Legislature Declines to Approve Governor’s Proposal to Fast-Track Delta Tunnel Project in Budget
A key Senate Budget Subcommittee today voted to reject Governor Gavin Newsom’s controversial proposal to fast-track the costly and destructive Delta Tunnel Project via the state budget.
The vote by Senate Budget Subcommittee 2 on Resources, Environmental Protection and Energy followed a recent decision by leadership in the Senate and Assembly to decline to include the governor’s tunnel fast-tracking plan in the Legislature’s official 2025-26 budget plan.
“The vote today by Senate Budget Subcommittee 2 to reject the tunnel proposal will prevent significant harm to the Delta region, a substantial portion of which would be devastated by the 45-mile-long, $20-plus billion water tunnel project, and is a signal that big policy proposals should not be fast-tracked through the budget process,” said Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, a member of Senate Budget Subcommittee 2 and co-chair of the California Legislative Delta Caucus. “Thank you, Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, Senate Budget Chair Scott Wiener, and Assembly Budget Chair Jesse Gabriel, for not including the tunnel fast-tracking proposal in the Legislature’s 2025-26 budget plan. The destructive and unaffordable Delta Tunnel Project should be shelved permanently.”
“This was yet another reckless attempt to push through a deeply flawed and environmentally harmful project without proper oversight or community input, and once again, the Legislature wisely said no,” said Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson, D-Suisun City, co-chair of the Delta Caucus. “I thank Speaker Rivas, Senate President pro-Tem McGuire, and our Budget Chairs for standing with Delta communities and protecting ratepayers at a time when we should be prioritizing affordability. As the LAO rightly noted, ‘the administration has not provided sufficient justification’ for this rushed proposal and failed to demonstrate that fast-tracking the Delta Tunnel is either necessary or fiscally responsible. The Legislature made the right call.”
Senate Budget Subcommittee 2 voted 3-0-1 today to reject the tunnel fast-tracking proposal and refer it to the regular legislative process, rather than including it in the budget. The full Senate Budget Committee is scheduled to vote on the Legislature’s 2025-26 budget plan, which does not include the fast-tracking proposal, on Wednesday. Both the Senate and Assembly are scheduled to vote on the Legislature’s budget plan later this week.
The Senate Budget Subcommittee’s vote today followed a recent report from California’s independent Legislative Analyst’s Office, which raised serious red flags about the tunnel fast-tracking proposal and urged the Legislature to pause the governor’s plan to provide lawmakers with more time to examine the proposal’s wide-ranging impacts.
The tunnel fast-tracking proposal also has been met with widespread opposition. The broad bipartisan coalition against the fast-tracking plan includes more than 100 legislators; cities, counties, and public agencies; good government groups; environmental and tribal organizations; and nonprofits and local businesses.
The Delta Caucus has urged the governor and Legislature to pursue alternatives to the Delta Tunnel Project that would cost far less and would safeguard California’s main water supply system without inflicting major harm to it, such as fortifying Delta levees and increasing water recycling, water efficiency, and groundwater storage.