California lawmakers Thursday rebuffed plans in Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal to use funding from a recently approved climate bond to backfill cuts to existing climate and energy programs.
Why it matters: How the state spends the $10 billion voters approved in November through Proposition 4 could prove to be a sticking point as budget negotiations between the Legislature and administration start to heat up.
What happened: Democrats raised their concerns about Newsom’s climate bond spending plan during a hearing of the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Resources, Environmental Protection and Energy, arguing that voters expect revenue from the measure to supplement existing programs.
Newsom’s January budget proposal calls for $273 million in previously approved general fund spending for climate programs to go back into state coffers, and instead backfill those cuts with bond dollars.
