May Revision includes trailer bill language for Delta Conveyance; legislators and Delta stakeholders call fast-track concerns 'blank check'

Department of Finance witnesses told the subcommittee the May Revision contains trailer bill language for the Delta Conveyance Project, including bonding authority and administrative streamlining the administration says will speed a major water infrastructure effort.

"We have several statutory changes for the Department of Water Resources. We have trailer bill language for the Delta Conveyance Project," said Andrew Arch of the Department of Finance. The administration described the changes as measures to "streamline several administrative processes that will save money and time on the implementation of this important water infrastructure project." (Department of Finance witness testimony.)

Legislators pushed back strongly. One assembly member described the trailer bill language as giving a "blank check" to a public agency, saying cost estimates range widely and noting a prior legislative rejection of a fast-track approach two years earlier. Several members asked why the administration would put broad bonding authority and expedited language into budget trailer bills at a time when the state is facing deficits and making large cuts to programs for vulnerable Californians.

Department of Finance staff clarified that the bonding authority described in the proposal is structured as revenue bonds issued on behalf of the State Water Project, not general obligation bonds backed by the state's general fund. "The bonding authority is not a general obligation bond... This is a bond that is done so on behalf of the State Water Project and it's a revenue bond that DWR would do on behalf of the State Water Project," a Finance representative said.

Local governments and environmental groups gave public comment opposing the trailer bill. Karen Lang of the Delta Counties Coalition, representing the five Delta counties, said the proposal should not be rushed through the budget process and noted typical revenue bond repayment structures often do not begin until after project completion. Restore the Delta, the Golden State Salmon Association and multiple conservation organizations also testified in strong opposition, citing environmental and local community impacts.

Stakeholders asked for detailed cost estimates, debt-service plans, and a clearer legislative process: where and how the project would be reviewed in committee, what limits (if any) would be placed on the amount of debt issued, and how the Administration would avoid saddling the state with indefinite downstream obligations.

The subcommittee said it will follow up with written questions and requested the administration provide more information on the proposal's costs, legal context, and sequencing at the next hearing.