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Sacramento legislative update: cap-and-trade settlement preserves transit funding through 2045 and several bills affect SolTrans services
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Summary
Michael Pimentel, SolTrans's legislative advocate in Sacramento, told the board that negotiations preserved previously committed transit funds through 2030 and continued similar funding levels through 2045 under the session's revised cap-and-trade plan.
Michael Pimentel, the board's Sacramento legislative advocate, briefed Solano County Transit (SolTrans) directors on the end of the 2025 legislative session and a set of measures the agency should track.
Pimentel said the governor and legislature negotiated a new cap-and-trade package (reframed in session materials as "cap and invest") that maintains previously committed transit monies through 2030 and continues similar funding levels for transit through 2045. He said the package includes specified dollar commitments for programs such as the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) and Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LC TOP), and that the state assigned priority tiers for how cap-and-trade revenues will be spent.
Why it matters: SolTrans receives formula and competitive funds that flow from statewide greenhouse-gas and transportation programs. Pimentel warned that a proposed full reset of the expenditure plan earlier in the year raised concerns across the industry because it would have made future transit funding less certain; the final agreement kept program levels intact through the specified horizon, giving agencies more predictability.
Pimentel summarized other bills of direct interest to transit operators: - SB 63: Authorizes a Bay Area regional measure that will be carried forward to voters as an initiative; it is intended to raise multi-year regional revenues for Bay Area transit agencies. SolTrans is not in the Bay Area counties covered by that measure and therefore would not receive direct funding from it. - SB 71: Extends and narrows CEQA exemptions for specified zero-emission and related clean-transportation projects; Pimentel said the bill focuses on narrowly defined project types (charging infrastructure, bus stops, bus-only lanes) and includes additional requirements for projects with potential community impacts or costs above stated thresholds. - SB 79: Addresses streamlined housing development near high-capacity transit; Pimentel said the streamlining targets large urban transit counties that meet specific rail-stop thresholds and that Solano County likely does not meet those thresholds. - AB 394: Expands enhanced penalties for assaults on transit employees and allows agencies to seek temporary restraining orders against repeat offenders; SolTrans supported this measure. - AB 1250: Requires agencies to establish a streamlined paratransit recertification process for riders with permanent disabilities; SolTrans watched this measure.
Pimentel also noted that a partial sales-and-use tax exemption for zero-emission bus purchases was not extended this session because of overall budget pressures; he recommended the agency track efforts to revisit that policy next year.
Board reaction and next steps: Directors asked about the share of the state budget devoted to mass transportation; Pimentel said most transit funding flows through special funds and specific programs rather than the general fund, and he offered follow-up on several technical questions (Highway 37 provisions, the loan for Bay Area agencies, and high-speed rail commitments). He offered to provide written follow-up on items directors requested.
Provenance: The legislative update was presented by Michael Pimentel starting at 00:40:48 and continuing through 00:57:35 in the meeting transcript.
