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Votes at a glance: committee advances several water, parks and conservation bills to appropriations
Summary
The committee advanced multiple measures to appropriations during the hearing, including bills on water forecasting, floodplain restoration, State Parks acquisitions, the Habitat Conservation Fund and targeted flood‑protection deadlines in Sacramento.
At this hearing the committee moved several bills to the appropriations committee. Actions taken during the session included:
- SB 224 (Sen. Hurtado): Due pass as amended to appropriations — authorizes DWR to adopt recommendations from a 2023 California State Auditor audit, update water‑supply forecasting for climate change impacts and provide annual progress reports.
- SB 556 (Sen. Hurtado): Due pass as amended to appropriations — funds multi‑benefit floodplain restoration in the Tulare Basin, with testimony citing a $20 million proposed investment to address Pozo Creek flooding affecting McFarland.
- SB 630 (Sen. Allen): Due pass as amended to appropriations — streamlines State Parks real estate acquisitions by raising waiver thresholds for DGS and reducing duplicative review for smaller transactions; negotiated amendments include reporting and sunset provisions.
- SB 427 (Sen. Blakespear): Due pass to appropriations — extends the Habitat Conservation Fund sunset from 2030 to 2035 to preserve a $30 million annual funding stream for habitat and parks.
- SB 639 (Sen. Ashby): Due pass as amended to appropriations — narrowly extends urban flood‑protection deadlines for the Natomas Basin and Beach Lake subareas to allow completion of remaining projects and to avoid blocking infill housing permits.
- SB 718 (Sen. Jones, joint author Sen. Dolly): Due pass as amended to appropriations — would extend reduced‑cost hunting and fishing licenses to low‑income Californians; author accepted committee amendments.
- SB 586 (Sen. Jones): Due pass as amended to appropriations — motion and second recorded; the hearing record shows the bill was moved and passed as amended to appropriations. (Details of testimony were minimal in the transcript.)
All bills were advanced by roll call and recorded as ‘‘passed’’ to the appropriations committee. Several authors accepted committee amendments and committed to follow‑up reporting or to work with members on technical fixes. A number of conservation, local government and agricultural stakeholders provided support; only a handful of groups moved from opposition to neutral following negotiations.
Notes: The committee left several bills ‘‘open’’ for additional add‑ons and votes, per the transcript. Many witnesses emphasized local impacts (water supply, flood safety, park access) and the need for continued collaboration between state agencies, local governments and nonprofit partners.
Outcomes and next steps: Each bill advanced to the appropriations committee for fiscal analysis and potential amendments. Authors and committee members indicated further fiscal and technical negotiations would continue before floor consideration.
