Overview
- A bipartisan coalition of 28 legislators delivered a formal letter and held a Sacramento press event pressing Governor Gavin Newsom, legislative leaders, and the California Air Resources Board to restore and protect transit funding.
- Lawmakers say proposed Cap-and-Invest amendments could cut roughly $600 million a year for transit through 2030, a loss that would eliminate funding for programs such as the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) and the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP).
- The coalition also flagged the governor’s May Revision for omitting the final $690 million from the 2023 SB 125 transit package that had been pledged for the Zero-Emission Transit Capital Program.
- Regulators created a Manufacturing Decarbonization Incentive that steers free pollution permits to industry, which analysts and several board members say would reduce auction revenue for community and transit programs and the board has ordered further review before launching the incentive.
- Lawmakers are using budget leverage as negotiations continue toward the end-of-June deadline, warning the funding shortfall could force service cuts, delay zero-emission bus investments, and prompt a wider political fight over whether agreed climate and transit commitments will be honored.