2025 Legislative Wrap-up: Big Wins and Next Steps for State Parks

The 2025 Legislative session produced mixed results for California State Parks Foundation priorities, marked by a final surge of advocacy to secure state park funding in their authorized Cap-and-Invest spending plan, push for Prop. 4 appropriations and advance two key bills for the streamlined state park acquisitions.  
 

Proposition 4 Funding 

We were ultimately successful in securing critical appropriations under Prop. 4, which California State Parks depended on this year to fund wildfire resilience positions and projects. Voters approved Prop. 4 in November 2024,  authorizing funds from state bond sales. While no Prop 4 bonds have yet been sold, the Legislature authorized up to $3.3 billion in bond-related expenditures in the current fiscal year. We were hearing rumblings that the Legislature might delay appropriations until January 2026, a move that would have been disastrous for state parks’ wildfire resilience work and other priority work. Fortunately, the Legislature responded to broad pressure, including advocacy from California State Parks Foundation, and issued a spending plan.  

We continue to advocate against “backfilling” Prop. 4 funds to cover commitments made before voter approval in 2025, a complex challenge where we have achieved limited but meaningful progress. 
 

Permanent Funding for the California State Library Parks Pass 

Our sponsored bill, AB 616 (Caloza), was unfortunately held in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The original legislation would have given California State Parks the authority to give passes to libraries free of charge.   

When the library pass program was implemented in 2021, California State Parks created a branded library pass offering access similar to its $195 California Explorer Vehicle Day Use Annual Pass. Each year, California State Parks provides 33,000 passes to the California State Library, which then distributes them to individual city and county library systems based on population and other equity factors such as income. Libraries create barcodes for the passes and circulate them as they would any other library materials. Patrons can typically check out a pass for two to three weeks and use it unlimited times during that period; passes are valid from January 1 through December 31. 

Unlike the other two passes introduced in 2021 — the California State Parks Adventure Pass and a revamped Golden Bear Pass — the Library Pass program lacks permanent funding and depends on annual General Fund appropriations.  Here's how program costs break down:  

• Retail cost per pass: $195
• Number of passes: 33,000
• Total pass cost: $195 x 33,000 = $6.435 million
• Administrative costs: $340,000
• Total FY 26 cost to California State Parks: $6.75 million  

The California State Library receives no appropriation for program administration.  

In the FY 25 budget cycle, the Governor’s initial budget proposal and May Revision omitted funding for the program. After thousands of Californians contacted their legislators and widespread media coverage, funding was restored in a last-minute budget agreement.  

In the FY 26 budget cycle, Governor Newsom proposed funding for the pass, but it was removed in the Legislature’s final budget. Once again, persistent advocacy by California State Parks Foundation and thousands of Californians led to restored funding through a budget trailer bill in late June. 

AB 616 represented the long-term solution to make the Library Pass permanent and avoid an annual funding fight. While the Appropriations Committee rarely explains why a bill was held, we heard concerns about California State Parks losing $6.75 million in annual General Fund dollars. We will continue pressing for a sustainable, ongoing funding solution.  
 

Streamlining California State Park Acquisitions 

Two other bills we strongly supported, AB 679 (Pellerin) and SB 630 (Allen), reached the Governor’s desk and were signed into law. Together, they streamline how the state acquires land for existing state parks, either to support wildlife migration and habitat or infill parcels. 

Currently, it can take years for state parks to acquire property, even when there is funding available or when those parcels are donated by a land trust or other organization. AB 679 focuses on parks in the Santa Cruz Mountains, while SB 630 streamlines acquisitions for the whole system. California State Parks estimates that the majority of acquisitions on its priority list will fall under the streamlined authority in these bills. The authority is granted for a limited time and will expire in 2032 unless extended. 
 

Climate Stewardship Funding Through Cap-and Invest 

We also succeeded in getting language into a reauthorized cap-and-trade spending (now renamed Cap-and-Invest) plan that could provide additional funding for state parks, though funding is not guaranteed and will be subject to appropriation.  

Reauthorized at the very end of the session, the Cap-and-Invest program is a market-based climate policy that sets a declining cap on statewide greenhouse gas emissions through 2045. The "cap" is the total emissions, while "invest" refers to using auction revenue from emission permits to fund climate and community programs. This approach incentivizes  companies to reduce emissions cost-effectively while generating public investment in resilience and equity. 

Throughout the spring and summer, we led a targeted lobbying campaign emphasizing that investing in stewardship of California’s state parks is a very cost-effective and straightforward way to help California meet its climate goals, both for reducing carbon emissions and making our natural and working lands more resilient to a changing climate.  We also underscored that secure, multi-year funding appropriations are crucial to the parks department’s ability to plan long-term projects.  

Legislators responded favorably. While the final Cap-and-Invest language does not guarantee additional climate stewardship funding for parks, we count State Parks’ expanded ability to tap into these funds in future budget cycles as a win.  
 

For more information on the fate of proposals we were tracking during the 2025 session, please visit our Legislative Agenda page. To stay current on our advocacy priorities and learn how you can get involved, sign up for our Advocacy emails below.