Community Benefits Fund Policy Passes State Senate

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

California State Senate Bill 535, authored by Senator Kevin de León (D—Los Angeles), was approved by the Senate with a vote of 23-13 earlier this month. The bill has cleared an important legislative hurdle and is now headed to the Assembly, where it will need to pass through committees before being approved, sent to the governor, and ultimately signed into law. But the bill will need some work to recover from this first phase.

SB 535 is designed to help fulfill California’s promise to protect and strengthen its most impacted and disadvantaged communities, as established in AB 32, California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. As originally envisioned, the bill would require a minimum of 10 percent of revenues from AB 32’s market mechanism(s) to be invested in these neighborhoods to enhance or initiate projects that reduce emissions and help communities confront the climate crisis.

Unfortunately, Senate amendments have stripped SB 535 of that 10 percent requirement, which was a core provision of the bill. Senator De León and the bill’s co-sponsors (including CCA and other allies) are working now to ensure that element is restored and the bill is as effective as possible.