State Parks Reopened, Not Without a Slash to Environmental Funding

You may have been jumping for joy that state parks were reopened just in time for Memorial Day weekend, but this sweet victory came with a sour punch as state decision makers cut the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) by almost 40% in the final budget.

Dedicated Funding Source Slashed With No Repayment Plan:
The EPF, New York's dedicated funding source for environmental programs, will receive $134 million for the 2010-11 state fiscal year. This is a 37% cut from last year’s funding level and one of the lowest levels of funding in a decade. To add insult to injury, nearly $500 million has been swept from the EPF over the past decade, causing a significant backlog of unfunded projects, straining organizations, municipalities and others partnering with the state on environmental programs. Currently, there is no plan in place to repay the Fund.

Budget Offloads Rejected by State Legislature, Fund Integrity Preserved:
The Legislature’s rejection of “offloads” proposed to the EPF by Governor Paterson was a significant victory that protected the integrity of the Fund. Offloading funding for state agency operations and certain state tax payments into the EPF would have set a dangerous precedent and undermine the original intent of the Fund.  In short, stealing environmental funds to fill budget shortfalls would have eventually left nothing for the important programs the Fund was created to support.

TAKE ACTION

Tell Your Assembly and Senate Leaders to Repay the EPF:
As the remainder of the budget is negotiated, please urge your State Assembly and Senate representatives to revisit the EPF and create a repayment plan for the nearly half a billion dollars that has been taken for non-environmental purposes. A repayment plan, which is required by law since 2007, would address the large backlog of conservation and restoration projects throughout the state and ensure New Yorkers have access to clean air, water and natural spaces.

Click here to e-mail Senator Lavalle and Assemblyman Thiele.

You can also cut and paste the following language into an e-mail to Senator LaValle (lavalle@senate.state.ny.us) or Assemblyman Thiele (thielef@assembly.state.ny.us).

Dear ___________,

I am writing to encourage you to revisit the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) during final budget negotiations.

The decision to hold back funding to the EPF in exchange for the reopening of state parks is very short sighted. Over the past decade, about $500 million has already been swept from the Fund for non-environmental purposes, without a plan for repayment. 

Defunding the EPF has caused a backlog of unfunded projects, straining organizations, municipalities and others partnering with the state on environmental programs. Without these projects, the state parks may not be worth visiting in the future!

I hope you will work hard to adopt a reasonable repayment plan and restore the already crippled EPF to its proper funding levels. The integrity of the Fund is more important now than ever.

Sincerely,