania’s economy recover. Read more here.
Districts depend on state support from the Conservation District Fund to pay a significant portion of their operating costs to provide vital conservation services to farmers and landowners and to issue permits for new land development projects.
PA Land Trust Association
The PA Land Trust Association urged citizens across Pennsylvania to oppose efforts by House Republicans to freeze spending from conservation funds that support local parks, nature preserves, trails and open spaces just at the time these investments are needed more than ever.
The Association called the amendment "insanity" urged Pennsylvanians across the state to oppose the effort. Read more here.
PA Recreation & Park Society
On April 24, the PA Recreation and Park Society sent a letter to all members of the Senate expressing their opposition to a Republican effort to freeze monies saying, “Freezing these funds not only impacts parks, trails and other recreational assets now being used for mental health and physical fitness by your constituents in record numbers, but is shortsighted economic and fiscal policy that could harm the ability of the Commonwealth to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and maximize the amount of federal recovery and stimulus dollars received through matches.” Read more here.
PA Parks & Forests Foundation
The PA Parks and Forests Foundation also opposed the funding freeze in House Bill 1822 ending support for local parks and trails pointing out, "Now, more than ever, Pennsylvanians are turning to our community and state parks and forests for stress relief, family time, and fitness." Read more here.
PA Environmental Council
The PA Environmental Council opposed the environmental funds freeze in House Bill 1822 saying “...out of the more than 100 state special funds, only 16 are impacted by this [bill], with a majority focused on agriculture, conservation and community development. Read more here.
Stifles Economic Recovery
Study after study have shown parks, trails, outdoor recreation, forests, clean water, open space and other green infrastructure in Pennsylvania provides billions of dollars in economic benefits and supports tens of thousands of jobs in the Commonwealth.
And these benefits go directly to thousands of small businesses across the state that depend on outdoor recreation for their incomes, do the projects funded by the monies in these environmental funds and serve the communities they call home.
And there are hundreds of shovel-ready projects just waiting to go.
These green investments also provide significant health and wellness benefits, as tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians have rediscovered in recent weeks as they try to cope with the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here are just a few of the numbers--
-- Pennsylvania has a $29 billion outdoor recreation industry that supports 251,000 jobs, generates $1.9 billion in state and local tax revenue, $8.6 billion in wages and salaries. Read more here.
-- State Park visitors contribute $859 million a year to the local economies surrounding the parks. Read more here.
-- One trail-- the Great Allegheny Passage-- generates over $40 million in direct spending by users and another $7.5 million in wages for communities along the trail. Read more here.
-- Every dollar invested in land conservation through the Keystone Fund returns $7 in natural goods and services to the state’s economy. Read more here.
-- Local, community parks generate $40.3 million in expenditures from out-of-town visitors and $688 million in increased value for properties around the parks. Read more here.
-- Pennsylvania would see a $6.2 billion economic benefit from cleaning up its rivers and streams in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Read more here.
-- Return on Environment Studies in counties all over the state have documented billions of dollars in economic benefits of clean water and protecting and enhancing natural resources. Read more here.
You can review dozens of studies and reports from a variety of sources giving you the numbers of jobs, economic value and more from natural systems by visiting the PA Land Trust Association’s Economic Benefits Of Conservation webpage.
PALTA has also pulled together the studies showing tremendous wellness benefits on its Health Benefits of Conservation webpage and on environmental benefits like reducing flooding and stormwater damage, better herd health and soil health for farmers and more on their Environmental Benefits of Conservation webpage.
What this all means is freezing these funds and potentially cutting or diverting them in the future would significantly stifle Pennsylvania’s recovery from the COVID-19 shutdown just at the time people and small businesses need an economic shot in the arm.
Make Or Break Year
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was going to be a make or break year for environmental funding after more than a decade of cuts and diversions of funding away from environmental protection, restoration, recreation and land conservation programs totalling over $2.93 billion. Read more here.
DCNR’s State Parks and Forests are facing a $1 billion backlog of maintenance and safety projects that need funding. [And what an economic boon for rural areas of Pennsylvania if funding was sent their way!] Read more here.
In FY 2010-11 alone, 16 years of General Fund support for state environmental programs was erased. Read more here.
Since 2003, DEP has had more than 25 percent of its full-time positions eliminated because of regular and frequent budget cuts. Read more here.
3 Front War On The Environment
Conservative Pennsylvania Republicans have been fighting a three front war on environmental programs and funding for the last decade--
-- Starving environmental agencies for funding so they have to cut staff and programs and then turn around and say they can’t do their job [they’ve successfully done that];
-- Adding even more layers of bureaucracy and procedures to block environmental regulations, reduce environmental standards and give regulated entities more control over these programs [they did again this week with Senate Bill 327. Read more here.].; and
-- Using every chance they get to cut funding to support community-based projects to protect and restore the environment, improve recreation opportunities and land conservation efforts that real people-- voters-- overwhelmingly support [the Senate Bill 327 amendment this week was just the latest attempt].
So far the strategy is working.
These are the latest attempts, but they won’t be the last.
Watch for them again… and again…. and again on all three fronts.
(Written by David Hess, former DEP Secretary.)
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