Governor vetoes bill to guarantee funding for climate change panel

Gov. Jenniffer González Colón

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Jenniffer González Colón has vetoed a measure that would have guaranteed the Climate Change Committee no less than $500,000 annually for its operations.

The bill, authored by Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz, passed the Legislature with minimal opposition -- one vote against in the Senate from Joanne Rodríguez Veve and two in the House from Reps. Ángel Morey Noble and Lisie Burgos Muñiz.

In a statement explaining the veto, La Fortaleza said: “The measure proposes an increase that was not contemplated in the previously approved fiscal year budget, which was responsibly drafted and certified for the first time by the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico.”

The bill’s preamble acknowledged the importance of implementing public policy aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of climate change. It sought to amend the Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation, and Resilience Act to explicitly allocate a minimum annual funding level for the committee.

Sen. Marissa Jiménez Santoni, who chairs the Tourism, Natural Resources and Environmental Committee, issued a favorable report on the bill. However, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) raised concerns, noting that in March 2021 the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) received an interagency transfer of $300,000 for the committee’s operations, and in fiscal year 2023 the agency was allocated $1.2 million for climate change initiatives under the committee’s oversight. The OMB also reported that the DBER currently has $809,000 earmarked for professional services, funds that have not been fully utilized.

Despite those concerns, the DNER endorsed the bill.

The Climate Change Committee’s responsibilities include drafting the Mitigation, Adaptation, and Resilience Plan; engaging social and private sectors in developing proposals; hiring consultants; reporting economic sector contributions to the Governor’s Office and Legislature; conducting educational workshops on reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and creating municipal-level working groups on climate-related issues.