A trio of state senators on the Senate Budget Committee is demanding that before legislators pass the first budget of Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s tenure, the state should pass legislation requiring fossil-fuel companies to pay millions to address climate change.
Three senators — Renee Burgess (D-Irvington), Gordon Johnson (D-Englewood), and Patrick Diegnan (D-South Plainfield) — are calling for the passage of the Polluters Pay Act, which climate activists in the state have pushed for more than a year. The bill’s proponents say the legislation would bring in $2.5 billion per year from an estimated 82 fossil-fuel companies. The money would be spent on infrastructure and climate resiliency projects over the next two decades.
“We can’t keep asking taxpayers to cover the full cost of climate change. We need big polluters to start paying their fair share,” Burgess said in a release. “Every dollar they don’t pay is a dollar that comes out of property taxes and the state budget. With climate costs rising and families struggling to make ends meet, we need to pass the Polluters Pay to Make New Jersey Affordable Act before the budget this spring.”
The Polluters Pay Act possesses 19 sponsors in the Senate and 43 in the Assembly, all Democrats. Advocates held a rally for the bill in front of the statehouse earlier this month.
The bill was known as the Climate Superfund Act during the last legislative cycle. The Senate Budget Committee approved the bill during former Gov. Phil Murphy’s lame duck, but the bill didn’t receive a vote before the full Senate and went back to square zero at the end of Murphy’s term.
Many legislators expect the negotiations and passage of Sherrill’s first budget to be challenging. She has called for serious cuts to some programs, particularly the Stay NJ property-tax relief program.
But advocates of the legislation say the bill would fund infrastructure and lower costs without raising taxes, while also holding polluters accountable. They also point to findings from Moody’s that such climate investments are valuable for reducing the risks of damage associated with extreme weather. Diegnan, for example, said the state has faced several weather events worsened by climate change, starting with Superstorm Sandy, and that such investments can reduce flooding for vulnerable areas of the state.
“As we draft this budget, we need to ensure this legislation will provide the necessary funding to help our residents cover the cost of recovery,” Diegnan said. “It is only fair that those entities that are responsible pay their fair share.”
Critics of the bill, including the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, have argued the legislation would increase prices for New Jerseyans and chill job production; they also argue the bill could be unconstitutional.
This article was updated at 4:47 p.m.
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June 20, 2019 -
