When Governor Schwarzenegger signed the state budget last week, we commented in news articles in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Daily News that the budget cuts to public transit will lead to more cars on the road and more traffic and pollution in the future.
However, there were a few bright spots of note in the budget as well.
First, the corporate tax breaks for the oil industry, Hollywood, and other well-connected industries were not part of the final budget. I want to thank the 1,300 of you that wrote to your Senators and asked them to oppose the tax breaks. The negative outcry was critical to preventing state legislators from adopting imprudent tax breaks that would have made the state budget even harder to balance in the future.
Second, in addition to investing in our local buses, trains, and light rail, CALPIRG also urged lawmakers allocate money to continue the planning for a statewide high speed rail. I want to thank the 1,200 people that wrote to Gov. Schwarzenegger and asked him not to veto funding for the High Speed Rail Authority, which is currently planning the train’s route. With increasing congestion at our airports and on our highways, a high speed train would provide our growing population with a gridlock-free, less-polluting means to travel between our cities. The $20 million the Authority received, while less than we were calling for, was twenty times the amount that Governor Schwarzenegger originally proposed.
Of course, we have our work cut out for us this fall. Less money from the state means that many local transit agencies now face hard choices about how to increase transit ridership without the resources to offer additional services and expand their routes. CALPIRG is already talking to legislators and other public transit advocates about the ways to prevent these cuts from ever happening again.
In the meantime, we’re focusing on the local level as well. Local transit agencies will need to show state leaders that they have public transit projects worthy of funding next year. This fall, we’re working to make sure that Los Angeles and other regions create visionary transportation plans that reduce traffic and pollution by expanding public transit services and encouraging alternatives to driving.
The budget cuts were a definite set-back. But it also deepened our resolve to keep working for a world-class transportation system in California that meets our travel needs without gridlock and with less pollution. Thanks for following what we do.
Steve Blackledge, the legislative director, joined CALPIRG’s staff in June 2002. Based in CALPIRG’s Sacramento office, Steve has led the organization’s work on consumer protection, health care, and corporate and accounting reform.
