Last week, California voters supported equitable transportation, open space and climate spending by large margins at the ballot box. Voters passed Proposition 68 with 56% of voters in favor, approving a critical $4 Billion bond which will support parks in disadvantaged communities, including $725 million to build new parks in park-poor neighborhoods; $30 million in grants to local agencies, state conservancies, Native American tribes, joint powers authorities, and nonprofit organizations to promote new or alternative access to parks, waterways, outdoor recreation, and natural environments; and $25 million in competitive grants to rural areas for recreational projects to support economic and health-related goals.
Second, by a margin of 80%-20%, Californians passed Proposition 69, which requires that revenue from SB 1 be used for transportation-related purposes and exempts revenue generated by SB 1's tax increases and fee schedules from the state appropriations limit. Considering how often the state raids transportation funds for other purposes, this was wise move that will help safeguard the hundreds of millions of dollars newly allocated to the Active Transportation Program by SB 1.
Finally, state voters resoundingly (36%-64%) rejected Proposition 70, which would have required a two-thirds vote in both houses of the legislature in 2024 in order to spend any monies raised by the Cap-and-Trade program. If that vote failed, all allocations to programs such as Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities would have been frozen in legislative gridlock.
