Land Use Gets Share of $100 Billion Budget Increase in May Revise
- Josh Stephens
- May 24, 2021
- 3 min read
Traditionally, California’s “May Revise,” the governor’s update to the budget proposed in January, is a quiet, bureaucratic affair. This year, Gov. Gavin Newsom has turned up the volume -- and the expenditures. It hinges on a projected $75.7 billion surplus, reflecting many Californians’ unexpectedly high incomes and investment profits in 2020, plus $25 billion in pandemic relief monies from the federal government, bringing the total state budget to $268 billion. (See prior CP&DR coverage.) In a series of recent announcements, Newsom carved out that $100 billion calling it the “California Comeback Plan,” with new investments in a wide variety of projects and services. (The Legislative Analysts Office cautioned that the $75 billion surplus is really only about half that number, because the other half must be spent on schools, savings, or debt repayment.) More than 10% of the California Comeback monies will be dedicated to housing and homelessness, among other expenditures related to transportation, environmental justice, and planning initiatives to mitigate climate change. Budget categories related to land use include the following: Housing & Homelessness The Governor’s plan will invest $12 billion to tackle the homelessness crisis, helping more than 65,000 people get off the streets or avoid homelessness altogether. The seeks to rebuild the behavioral health housing system that has been dismantled over decades. It also comes with new accountability measures to ensure local governments are spending the money effectively. California will seek to achieve functional zero on family homelessness within five years through a new $3.5 billion investment in homeless prevention, rental support through CalWORKs and new housing opportunities for people at risk of homelessness. The package will expand Project Homekey and unlock more than 46,000 new homeless housing units, including nearly 5,000 new affordable homes for people at risk of or exiting homelessness. Finally, the plan calls for partnering with local governments to clean litter, commission public art and revitalize downtowns, freeways and neighborhoods across California and will put $3.5 billion into building more affordable housing for low-income families and create homeownership opportunities. Climate Resilience & Community Resilience $1.3 billion in targeted investments for communities that are facing the impacts of climate change. This includes proposals addressing extreme heat, sea level rise, and community-driven infrastructure investments in the most disadvantaged communities, which are often the hardest hit by climate change and other health, environmental, and economic challenges. A subset called the Community Resilience Package includes $495 million over three years in investments that foster economic and climate-resilient communities through the California Strategic Growth Council, Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR), and the California Environmental Protection Agency. The vast majority of these funds consist of a $420 million investment in the Transformative Climate Communities Program, which funds place-based, sustainable, community-driven, catalytic projects in the most disadvantaged communities. (See related CP&DR coverage.) The Regional Climate Collaboratives Program will receive a $20 million investment for collaboratives of multi-disciplinary partners to enable under-resourced communities to build capacity to advance community-led resilience and equity goals. $20 million investment for Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resilience Program Planning Grants to help fill local, regional, and tribal funding needs, provide communities the resources to identify climate priorities, and support climate-resilient infrastructure projects across the state. The Governor also proposes $22 million for the Fifth Climate Change Assessment, which provides the foundation for science-informed policy and investment decisions that protect public health and safety, reduce risks to vulnerable communities. Transportation & High Speed Rail $4.2 billion for the High Speed Rail project, $3.1 billion for high-priority rail and active transportation projects, and $2.4 billion to repair the state highways and local bridges, and accelerate rail projects. Taken together, these investments will result in thousands of new jobs and spur even more economic activity throughout the state. Environmental Justice An additional $200 million, bringing the total to $500 million, to accelerate cleanup of contaminated properties throughout the state in impacted communities and proposes an additional $291 million for cleanup of additional properties near the former Exide facility in Vernon. The May Revision further invests in protecting Californians from harmful pesticides by implementing a notification system to provide important information about local pesticide use. It also includes $200 million to plug abandoned orphaned oil and gas wells, many located near low-income residential areas. Environment & Emissions $5.1 billion in the coming years to address water supply statewide — including drinking water, waste water and drought mitigation in communities. The budget proposes spending $794 million in upgrades in farming, improved drought resiliency, sustainable pest management and more. The governor is also proposing $3.2 billion over the next three years to expand the state’s zero emission vehicle goals, including more zero-emission short-haul vehicles and alternative fuels infrastructure.