Tomorrow is election day in PA.

If for no other reason, make it to the polls to vote 'YES' on this initiative:

Vote ‘yes’ on Growing Greener ballot question

The May 17 primary ballot will include a statewide environmental ballot question. I am urging all voters in the 166^th Legislative District to go to the polls on Tuesday and vote YES on this ballot question. Residents are reminded that ALL voters, not just those registered with a political party, may vote on the ballot question.

The ballot question will read as follows:

“Do you favor authorizing the Commonwealth to borrow up to $625,000,000 for the maintenance and protection of the environment, open space and farmland preservation, watershed protection, abandoned mine reclamation, acid mine drainage remediation and other environmental initiatives?”

This funding for Pennsylvania’s environmental cleanup and preservation efforts is crucial; several of the programs included in the original Growing Greener program initiated during the Tom Ridge administration are now underfunded, and some are in danger of running out of money completely. Boosting funding for these programs, as well as providing money for new programs to deal with some of the environmental issues the state currently is not addressing, is very important.

Voters should be aware that if the $625 million bond issue is approved, the legislature must still pass enabling legislation detailing how the money will be distributed and how the bond issue will be paid back. There are competing proposals in the legislature. One would distribute the money directly to state agencies through the state budget, and pay the bond issue back primarily by increasing tipping fees on waste haulers. The other proposal calls for distributing the bond money to county and local governments through block grants, and paying the bond issue back by shifting money away from some current environmental programs.

These decisions could have a significant impact on how effective the $625 million bond issue is. Providing money directly to state environmental agencies and programs, and paying the bond issue back with higher tipping fees would result in more funding for environmental cleanup and improvement. On the other hand, giving the money to local governments and draining some environmental programs to pay for new ones could dilute the effectiveness of the bond issue and the state’s environmental cleanup efforts.

I support a strategy of using the bond money to directly fund state environmental agencies and programs, and relying mostly on fees on polluters to pay back the bond issue. I will keep you informed about the status of these negotiations as they continue. In the meantime, it is crucial for voters to approve the bond issue so Pennsylvania’s environmental initiatives can continue.

-From PA State Representative Greg Vitali (D), 166th Legisaltive District