California Senate Chamber desks

PCL Capital Insider – June 2024

Successes and Challenges on the Legislative Front: HCF Protected and Chaos in Wildfire Policy
First, a big win!

Habitat Conservation Fund (HCF) is saved, and its previous funding is restored! Last week, the administration’s proposed budget trailer bill suggested eliminating the HCF and taking back $45 million already committed to the fund in previous fiscal years. PCL, our legal advisors and allies, and you, our members, quickly responded; we let legislators and the Governor know that the citizen-created HCF is needed to support wildlife in the face of climate change and that the will of the voters stands with California’s critical habitats. Proposition 117, passed by the electorate in 1990 and sponsored by PCL, created the fund that has since disbursed almost one billion dollars for wild habitat conservation across our state. Thank you again for helping protect the legacy of Prop 117!

PCL continues to advance many of the bills we support, and we have seen wins in defending against lousy legislation and poor policy. Plenty of challenges remain, however, and we will certainly have our hands full of good work! Below are the highlights of some of the critical environmental bills this session—the good, the bad, and the ugly.
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TAKE ACTION: Don’t let them gut the Habitat Conservation Fund!

As you read this, the California State Legislature and Governor Newsom are moving to defy the will of voters who passed Proposition 117 in 1990 and wipe out funding for the wildly successful Habitat Conservation Fund. As lawmakers and the governor move to finalize the budget by the end of June, your voice is essential to send a clear message that they need to reverse course and protect the fund. Please take action today! Read more »

Sacramento Capitol interior

PCL Capital Insider – April 2024

2024 will be a fast-paced and chaotic year in the capital: with a state budget crisis, a looming national election, and a flurry of action on bills old and new the legislature and those that follow them will have our hands full. The state Senate is under the new leadership of President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire and a slew of newly appointed committee chairs, and over in the Assembly, Speaker Robert Rivas just assumed his role at the end of June 2023. The priorities of the new leadership and their coalitions in both houses are still evolving. Coupled with the challenges we face, votes and outcomes will grow more difficult to ascertain in advance. Read more »

PCL Capital Insider – September 2023

Mobilizing around a trio of bills (SB 389, AB 460, and AB 1337), over 70 groups, including California tribes, environmental justice organizations, commercial fishing and sport fishing groups, and a wide range of conservation advocates, joined in support of one or more of the measures – 16 groups supported the full legislative package as of this writing.  PCL and our allies are advancing reforms that matter. This work will help us all adapt and thrive, especially SB 389, which passed the legislature and now awaits action by the Governor. Read more »

PCL Insider – August 2023

It has been a remarkable year for water reform in California, and PCL, with our allies, has been out in front leading the charge. Building on the momentum from our win on SB 1205 last year, a  movement is beginning to coalesce around the need to reform key water laws in a direction that advances the needs of people and the environment while helping us adapt to the impacts of climate change Read more »

PCL Insider – June 2023

Trailer bills are becoming a routine part of California’s budget process. Making wide-ranging policy changes behind closed doors in the mad rush to pass the state’s annual spending plan by the constitutional deadline can be undemocratic and a pathway to bad policy. Read more »