On February 27, 2020 MACo testified before the House Appropriations Committee to oppose HB 665 – Public School Construction and State Buildings – Use of Geothermal Energy. This bill would place a costly mandate on county governments to carry out new state policy to install geothermal energy systems during construction of public schools as well as for any construction that uses at least 50% state funds.

From the MACo Testimony:

As a rule, MACo resists state policies that result in costly or burdensome local implementation. HB 665 would implement a costly, difficult mandate for county governments to install geothermal energy systems in all future school construction projects. Under this proposed law, counties would have no choice but to adhere to the policy, irrespective of the viability of efficiency of this energy option.

Follow MACo’s advocacy efforts during the 2020 legislative session on MACo’s Legislative Tracking Database.