Senate committee advances AB 107 to clear technical fixes and expedite climate bond spending
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Summary
AB 107, described as a budget bill‑junior, passed out of committee after testimony that it makes technical corrections to prior budget acts, exempts certain Prop 4 program guideline development from the Administrative Procedure Act to speed grant implementation, and moves $20 million from Visit California to GoBiz.
The Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee advanced AB 107, a budget‑fix bill lawmakers and administration staff said will remove implementation barriers and make largely technical corrections to the 2023–2025 budget acts.
Department of Finance witnesses said AB 107 is focused on administrative fixes—extending encumbrance periods, amending language to permit technical assistance, augmenting federal trust fund authority and correcting fiscal agent designations. The bill also includes a control section (identified in committee as Control Section 15.01) to exempt the development and adoption of program guidelines for certain Proposition 4 climate bond appropriations from the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in order to speed program implementation. "The bill makes various, again, largely technical adjustments... It adds control section 15.01 to exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act the development and adoption of program guidelines... necessary to implement programs funded by climate bond appropriations," DOF presenter Erica Lee said.
The bill also moves $20,000,000 in funding to promote travel and economic development from Visit California to GoBiz, a change the department said is to better align marketing functions.
Several senators questioned tradeoffs between speed and transparency. One senator warned that defaulting to non‑competitive procurement can increase corruption risk; Department of Finance staff replied that the parks language in question had been agreed to in the 2025 budget process and that the APA exemption does not eliminate a public process for developing program guidelines. "This language was already approved by the Legislature as part of the 2025 budget process, but was inadvertently left off of the budget act language," a DOF representative said. The department also noted that prior natural resource bonds have used APA exemptions while preserving other public processes.
Environmental, water and land‑conservation groups urged the committee to approve the bill so grant funds appropriated in the budget can be released this year. Beth Olaso of Water Reuse California and allied groups said the APA exemption is necessary to get voter‑approved Prop 4 investments out the door. Julia Hall of the Association of California Water Agencies and other commenters said the exemption is consistent with prior practice and urged continued work on a statutory fix for future years.
Senators ultimately moved AB 107 and, after absent members returned, the committee recorded a favorable vote and reported the bill out of committee for the next stage of consideration.