PEC Opposes Provisions in House Bill 1327 (P.N. 2969)

 March 15, 2016
 To: Members of the Pennsylvania Senate
 Re: Opposition to Provisions in House Bill 1327 (P.N. 2969)
 
On behalf of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC), I am writing to express our strong opposition to provisions in House Bill 1327 (P.N. 2969) that utilize the fiscal code as a vehicle to negate important, publicly-developed environmental regulatory provisions relating to oil and gas development, and to seek further delay of Clean Power Plan implementation planning in Pennsylvania.
 
If the General Assembly wishes to address these matters, it should do so in stand alone legislation with due public notice and opportunity for involvement. Use of the fragmented state budget process to advance unrelated measures of substantive law is against good public policy and violates the single subject rule of the Pennsylvania Constitution.
 
We call on members of the Senate to reject these provisions, as well as the practice of circumventing public participation in issues of environmental law that are wholly unrelated to the budget.
John Walliser
Senior Vice President, Legal and Government Affairs
Pennsylvania Environmental Council