Update From Sacramento 

UPDATE: July 28

Today, the Governor signed a revised Fiscal Year 2009-2010 state budget, based on the package of bills sent to him by the Legislature on July 24.  In using his blue-pencil veto authority, the Governor exacted an additional $6.2 million cut to the state park system, bringing the total General Fund cut to $14.2 million.  It is expected (and referenced in the Governor's budget summary) that more than 100 state parks will be closed.  Below is a statement of the California State Parks Foundation (CSPF) on the Governor's veto. 

Statement of Elizabeth Goldstein, CSPF President

"This is a dark day in the history of California's state park system.  At a time when Californians are most in need of their low cost, accessible state parks, the gates are being slammed in their faces.  At a time when local businesses, particularly in rural communities, most rely on tourism and park visitation for their own economic stimulus, the doors are being shut to them.  In the context of an $85 billion General Fund budget, the $14.2 million in "savings" that would come from closing more than 100 state parks is truly a drop in the bucket.  But it's a small drop that will have a ripple effect, then a tsunami, for park visitors and local economies.  

Closing more than one-third of the state park system cannot be done without real consequences to Californians.  Although CSPF and other park partners are already trying to identify ways to keep some parks open, it will simply not be possible for the state to walk away from 100 parks and expect others to fully substitute for its public responsibility.  California's state parks have been teetering on the brink of a funding cliff for several decades, this action now pushes them over the edge.  California cannot afford for its state parks to be a political football every year.  Our state parks desperately need a dedicated funding source to protect them from these now-annual budget actions."  

Previous Updates

UPDATE: July 9

After a week of false starts and many stops, the Legislature and Governor remain deadlocked on a budget resolution.  This leaves the status of the park closure proposal up in the air, along with other budget proposals.   In fact, the closure proposal has the dubious distinction of being one of the issues mentioned in a recent Time Magazine article that talks about the fiscal dysfunction in California. 

But for now, state parks are open and available and Californians should go out and visit, enjoy and play in state parks!  The Save Our State Parks Campaign continues to add more supporters every day to our fight to keep our parks open.  In addition to the more than 95,000 people that have sent letters to legislators, signed petitions, sent postcards, or called or emailed their elected officials, you can see the growing list of organizations, businesses and other groups that are joining us here.  Know of an organization or group that should be part of the fight?  Send them a note and ask them to sign up to be part of the movement to Save Our State Parks! 

UPDATE: June 29

On June 29, the Assembly passed a bill that contained several tax measures that would normally require 2/3 votes, including the State Park Access Pass. They got around the 2/3 by a complicated formula of swapping some taxes and fees in the bill, making it "revenue neutral," thereby satisfying some legal opinions that the taxes don't require 2/3 votes. This is not a universally-held legal opinion. The Governor has already indicated he will veto this, much like he vetoed a similar revenue neutral attempt last year. 

We continue to be pushing for a realistic solution to putting $70M back into the state parks budget. And, it is still very important and useful to contact The Big Five. Word is that the Legislature wants to get a budget in place before the end of the week and before the state starts issuing IOUs.

Please keep those contacts to The Big Five coming.

For more images from the SOS Weekend click here.