• On Jan. 9, Gov. Gavin Newsom released a $348.9 billion budget proposal for the 2026-27 fiscal year. A press release from Assemblymember Gregg Hart’s (D-Santa Barbara) office stated that the budget maintained funding for key services, especially in areas where the federal government has pulled back. “As we craft our state budget—the guiding policy framework for the world’s fourth-largest economy—we have the opportunity to confront our state’s greatest challenges and put our values into action,” Hart said in the release. “We also have the responsibility of protecting the hard-earned dollars of taxpayers and planning ahead for economic downturns. More than anything, I am committed to doing my part to ensure this budget helps the millions of Californians who are struggling to afford housing, pay their bills, and save for the future.” The budget assumes that state revenues will be $42 billion higher than previously estimated. Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) said that the governor’s budget shows progress with continued investments in “vital education, mental health, reproductive programs, and more.” “However, the federal tariffs, lack of ACA [Affordable Care Act] subsides, attacks on Medicaid, and attempt to erase housing, child care, and social service programs remain a huge danger to our economy,” Addis said in a statement.
• On Jan. 12, environmental justice and conservation advocates headed to Sacramento for a Pro-CEQA Lobby Day, to demand that the Legislature introduce a new bill to fix what the advocates describe as a “dangerous and unprecedented rollback of environmental and public health protections,” according to a press release. In June 2025, Senate Bill 131 was introduced as a budget trailer bill and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, making changes to the state’s housing laws and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). At the time, the governor’s office called it “a comprehensive streamlining package that breaks down long-standing development barriers, modernizes CEQA review for critical housing and infrastructure, and creates new tools to speed up production, reduce costs, and improve accountability across the state.” It exempts “advanced manufacturing” projects from CEQA. “Environmental justice groups, tribes, and labor unions were furious at both the substance of that bill and the process that produced it, calling it a ‘poison pill’ that bypassed democratic accountability,” according to the press release. In response, a coalition of legislators signed a letter taking issue with the impact of some of the changes and expressing concern about exempting “advanced manufacturing” facilities from environmental review, calling it an overly broad category. In September 2025, Assemblymember Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael) introduced a bill to address those issues and announced a working group to take action “to ensure cleanup legislation is successful[ly] passed next year.” “Senators and Assembly members are standing together to address this important issue and make sure we sustain California’s strong protections for our environment, as well as our workers,” he said in a September statement from his office. “Powerful guardrails are essential near our homes, schools, nursing homes, and day cares.” The bill, though, was pulled before its first hearing, which was scheduled for Jan. 12, “effectively killing the bill and reigniting frustration among the very groups who had worked tirelessly to bring it forward,” the environmental groups stated in the press release. So, instead, representatives of environmental justice and conservation organizations met with lawmakers to demand action. “They want a new bill introduced immediately—one that fully restores environmental review protections and reaffirms California’s commitment to environmental justice and public safety,” the release stated.
This article appears in January 15 – January 22, 2026.