Daybreak West reported yesterday that a $7 billion climate resilience bond proposal covering a range of natural resources issues was pulled for the year. But the Assembly Natural Resources Committee revived the measure for a special hearing on Wednesday.
The unusual move indicates a struggle that similar measures have faced in the past with gaining buy-in from lawmakers and the governor.
In the hearing, Republican Asm. Devon Mathis of Visalia pressed the authors on why the state should ask voters for more money when the state is flush with a surplus. He called the bill a laundry list of false promises that, like previous bonds, would never deliver projects to valley districts.
Opponents pushed the measure to include flood control funding, rather than focusing solely on drought issues. Democrats offered several new asks as well, including money for cleaning up illegal pot farms.
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Like the Senate ag package, the bill excludes dairy digesters from a $40 million allocation for methane reduction grants, angering valley lawmakers. The authors have added $10 million in grants for on-farm pollinator habitat.
The measure passed 7-1.
Top photo: Co-author and Speaker Pro Tempore Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco
