Emergency session and public hearing waiver requested for energy credits

Lawmakers could consider a bill that would provide relief for power bills quicker than expected. Senator Wil Parkinson is requesting an emergency session and a waiver of a public hearing for his Bill 289, which seeks to extend the $100 monthly energy credits for six months.

In a letter to Speaker Frank Blas, Jr., Parkinson says the expedited process is necessary due to the “rapid escalation of global fuel prices.” He says these increases are not isolated at the pump, with ripple effects already being seen through pressure on the cost of goods, services and basic necessities. 

Parkinson calls this a “material threat to the public health, safety, and welfare” of “particularly working families and the middle class who are least able to absorb the sudden spikes in the cost of living.”

He says a delay in considering the measure would “undermine the legislature’s ability to respond effectively to a rapidly developing economic crisis.” 

In the meantime, he says the proposal would use government surplus funds to continue the Power Credit Program.