Committee declines to support budget amendment that would repeal clean heat standard in 4-3 straw poll

A committee considering budget language voted 4-3 in a straw poll not to support an amendment offered by Sen. Beck that would have repealed the state’s clean heat standard and added fuel-tax reporting and related changes.

Members spent much of the discussion debating whether repeal is germane to the budget and whether the change should proceed through the normal legislative committee process rather than as a budget amendment. Supporters urged a clear statutory repeal; opponents said the clean heat standard was not being implemented now and that repeal — and other changes — belong in standalone legislation. The committee chair reported the result as a 4-3 vote to not support the amendment; members described the poll as nonbinding.

Why it matters: the amendment touched on a policy…