State Parks and the Final 2024-2025 Budget: What You Need to Know | Cal Parks
Published: July 9, 2024

The past year was a tough one for the state, as income tax receipts fell below expectations, creating a yawning budget gap that the Legislature and Governor’s office have been working since January to close. California State Parks Foundation was thrilled and deeply grateful to learn that, at the last minute, funding for the California State Library Parks Pass was restored. 

In May, the Governor estimated the total budget gap at about $45 billion. At least $17 billion of that was addressed in an “early action” plan announced earlier in the spring, leaving $28 billion to be cut.  

Ultimately, the budget signed by Governor Newsom on June 27 balances cuts, business tax adjustments, and a draw on the state’s Rainy Day Fund to craft a budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024. It also attempts to address what is expected to be another deficit year in 2025–2026, based on current revenue and spending projections.  

California State Parks Foundation has been fighting for additional State Library Park Pass funding since January when we first learned the funding would end after this year. Over 5,000 advocates signed petitions and contacted their legislators directly asking for funding for the pass to be restored, and your efforts paid off! Funding for the California State Park Adventure Pass and the Golden Bear Pass, two other passes that provide free access for specific groups, was also preserved. Read more about this victory here.  

Unfortunately, other programs supporting park access and positive experiences in parks were not so lucky. The new budget cuts $50 million from the Outdoor Equity Grants Program, which provides grants to groups providing park access to low-income Californians, as well as $75 million in cuts to the Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program, which provides funding to build parks in under-resourced communities. Finally, the Arts in California Parks Program lost $11.1 million in funding, leaving about $14 million remaining.  

Natural resource stewardship also took some big hits. We were particularly concerned to see $10 million in sea level rise adaptation funding — of $11.5 million we fought for in 2021 — get clawed back to balance the budget. Sea level rise is an existential threat, especially to state parks and beaches. After all, almost 25 percent of California’s coastline is a state beach, and many of those places will be gone if the worst impacts of rising seas are realized. The $11.5 million granted to California State Parks to plan and adapt to sea level rise was the only climate adaptation funding received by California State Parks, out of almost $1 billion in a climate resilience package passed that year. And now, that funding is gone.  

The budget also cuts $12.3 million from the Waterways Connection Initiative, and $10 million from the Recreational Trails and Greenways Grant Program. Both programs benefit state parks.  

On a brighter note, the Governor signed SB 867 on July 3, which sends a $10 billion climate resilience bond (now known as Proposition 4) to the November ballot. There is $50 million for sea level rise adaptation projects in state parks in the measure, as well as $175 million for deferred maintenance projects in state parks. There are also additional pots of money in the bond that state parks may be able to secure for acquisition, extreme heat mitigation, and forest resilience.  

As the campaign for Proposition 4 heats up we will have much more information, so please sign up for our email list to be the first to know how to get involved and help! 

 

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