Each year, California State Parks Foundation reviews hundreds of introduced bills to determine their impact on state parks, park users, and the plants and wildlife that rely on state parks as crucial habitats. In addition to monitoring legislation, we often sponsor bills that advance key state parks priorities. This work culminates in an annual legislative agenda that guides our advocacy we work to enact during the legislative session.  

A Challenging Year, a Focused Agenda 

The size and urgency of our legislative agenda can vary each year, depending on the broader legislative landscape, budget outlook, and other unpredictable factors. In 2025, more than 30 new legislators joined the Legislature, and limited resources have made it challenging to fund new priorities. The scarcity of funding is likely why we are seeing fewer proposals relevant to state parks this year.  

We’re proud to sponsor AB 616 (Caloza), introduced by new Assemblymember Jessica Caloza, the first Filipina elected to the California Legislature. AB 616 provides a solution to make the California State Library Parks Pass permanent.  Last year, funding for the pass was not initially included in the Governor’s budget, leading to several tense months of uncertainty about its future. Thankfully, after over 5,000 California State Parks Foundation advocates signed petitions and contacted legislators directly, funding was restored. It was also positive news that Governor Newsom included funding for the pass in this year's budget proposal, extending funding for the passes through December 2026. However, unless future budgets include an allocation for the pass, the program could still be in danger after that date. 

The pass has proven to be both wildly popular and highly effective in helping under-resourced Californians access state parks, and it would be a a real loss if the program came to an end. However, two main barriers stand in the way to making the program permanent.  

First, there is no dedicated funding for California State Parks to distribute passes through the California State Library. As a result, funding must come from the state’s volatile General Fund, which is heavily dependent on capital gains tax revenue. This makes the budget especially vulnerable to economic fluctuations.  In strong fiscal years, funding for the pass is manageable — but in lean years, it becomes one of many difficult trade-offs. 

The second barrier is administrative: California State Parks currently lacks the authority to donate passes to other state agencies. Because of this, the department must assign an estimated annual cost of $6.75 million to provide 33,000 day-use passes to California public libraries. This figure is calculated using the retail value of a single pass  ($195) multiplied by 33,000 plus administrative costs. This is where AB 616 comes in. The bill would grant California State Parks the authority to donate passes at its discretion — ensuring that, even in tough budget years, the program could continue operating, even if at a reduced scale.  

Supporting Conservation & Access Through Additional Legislation 

We are also supporting several bills this session that advance California’s goal of conserving 30 percent of the state’s lands by 2030 —known colloquially as “30x30.”  

• AB 900 (Papan) – Improves stewardship of lands designated under the 30x30 initiative, which aims to conserve 30% of California’s land and coastal waters by 2030.
• SB 795 (Richardson) – Requires all state agencies to consider 30x30 goals when developing new policies or programs. 

We are also supporting the following bills to expand and preserve California state parks: 

• AB 679 (Pellerin) - Streamlines acquisitions for Big Basin Redwoods and Año Nuevo State Park.
• SB 427 (Blakespear) - Permanently extends funding for the Habitat Conservation Fund.  

Protecting wildlife that relies on state parks for habitat is always a priority. This year, we’re supporting the following bills focused on protecting wildlife and habitat in California state parks: 

• AB 454 (Kalra) - Will indefinitely extend the California Migratory Bird Protection Act
• SB 765 (Niello) - Establishes the giant garter snake as the official snake of California.
• AB 902 (Shultz) - Requires transportation agencies to consider the impacts of transportation infrastructure and development on wildlife and habitat connectivity.  

On the lighter side, AB 666 (Rogers) would designate Bigfoot (often said to roam the north coast redwood forests) as the official state cryptid (creatures whose existence hasn’t been scientifically proven but who some believe are real).  

Here is the complete list of bills California State Parks Foundation supports this year, with links to the full text of each measure. The 2025 Legislative session runs through August. For updates, follow our blog at calparks.org/blog and check us out on social media at @calparks on Facebook and Instagram and @californiaparks on Bluesky.