Can People’s Congresses Play a Positive Role in Environmental Governance? A Focus on Budget Legislation in Chinese Cities

The results show that budget legislation significantly reduces the particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5) in the air by 1.58% and carbon emissions by 1.2% in pilot cities, and these findings are highly robust. This improvement in environmental governance is achieved through increased government spending on environmental protection and more environmental penalty cases.

Moreover, the positive impacts are more evident in cities experiencing significant fiscal pressure or frequent leadership changes. This study is the first to demonstrate the effectiveness of budget legislation as a tool for congressional environmental governance, an area that has previously neglected budgetary means. The findings highlight the need to enhance the budgetary power of people's congresses, rather than merely serving as legitimizing entities.