In The Loop – April 22, 2022
Carbon Paper to Carbon Footprint…Happy Earth Day
When I started lobbying, believe it or not, amendments were typed on a typewriter, in triplicate – one sent to the committee chair, the second to the appropriate chamber, and the third kept by the Chamber Clerk’s Office. Now, mostly due to the pandemic, we get them digitally through texts/emails.
Given that today is Earth Day, it’s ironic that most people probably don’t ever think of carbon paper, and on the top of their minds is now carbon footprints! Given all the past hoopla over Earth Day, it was surprising that yesterday when both chambers were in session, no one dedicated the day to key environmental issues, though on Wednesday, the House did take up some sort of “horseshoe crab” bill that went on for hours only to be “passed temporarily” (PT) and not brought back up.
In previous years you’d have media conferences, dozens of environmental groups in the halls of the Capitol, and the day’s agenda would have at least one BIG environmental bill. But 2022 is much, much different than previous sessions. It seems at least for now it’s all kinds of mismatched bills being called with loads of debate. Many bills get put on hold, passed unanimously, or the vote goes straight party line. In fact, the huge state employee union bill which adds over $1.6 billion to the state budget took less than 4 hours, with almost all Democrats voting yes and all Republicans voting no. There was little fireworks, lots of questions, but little fanfare.