The state Legislature and Governor are actively discussing proposals to reauthorize the Cap-and-Trade program and reform the market and expenditure program. SPUR believes that Cap-and-Trade is one of California’s most effective tools for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and providing critical funding for sustainable transportation and transit-oriented affordable housing. This letter expresses support for reauthorizing the program and recommends reforms to the public transit funding programs under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) umbrella. We urge the state to add flexibility so that there is more funding to meet the diversity of transit funding needs across the state, and greater predictability in operating funding from year to year, as well as specific ways to achieve those goals.

SPUR submitted letters to both SamTrans and VTA urging both boards to opt into Senate Bill 63, legislation that would authorize a future regional ballot measure to fund transit. SPUR has worked extensively with the bill's authors and stakeholders in both San Mateo and Santa Clara counties to encourage participation in a future regional measure.

This letter supports the budget agreement between the California Assembly and Senate, which would provide a loan for Bay Area transit operators facing near-term operating shortfalls and restore other relief funding, amounting to $1.85 billion. It also urges the Governor to honor existing public transit funding commitments and to commit to supporting public transit service in the emerging Cap-and-Invest negotiations.

California and the Bay Area are using zero-emission appliance rules, building codes, and climate action plans to move the heating appliance market and consumers toward a gas-free future for buildings. But fragmented and outdated permitting systems are posing a barrier to adoption of electric appliances and delaying their health and climate benefits. SPUR offers five recommendations to streamline and standardize permits to improve safety, lower costs, reduce burdens on contractors and consumers, and create a fairer, more efficient system.

Assembly Bill 306 intends to improve housing affordability and make it easier for Los Angeles residents to rebuild after the LA fires. However, as written the bill may do the opposite by restricting any changes to building codes over the next six years and killing efforts to improve the building code that would save consumers and builders money. With more careful reforms to state building code, California can meet both its building sustainability and resilience goals and its housing affordability goals.

Oakland faces a fiscal crisis that is years in the making. For decades, revenues have failed to keep pace with rising costs for pensions, health care, and operations. To close its structural deficit, Oakland must commit to following its own sound financial policies, align on a budget stabilization plan, make structural changes to municipal operations, and promote long-term thinking to grow Oakland’s economy inclusively. SPUR offers nine recommendations to achieve these goals.

The Legislature and Administration have signaled that they would like to reauthorize the Cap-and-Trade program in 2025, as the program expires in 2030 and to reduce volatility in auction proceeds. SPUR's believes that the reauthorization of the Cap and Trade is an opportunity for the state to provide more predictable funding for transit operations, which would in turn help the state meet its climate goals. This letter provides five ideas to restructure the public transit programs that are funded by Cap and Trade revenues through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

The Bay Area's four largest transit operators --Muni, BART, Caltrain, and AC Transit--face severe and imminent fiscal cliffs that would trigger significant service cuts. This would undermine downtown San Francisco's fragile economic recovery, erode the Bay Area's economic competitiveness, and be detrimental to the region and state's economy and financial health. More than 50 of the city's businesses and large employers signed-on to a letter organized by SPUR, Bay Area Council, and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce to the Governor and Legislators requesting funding in this year's budget to ensure transit can continue playing a vital role in San Francisco and the region.