On January 10th of this year, Governor Gavin Newsom released his draft proposed state budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year. For context, California's state fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30.
Since there is a decline in revenue, there is little to no new investment from the General Fund in environmental programs and departments. Due to the passage of Proposition 4 - the Climate Bond - there are steady funds to support 30x30 programs and projects. Unfortunately, our Governor is proposing to shift $273 Million from prior General Fund obligations to Climate Bond funding. Essentially, General Fund money that we have been expecting for programs this year is being cut and replaced with bond funding. This does maintain funding for continued 30x30 progress which is nice, however it does reflect an overall net loss — the Climate Bond was supposed to be additive to the expected General Fund investments. Additionally, the budget, having been released in early January, might not account for new cost pressures associated with the fires in Los Angeles as well as an expected decline in tax revenue.
In May, the Governor will come out with the May Revise which may include further reductions to conservation, access and natural resource programs. The conservation community will need to be vigilant in defending 30x30 related programs from further cuts and ensuring that enough bond funds will be appropriated during the budget process. The Power in Nature coalition that EPIC works with to help defend 30x30 funding issued a response to the Governor’s proposed budget. Overall we are grateful to voters and our legislative champions for making the Climate Bond a reality. Without it, we would not be able to continue the great acquisition and restoration work around the state to get us closer to protecting 30% of land and ocean waters by the year 2030.
We will continue to keep our wonderful EPIC members updated on how this bond is spent as we watch the budget rollouts closely. Below is a summary of the proposed climate bond investments related to 30x30 programs:
$176 Million from the Bond’s Biodiversity Chapter to Protect and Enhance Fish and Wildlife Resources
$79.9 Million from the Bond’s Biodiversity Chapter for State Conservancies on Nature-Based Solutions
$9 Million from the Bond’s Biodiversity Chapter for the Tribal Nature-Based Solutions Program
$22.4 Million from the Bond’s Wildfire Chapter for State Conservancies on Watershed & Wildfire Resilience
$201 Million from the Bond’s Wildfire Chapter for Forest Health Program and Wildfire Prevention & Mitigation
$87.3 Million from the Bond’s Water Chapter for Watershed Resilience, Dam Removal, Habitat Enhancement and Streamflow Enhancement
$92 Million from the Bond’s Coastal Chapter for Coastal Resilience, Dam Removal, and Ocean Ecosystems
$47.5 Million from the Bond’s Extreme Heat Chapter for Urban Greening and Urban Forests
$274.4 Million from the Bond’s Outdoor Access Chapter for Statewide Park System
$11.7 Million from the Bond’s Outdoor Access Chapter for Outdoors Recreation
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