GOP bill cuts funding unless rules reducing emissions are stopped.
Minnesota’s state parks could shut down in July if the Walz administration does not bow to demands by Senate Republicans to drop plans for new “clean cars” emissions standards.
Along with parks, much of the environmental arm of state government would shut down over the impasse, which flared up during a conference committee meeting Tuesday on the Senate’s proposed omnibus environment budget.
If passed, the Senate’s version of the omnibus environment bill would slash tens of millions of dollars in environmental funding on a variety of projects, from combating chronic wasting disease in deer and the decline in pollinators to cleaning up forever chemicals in water supplies.
Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, told the committee it is the only budget he will consider, and that he will not pass anything at all unless the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) rule-making on clean cars is stopped. Continue reading.