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LCI seeks baseline funds and IT modernization; committee questions CEQA clearinghouse workload
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Summary
The Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation described statutory responsibilities from CEQA guidance to strategic growth investments and requested baseline funding for IT, administration and land policy. Senators questioned ongoing general‑fund commitments and the need for a permanent data lead to maintain a modernized CEQA clearinghouse.
Director Assefa and senior deputies from the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI) presented the office’s statutory role and requested baseline and climate bond‑related funding during the subcommittee hearing.
Assefa described LCI’s mission as the state’s central long‑range planning entity, coordinating land use, housing, transportation, conservation and climate resilience and providing CEQA guidance and technical assistance to local governments. The office said it supports Strategic Growth Council investments (SGC) that have totaled more than $5.7 billion in community investments since inception and will award nearly $1 billion in the coming fiscal year across several programs.
Abby Edwards (Senior Deputy Director) reviewed baseline resource requests: $6.2M GF for IT services ongoing to replace and modernize the State Clearinghouse/CEQA database (SQL modernization), $3.4M GF for administrative and legislative baseline needs, and $900,000 GF for land policy baseline staff. LCI also requested ongoing funds to support implementation of judicial streamlining (SB 7/SB 149) and asked for climate bond allocations for Strategic Growth Council programs (Transformative Climate Communities and Community Resilience Centers) and for an extreme heat and community resilience grant round. LCI requested a permanent position and ongoing funds to implement AB 2238 (Heat Score) and local heat‑warning integration.
Senators, including Cabaldon and others, pressed the administration on whether the state should add permanent general‑fund commitments in the present budget environment and questioned whether the modernization workload justifies ongoing staff and IT spending. Committee members noted that even if CEQA exemptions increase, the clearinghouse continues to receive notices of exemption and requires data‑quality review. LCI staff said roughly 22,000 documents are submitted to the clearinghouse each year and that a large share are notices of exemption; those filings require human review for data quality before posting.
Why it matters: LCI coordinates cross‑agency policy on land use and climate and maintains public CEQA records; requests for permanent IT and staffing commitments raise tradeoffs with other budget priorities. The office argued the investments are necessary to maintain statutory obligations, ensure data quality for public records and implement climate resilience programs.
What’s next: the subcommittee held LCI items open and asked for additional detail on program baselines, scope of ongoing responsibilities for the clearinghouse and the cost/benefit case for permanent staffing tied to the modernization work.
