California Budget: Last Chance to Move Critical Climate Equity Programs into the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
Media Contact
Danielle Bell
SENIOR PROGRAM MANAGER FOR MEDIA RELATIONS
media@greenlining.org danielle.bell@greenlining.org(Oakland, CA) — The Greenlining Institute has long advocated for systemic change to put a stop to cuts and delays to essential climate equity programs due to the state’s economic highs and lows. The need couldn’t be more urgent, as we face another historic $73 billion budget deficit. Despite the administration’s stated commitment to racial, economic, and climate equity, the Governor and Legislature continue to make devastating cuts to key equity programs, putting crucial progress towards a more fair and just California at risk.
We are frustrated to, again, see no additional funding for essential climate equity programs in Governor Newsom’s May Revise budget proposal. These vital programs, including Transformative Climate Communities and Regional Climate Collaboratives, are critical to combatting the worst impacts of the climate crisis in low-income communities and communities of color and building their resilience in the face of future disasters.
The state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund presents a potential lifeline for these programs, but the GGRF’s limited funds face competing demands across the state’s budget given the ballooning deficit. It is imperative that Governor Newsom and the Legislature move TCC and RCC under California’s GGRF in an effort to set these programs up for success in the 2025-26 FY. Without this transition, these programs are set up to fail.
GGRF was established by California’s Cap-and-Trade program which requires the state’s most prolific polluters to pay for their emissions. TCC was initially funded through GGRF in the program’s first two years of enactment. It is only right that California honors GGRF’s funding structure by using the fund to support programs that reduce emissions and build capacity and resilience in the most impacted, marginalized and over polluted communities.
We’re urging Governor Newsom and the Legislature to transition TCC and RCC to GGRF, and especially in the most volatile budget deficits, maintain their commitment to environmental justice and equity for all Californians.
Looking ahead, however, communities of color and low-income families urgently need the Legislature to create sustainable and consistent funding solutions, not leaving them subjected to the unpredictability of each budget cycle. And in the meantime, we desperately need California to fund these programs on a continuous basis—like by passing a robust and equitable climate bond on the November 2024 ballot that includes significant funding for community resilience programs.
To learn more about The Greenlining Institute, visit www.greenlining.org.
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