On June 27th, the Legislature approved and sent to the Governor for signature, a series of measures to “fill out” Senate Bill 101 (Skinner), the Budget Bill framework approved by the Legislature on June 15th. Governor Newsom signed the aforementioned 2023-24 State Budget Bill (Senate Bill 101) on June 27th.
As noted above, SB 101 enacted the main budget framework for 2023-25 as well as set the foundation for ongoing negotiations between the Legislature and the Governor. Interestingly, the roughly $31.5 billion deficit did not end up being the biggest obstacle to reaching a budget deal. The most contentious component reportedly revolved around the Governor’s push for a series of proposals accelerating infrastructure development, including the Delta Conveyance facility (raising the ire of Delta-area legislators, environmental representatives and others in the Delta).
Tuesday’s actions reflect a compromise that, while it jettisoned the controversial Delta project, did include “streamlining environmental review” for other infrastructure projects, allowing an agreement to be reached. The inclusion of these provisions continues the trend of using the budget for policy changes that, otherwise, would have gone through the more transparent legislative committee process.
As part of the agreement, a raft of budget-related measures were introduced over the past weekend and, while most pertain to the Budget, roughly 500 “special projects” are receiving appropriations totaling approximately $750 million.
The Rural Rundown captures some of those and other budget highlights of particular interest to RCRC member counties. On Thursday, June 29th, the Legislature took action on the Housing and Homelessness trailer bill. That action is reflected in the latest update of the Rural Rundown. Read it here.