California lawmakers found money for these pet projects even as they slashed the budget

By Ryan Sabalow CalMatters Despite facing a billion deficit this year California s Legislature still managed to spend at least million for local projects to help lawmakers win their next elections CalMatters unveiled close to earmarks inserted into just one of the state s budget bills for local projects and programs that had little apparent benefit to anyone outside the lawmakers districts Related Articles Why a new California law could change the way all Americans browse the internet California ensures undocumented residents access to phone system assistance GOP Sen Ted Cruz wants Trump administration to investigate DUIs still driving California s failure to take repeat drunk drivers off the road Walters Ballot measure would broaden modification of state s key environmental law California Faculty Association denies blatant antisemitism declares by Jewish orgs Particular of the earmarks raise concerns about legislative priorities in a challenging budget year such as lawmakers spending millions from the general fund on museums trails parks and other amenities in wealthy communities The spending includes million in general fund money for a LGBTQ venue in high-cost San Francisco million for a private day school in Southern California and for a private farm-animal rescue on the North Coast Around million of the local-project earmarks were funds taken from the billion Proposition context bond California voters approved last year Particular of the Prop earmarks included million to programs paying farmers for private land conservation million to help the masses access a Southern California beach gated off by a wealthy public million for geologic heritage sites including the La Brea Tar Pits whose fossils have been used to survey state change in the last epoch The earmarks were approved at the same time Gov Gavin Newsom and lawmakers left state worker positions unfilled suspended particular wellness care benefits forewent raises for firefighters filled budget holes with high-interest bond money and took billions of dollars from the state s rainy day urgency fund Kristen Cox executive director of the Long Beach Neighborhood Table foodbank reported the money lawmakers spent this year to enhance communities in their districts often for projects that chosen would consider frills isn t going to the neediest Californians It s misprioritization she stated My priorities are to help the people that need it the bulk Their priorities seem to be Let s make this city look gentrified and pretty and beautiful A secret process that benefits lawmakers Plenty of of the earmarks one-time allotments of cash for a specific purpose or project are fairly benign and went to local infrastructure demands such as fire stations parks masses schools and environmental projects They also represent just a small portion of the state s billion budget which pays for programs and services that typically are intended to help all of California But inside the notoriously secretive budget negotiation process lawmakers also have the ability to set aside sizable chunks of money to benefit their districts through an even more opaque earmark system It allows them to direct money to their pet projects without leaving a fingerprint at least until they issue a press release touting a new area perk or show up for ribbon-cutting and check-passing ceremonies Such spending disparagingly called pork-barrel spending or pork for short is hardly new or unique to California disclosed Thad Kousser a former legislative staffer and political science professor at UC San Diego He has extensively studied equity in how politicians divide up budgets for local requirements There s a reason it s pervasive When politicians keep the cash flowing back home it helps them get re-elected he declared Politicians across generations and in every country try to use a few portion of the budget on these clear signals that they re directing the flow of authorities dollars to real people and real organizations right at home in their district he commented Voters reward that Eyeing higher office Send pork home The biggest recipient of the earmarks in Senate Bill appears to be the North Coast Senate district of Democratic Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire After losing his legislative leadership seat this year he seems to be positioning himself for a congressional bid according to The Santa Rosa Press Democrat If he does run he ll be able to tout all the cash he brought to his Senate district this year His district was the recipient of more than two dozen earmarks totalling more than million accounting for a quarter of the earmark funds CalMatters identified They went to fund a regional hospital harbors habitat projects schools and fire stations His district also received for the farm-animal rescue State Sen President Pro Tem Mike McGuire during a floor session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on April Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters His largest earmarks included million in Prop funds for a redwood trail that s to run miles across his district McGuire s office didn t make him available for an interview McGuire instead sent an emailed announcement defending the earmarks Our state s budget includes smart one-time investments across California McGuire noted Multiple in our state have been working on these projects for years to make California safer stronger and more resilient Sen Scott Wiener the powerful Senate Budget Committee chairperson from San Francisco is definitely running for higher office Wiener reported last month he s running for Nancy Pelosi s congressional seat The budget included at least million in general fund earmarks benefiting the voters of San Francisco who will decide whether to send him to Washington D C The money went for parks restroom improvements and to patronage the preservation and revitalization of a historic LGBTQ venue in the city s Castro neighborhood according to the budget bill which doesn t name the venue San Francisco is also slated to receive million for a new oncology clinic and chemotherapy center for Chinese Hospital and for accessibility improvements to Wah Mei child growth center Wiener s office didn t respond to interview requests Lawmakers complained of earmarks None of the earmarks have a lawmaker s name on them making it extremely intricate for members of the masses or even other lawmakers to decipher whose they are and which districts benefited The governor s administration is responsible for selected Legislative staff stated CalMatters while reporting this story that earmark requests sent to budget committees aren t masses records CalMatters instead used the Digital Democracy database s Find your legislators tool to triangulate which pork projects are in which lawmakers districts from earmarks inserted into SB That s one of budget-related bills Newsom signed this year There are almost certainly more earmarks buried in the other budget measures The secretive nature of earmarks and the number and size of them this year became a source of contention in September at the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Selected Democratic lawmakers complained that so multiple last-minute earmarks had popped up in the spending bills They questioned whether the earmarks were being fairly distributed to communities with the the greater part need For the environment bond money the general fund money the Medi-Cal money the Department of Development money across the transit money in almost every one there is at least one sometimes specific allocations Sacramento Sen Christopher Cabaldon advised the committee The broader concern about equity and balance in those earmarks is certainly a point really well taken revealed Sen Ben Allen a Democrat representing the El Segundo area Nonetheless none of the Democrats who control the Legislature voted against the budget this year according to Digital Democracy Newsom also signed it into law His office didn t respond to an interview request Susan Shelley of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association blasted the pork-project spending as hypocritical especially as chosen liberal groups and lawmakers encouragement raising taxes or turning to voters to pass new bonds to prop up the state s shaky finances Politicians she mentioned like to say We need money for everything in California And what are they spending the money on now Basically gifts to the districts that make the elected representatives look good and that are not essential or not as essential Pork in Prop About million in Prop funds also went to backfill the state s general fund budget covering existing environmental fire and vitality programs and for expenses such as deferred maintenance at state parks Using bond funds to pay for existing expenses in the general fund means there s less bond money available to pay for the new expenditures voters thought they were supporting The separate bond earmarks from lawmakers reflect their priorities and may not necessarily be what voters yearned either Chosen of the lawmakers earmarks include million to secure residents access to a beach blocked off by the wealthy gated Hollister Ranch public in Santa Barbara County and for a separate dam-removal project Both projects are in the district of Sen Monique Lim n who is replacing McGuire as the Senate Democratic leader next year She shares a district with a handful of assemblymembers who may have sought the earmarks Lim n s district also received million for a museum in Santa Barbara for an interactive water exhibit Lim n replied to an interview request with an email from her spokesperson Christina Montoya While the senator was not involved in Prop allocations Montoya noted she is glad to see projects funded that advance the goals of the state An aerial photo of Hollister Ranch located west of Santa Barbara along the Gaviota Coast on June Photo by George Rose Getty Images million went to the UC Davis Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein primarily at the request of San Jose Assemblymember Ash Kalra UC Davis isn t in Kalra s district but he s a vegan and the chair of the Assembly Select Committee On Alternative Protein Innovation The million earmark for geologic heritage sites including the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles was from Democratic Assemblymember Isaac Bryan His office didn t make him available for an interview Taxpayers will pay at least billion in interest and other expenses to finance Prop over the next four decades Using Prop to pay farmers An example of how earmarks lock up Prop funds can be uncovered in this year s budget for the Wildlife Conservation Board The billion bond is supposed to provide billion for the board to give out as grants in the coming years The board uses a competitive process that prioritizes habitat project proposals to provide the largest part ecological benefits for California This year the Legislature gave the board million in Prop money to spend But about a quarter of it million is going to projects the board must now fund because of lawmakers earmarks Gregg Hart a Santa Barbara Democratic assemblymember got one of the biggest earmarks from the board s funds million for a conservation easement on Rancho San Julian a -acre private ranch in his district Conservation easements are legal agreements that ensure private lands don t get sold and turned into environmentally unfriendly developments In an interview Hart commented preserving the ranch s habitat in perpetuity is in line with what voters intended when they voted for Prop Assemblymember Gregg Hart speaks during a committee hearing on petroleum and gasoline supply on Sept Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr CalMatters In my district this is a signature ranch that is an environmental gem Hart stated And preserving that is a very high-value project The conservation board also must allocate million in Prop earmarks to programs that will pay farmers and private wetland landowners in the Central Valley to flood their fields to provide habitat for waterbirds Central Valley farmers already have received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal crop subsidies over the decades The flooded-field earmarks came from Democratic Sen Jerry McNerney who represents the Stockton area and Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry representing the Davis area In an emailed comment McNerney called the million expenditure a win-win for farmers and for wetlands ensuring that migratory birds have places to rest and refuel on their long journey on the Pacific Flyway The total number of earmarks relying on Prop funds has Senate Republican Leader Brian Jones of San Diego saying I explained you so He urged voters to reject the bond last year It was going to be pork he commented It was going to be earmarked projects that the legislators are going to be able to move into things that really didn t have anything to do with the story that was being notified to the voters when they voted Jones district was the recipient of several pork though he stated he made no requests for Prop money His earmarks were from the general fund They include million for San Diego County dam repairs and to the San Diego Mountain Biking Association for building and maintaining residents trails for mountain biking What did we get from the general fund Other notable earmarks from general fund dollars separate from the circumstances bond include large one-time allocations for projects to benefit the state s Jewish society The Legislature has an -member Jewish Caucus The funds include million for the Museum of Tolerance and the Holocaust Memorial in Los Angeles as well as million for the Jewish Locality Center of the East Bay The Los Angeles Jewish population and interfaith leaders hold a candle lighting ceremony marking the exact moment of the first anniversary since Hamas spearheaded attacks on Israel on Oct at a ceremony at The Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles on Oct Photo by Damian Dovarganes AP Photo An earmark for million also went for shield and other infrastructure at Milken Region School East Campus a private Los Angeles Jewish school with annual tuition of nearly The school is in Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel s and Sen Henry Stern s districts Stern s office noted the earmark for the private school wasn t his Gabriel co-chairs the Legislative Jewish Caucus with Wiener Gabriel also oversees the Assembly Budget Committee He didn t return messages Neither did the school Gabriel this week attended a check-passing ceremony at the Discovery Cube in Los Angeles He and two other local lawmakers touted getting the children s museum a million earmark from Prop funds Other earmarks using general fund money included at least million for trail improvements and an urban garden in Democratic Sen Catherine Blakespear s wealthy coastal district as well as million for the Oceanside Museum of Art Blakespear responded to an interview request with an emailed message I m grateful that these impactful public projects were funded through the state s general fund she mentioned I know they will provide immense value to these communities and their residents and are deserving of funding She reported this week she would be appearing at a check-passing ceremony for one of her earmarks million to the city of Mission Viejo for the Oso Creek Trail Improvement Project Former Stockton-area Democratic state Sen Susan Talamantes Eggman explained such earmarks are hardly surprising She was proud to bring back to her district million in her last term to reopen two dilapidated society swimming pools I mean that is fantastic for my district she announced But she acknowledged it is a lot harder for lawmakers to justify those sorts of expenses when there are so numerous of them in a challenging budget year I think you either hope that people won t find out or they see what stuff they re getting and they re like Oh all right well as long as we got ours right she revealed What people are more concerned about is equity What did we get