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Appropriations panel advances substitute altering Climate Commitment Act account structure
Summary
The committee advanced the proposed substitute of House Bill 2,251 to replace three Climate Commitment Act accounts with an operating and capital account and set revenue splits; two floor amendments seeking to add allowable uses for funds were rejected after debate over priorities and declining auction revenue.
The House Appropriations Committee on Jan. 30 voted to report substitute House Bill 2,251 out of committee with a due‑pass recommendation after debate over how to prioritize Climate Commitment Act (CCA) auction revenues.
Dan Jones briefed members that the substitute would repeal three CCA accounts and create an operating account and a capital account. Under the substitute described in committee, each fiscal year the first $25,000,000 of CCA auction revenue would go to the operating account (adjusted annually by a fiscal growth factor); the remainder would be split with 68% to the carbon emissions reduction account (used for transportation projects) up to an existing cap of about $359,000,000, then spillover to the capital account. Additional formulas described 15% to the operating account up to $80,000,000 and 2% to air quality and health disparities accounts up to $10,000,000, with overflows routed to capital.
Representative Dai moved amendment Jones 400 to add allowable uses for the operating and capital accounts (including buoy replacement, local trail access, grants for small forest landowners, timber and farming resiliency projects, drought and water quality work, outdoor recreation, and marina support). Representative Dye offered a similar amendment (Jones 399). Proponents argued the changes would fund resiliency and community projects; opponents, including Representative Fitzgibbon, warned that adding broad new categories would dilute funding for core mitigation work as revenue from auctions declines. Both amendments were rejected on voice votes.
After debate emphasizing the need to prioritize decarbonization and manage a declining revenue stream, the committee held a roll‑call vote. The clerk reported 18 ayes, 12 nays, and 1 excused; the substitute House Bill 2,251 was reported out of committee with a due‑pass recommendation.
Next steps: the substitute moves with the committee report attached; sponsors and fiscal staff signaled more detailed prioritization and spending rules will be part of subsequent budget work and bill drafting.
