May 28, 2025

For Immediate Release: May 28, 2025

Contact: Melissa Figueroa, melissa@syaslpartners.com

Statewide organizations join forces to advocate for improvements to California’s landmark climate change law

(Sacramento, CA) – Today, leaders from a coalition of California business, labor, local government and transit agencies joined forces to encourage the State Legislature and the Newsom Administration to prioritize climate safe infrastructure improvements during budget negotiations surrounding Cap-and-Trade reauthorization.

The Climate Safe Infrastructure Coalition – led by the Alliance for Jobs, League of California Cities, California State Association of Counties and California Transit Association — is emphasizing the need to prioritize proven investments in physical and natural infrastructure that will reduce the greatest amount of greenhouse gas emissions; make us safer and more resilient to the impacts of climate change; and support good paying middle class jobs.

“We strongly urge the legislature to re-authorize Cap & Trade and prioritize investments in the physical infrastructure proven to reduce air pollution while also keeping us safe from extreme weather that is already upon us,” said Michael Quigley, Executive Director for the California Alliance for Jobs. “These investments are also proven to create and sustain good-paying construction careers for tens of thousands of hardworking women and men throughout the state.”

“Since the Cap & Trade program took effect, more than 1,200 transit agency projects have been funded, adding or expanding transit services statewide,” said California Transit Association Executive Director Michael Pimentel in response to the Governor’s proposal to zero out essential transit funding from the existing Cap & Trade framework. “We cannot afford to let these funds stop at such a critical time in California. Our transit systems need dependable and dedicated funding to expand and improve services for riders who rely on our services daily, and to reduce the vehicle emissions that are the catalyst for air pollution and greenhouse gases.”

“Cap & Trade funding is helping us build resilient and sustainable cities that we need for the future of this great state,” said Carolyn Coleman, Executive Director and CEO of the League of California Cities. “It is also a critical source of investment in clean transportation options to help us fight back against climate change.”

“Reauthorizing and optimizing this program is critical to protect public safety,” said Graham Knaus, CEO of the California State Association of Counties. “From wildfire prevention to flood protection, Cap & Trade is critical to protect counties and the tens of millions of residents we are entrusted to serve.”

“Throughout the state, men and women in Labor are helping create the future of our state’s infrastructure,” said Joseph Cruz, Executive Director of California State Council of Laborers. “In order to meet California’s climate goals, we need to continue to improve our roads, rails, and transit systems and ensure that Cap & Trade funding is allocated to

projects that provide good paying jobs for decades to come.”

With the Cap & Trade program set to expire in 2030, the Climate Safe Infrastructure Coalition has laid out the following priorities:

State and Regional Clean Transit Infrastructure

• Continuous allocation to capital projects of regional significance with funds to be used to support the buildout of an integrated rail network, including:
  • High Speed Rail, Caltrain, Metrolink, Salesforce Transit Center, Diridon Station, LA Union Station, Fresno Station, Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center, ACE Train, SMART, San Joaquin Regional Rail
• Continuous allocations to local and regional transit agencies to support the recovery, stabilization, and growth of transit and rail service statewide, including capital expansions, ZEV transition, and operations and maintenance

Clean Local Transportation Infrastructure

• Annual funding for local government to safely implement green transportation infrastructure, including:
  • Hydrogen and EV charging infrastructure
  • Support for local Active Transportation Infrastructure
  • Funding for local government and transit clean fleet compliance
  • Develop network of regional VMT mitigation banks to offset local transportation project costs

State Wildfire Resilience Infrastructure

• Significant allocation to high wildfire risk counties to fund:
  • Firefighting capital infrastructure, fire engine procurement and training for local fire agencies, and mobile equipment management

• Statewide wildfire fuel mitigation projects, including landscape-scale reforestation, fuels reduction, pest management, prescribed fire, and forest biomass utilization
  • Public safety emergency water supply infrastructure
  • Wood Products and Bioenergy grants and workforce development, including using GGRF funds to cover above-market cost of producing bioenergy
  • Expansion of local fire evacuation routes including community fire planning and preparedness and wildfire response and readiness

Local Land Use Infrastructure to Support High Density and Infill Development

• Continuous allocation to local, rural and regional governments to support projects consistent with a sustainable communities strategy, including:
  • Funding for local infrastructure around Transit Oriented Development
  • Conversion of underutilized urban office and commercial into housing
  • Continued funding for state and regional affordable housing, sustainable communities programs and transformative climate communities efforts and programs like Regional Early Action Planning Grants (REAP 2.0)

Climate Adaptation for Sea Level Rise Infrastructure

• Continuous allocation for projects related to climate adaptation, including:
  • Annual allocation for levee improvements and catastrophic flooding preventionRelocate or replace existing transportation and other critical infrastructure threatened by sea level rise such as Highway 37 and Highway 1Funding to protect coastal airports including LAX, SFO and SAN
  • Municipal waste and recycling infrastructure, funding and local assistance for organic waste collection and processing including facility siting and permitting

The following organizations are initial members of the recently formed and growing Climate Safe Infrastructure Coalition:

• California Transit Association
• California Alliance for Jobs
• California State Association of Counties
• League of California Cities
• American Council of Engineering Companies of California (ACEC)
• California Nevada Conference of Operating Engineers
• California State Council of Laborers
• California Association of Councils of Government
• Circulate San Diego
• New California Coalition
• Active San Gabriel Valley
• US High Speed Rail Alliance
• Central Valley Empowerment Alliance
• Associated General Contractors of California
• The Transit Coalition
• United Contractors

For more information, visit ClimateSafeInfrastructureCA.com.