It’s a New Year, which means it is time to starting thinking about new budgets. In a news conference earlier today, Governor Jerry Brown proposed a $170 billion California State Budget for Fiscal Year 2016-17. The budget includes $589 million ($117.5 million General Fund) for the Department of Parks and Recreation, an amount similar to what was allocated last year. We are pleased to see that the budget proposal continues an investment into aging state park infrastructure and the ever-growing deferred maintenance backlog in our parks currently estimated at over $1 billion. Specifically, Governor Brown has proposed authorizing $60 million to go towards deferred maintenance projects in state parks. This is a good continuation of the slow but steady reinvestment in our state parks by addressing deferred maintenance needs. We at CSPF know it is vital to improving the user experience at our state parks by making them safe and accessible, which is something we have been advocating for over the past 10 years. We look forward to working with policymakers as the budget process progresses over the coming months. We will be discussing budget issues as part of Park Advocacy Day, which you can read more about below. As always, we will continue to monitor and keep you informed of the development of this year’s budget.