California should table the pricey tunnel project and instead pursue alternatives that are far more affordable, better for the environment, and will achieve superior results.
The budget request came from Democrats representing parts of San Joaquin County, State Sen. Jerry McNerney and Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom.
The funding includes $8 million from the recently approved 2025 California State Budget and $1.8 million from North Valley THRIVE through the California Jobs First Program. Legislative support for the state budget investment was led by Senator Jerry McNerney and Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom.
“The Legislature and Governor Newsom’s decision to invest in BEAM Circular via the state budget is great news – a win-win for the Northern San Joaquin Valley and the rest of California,” said state Senator Jerry McNerney.
McNerney argued that California’s creation of guardrails doesn’t necessarily slow down innovation – rather, that “regulation drives innovation.”
It’s time for insurers to demand that Big Oil and Gas pay their fair share for the massive climate-related economic damage they’ve caused. And it’s time to spare overburdened property owners from more unaffordable rate hikes.
“AI must remain a tool controlled by humans, not the other way around,” California State Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, said in a release announcing the legislation.
“The Legislature and Governor Newsom’s decision to invest in BEAM Circular is great news—a win-win for the Northern San Joaquin Valley and the rest of California,” McNerney said. “It will bring high-quality jobs, benefit farmers and growers, and accelerate wildfire solutions, while helping the state meet its climate goals.”
“We have the idea of the federal preemption sort of hanging over our heads,” California state Sen. Jerry McNerney, who has authored numerous AI bills in Sacramento and was vocal about regulating the technology during his years in Congress, told POLITICO. “I don't think that's going to go away.”
