May 18th, 2021
The California Comeback Plan
- $5.1 Billion investment over four years for drought infrastructure, preparedness, and response to ensure a more climate resilient system.
- $67.5 Million to develop a healthier, more resilient, and more equitable food system.
- $531 Million package to advance climate smart agriculture, improve drought resiliency, fund alternatives to agricultural burning, increase pollinator habitat on working lands, and support conservation planning.
- $42 Million in new investments to support economic recovery, resiliency, and high-road job growth.
Notable Budget Highlights
Climate Smart Agriculture
$213 Million for the Funding Agricultural Replacement Measures for Emission Reductions
(FARMER) Program. Funding for over two years for the replacement of agricultural harvesting equipment, pumps, and tractors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
$150 Million for Alternatives to open agricultural burning in the San Joaquin Valley.
$100 Million for Healthy Soils Program. Funding for grants for on-farm soil management practices that sequester carbon.
$60 Million for Livestock Methane Reduction.
$30 Million for Pollinator Habitat Program. Funding for pollinator habitat and forage on working lands.
$20 Million for Technical Assistance for Conservation Management Plans. Funding to support the development of conservation plans for climate change mitigation and resilience, and to enhance water, habitat, and other resources.
$9 Million for Sustainable California Grown Cannabis Pilot Program. Funding to incentivize legal legacy outdoor cannabis growers to adopt and gather data on environmental best practices.
Healthy, Resilient and Equitable Food Systems
$30 Million for Farm to School. Additional investments in the California Farm to School Network for broadening the Incubator Grant Program.
$20 Million for the Healthy Stores Refrigeration Grant Program. Funding to expand this pilot program to make a greater variety of nutritious California-grown foods available in low-access areas.
$15 Million for the California Nutrition Incentive Program. Funding for incentives to low-income shoppers.
$12 Million for the Urban Agriculture Program. Funding to support urban farmers and community-based organizations in revitalizing urban food systems.
$11.8 Million for Transition to Safer, Sustainable Pest Management.
$500,000 for Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program.
$50 Million for Climate Catalyst Fund.
Land Protection
$42.5 Million for the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program. Proposed funding through Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds.
$30 Million for Riparian Working Lands. Funding enhancement of working lands and riparian corridors through restoration projects on agricultural lands.
Land Use
$500 Million for infill and smart growth. Funding to incentivize infill development and smart growth to regions to reduce vehicle miles traveled.
$4.2 Billion for High-Speed Rail. Funding to continue to move the nation’s first true high-speed rail system forward to complete construction in the Central Valley and advance planning and project design for the project to connect San Francisco with Los Angeles/Anaheim.
$3 Billion allocation to build more affordable housing.
Rural and Economic Issues
$30 Million Fresno-Merced Future of Food (F3) Innovation Initiative.
$30 Million for Repairing and Maintaining Seasonal Farmworker Rental Housing.
$10 Million for Pesticide Notification. Funding for a statewide pesticide notification network.
$10 Million for New and Beginning Farmers. Funding for Training and Farm Manager Apprenticeships Program.
$8.7 Million for Technical Assistance. Funding for underserved farmers, ($3.35M has already been appropriated by the Senate.)
$7 Billion Rural Broadband. Funding to increase broadband access and affordability.
$6 Million for Impact Assessment and Alignment of Regulatory Reporting Requirements for Agriculture.
Rural economic advisor to support to improve California’s rural, agriculturally based economies.
Energy
$900 Million for a cleaner and more resilient 22nd century electric grid.
$20 Million for Aqueduct Solar Panel Pilot Study. Funding to pilot a study evaluating the use of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels that are mounted on infrastructure that spans a canal.
Drought/Water
$1.3 Billion for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.
$500 Million Multi-benefit Land Repurposing.
$300 Million for small water supplier’s drought relief and Urban Water Management Grants.
$300 Million for State Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) Implementation. (Over two years.)
$150 Million for groundwater cleanup and water recycling.
$100 Million for the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program.
$5 Million to provide technical assistance for on-farm water use efficiency.
$1.5 Million for drought-related economic analysis and decision-making tools for agriculture.