Senate Budget Subcommittee 2 advances broad natural-resources and energy package after hours of public comment; votes recorded

The California State Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 2 advanced a large slate of natural-resources and energy budget items Thursday after more than three hours of public comment on topics that included transit funding, demand-side grid programs, dam-safety grants under Proposition 4, the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes (voluntary agreements) program, and proposed exemptions from standard regulatory reviews.

The subcommittee, chaired by Senator (name listed in the transcript as) Allen, heard more than three dozen public commenters representing transit agencies, water districts, environmental groups, energy providers and business associations before moving through a series of roll-call votes on grouped budget items. Committee members ultimately approved large portions of the packages; several item groupings drew a dissenting “no” vote by Senator Choi and a number of other items that Choi recorded as abstentions.

Why it matters: the subcommittee’s actions shape which programs receive near-term funding and which items the Legislature will send forward for the full budget process or to policy committees. Witnesses told the panel that funding decisions this year could affect wildfire prevention staffing, water-supply projects already under contract, grid reliability programs that use batteries and smart thermostats, and longstanding environmental restoration efforts in the Delta and Central Valley.

Most important actions and themes

- Transit and related climate programs: Pimentel, representing the California Transit Association, thanked the committee for rejecting proposed cuts to transit in the two‑party budget agreement and urged preserving continuous appropriations for transit programs (transit funding and cap-and-trade linked programs remain subject to later negotiations). BART, LA Metro and other transit interests also welcomed the decision to hold cuts in abeyance.

- Gr…