Amid a volatile economy and a multi-billion-dollar state deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state legislature have struck a $288 billion budget package that maintains several programs that touch Orange County.
A library program to help more Californians visit state parks and beaches, habitat protection and support for crime victims are among the local winners in the deal announced Saturday, June 22.
Assuming Newsom signs off before the July 1 start of the next fiscal year, the new spending could touch some local programs in the following ways:
California State Library Parks Pass
The joint budget deal restored money for a popular program that allows people with library cards to essentially check out parking passes that they can use to get into more than 200 state parks and beaches. The $6.75 million newly earmarked for the program is expected to keep it funded through December 31, 2025.
“It’s effective and cost-efficient in doing what it was intended to do — get more Californians into state parks,” said Rachel Norton, executive director of California State Parks Foundation. “We know, anecdotally, that (the vehicle day-use pass) is among the most checked out items in many libraries.”
During the summer, when school is out, the program can be an especially important resource for families with school-age children, she said.
According to the California State Parks Foundation, 33,000 passes have been placed in more than 1,100 public libraries since 2021, when the program started.
Seven state parks and beaches in or near Orange County participate: Bolsa Chica State Beach, Chino Hills State Park, Crystal Cove State Park, Doheny State Beach, Huntington State Beach, San Clemente State Beach and San Onofre State Beach.
More than 3,500 beach and park parking passes were checked out from libraries in Orange County during the first quarter of this year, the most in the state. And two local libraries — the Newport Beach Public Library and the Huntington Beach Public Library — ranked among the top ten, statewide, in terms of use per capita.
“The pass has been very popular. Over the winter, we thought there would be a dip in people checking them out. But it’s been very consistent,” said April Lammers, senior librarian at the Huntington Beach Public Library.
The waitlist, locally, runs a few hundred people, Lammers added, indicative of the program’s popularity.
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Norton said the program has been particularly helpful for people who traditionally haven’t been able to afford parking at state parks and beaches. One-day parking at most of those places runs $10 to $15 per vehicle, and some spots — including Huntington State Beach — can reach $30.
Earlier this year, a survey found that about six in 10 people who checked out park and beach passes had a household income of $60,000 or less, and nearly two in three said money was the biggest reason they previously hadn’t visited state beaches and parks.
“The cost of entry can deter people from experiencing the natural wonders within these parks, thereby excluding them from the numerous physical and mental health benefits, educational opportunities, and recreational activities that these spaces offer,” Norton said.
More than eight in 10 said they plan to visit state parks more than three times a year thanks to the pass.
Habitat conservation funding
The state’s Habitat Conservation Fund, which preserves sensitive habitats throughout California, was in danger of going away because of the budget squeeze.
But under the new deal the fund will get $45 million from the state in the coming fiscal year and $30 million a year through 2030.
Support over the next 12 months is particularly important, according to local conservation consultant Melanie Schlotterbeck, who noted that the money could pay for the purchase of the eastern ridgeline next to Chino Hills State Park.
Schlotterbeck, whose mother Claire Schlotterbeck helped establish the park, said officials have been talking about buying the eastern ridgeline for more than 45 years. When Schlotterbeck was a toddler her mother sought protection of the ridgeline, but that deal fell through because there wasn’t a willing seller at the time.
The federal Land and Water Conservation Fund recently has allocated $3.8 million toward the acquisition, Schlotterbeck said. And the last part of the property, the ridgeline on the eastern edge of the park, could be preserved with about $5.2 million in matching state funds.
Schlotterbeck, a member of Hills For Everyone, a Brea-based grassroots organization that has helped preserve the 14,100-acre Chino Hills State Park, said she’s relieved that the funding was restored. Still, she added, it’s uncertain that the money — which can be used for projects statewide — will be used to buy up the ridgeline.
Services that support crime survivors
Since passage of the Victims of Crime Act of 1983, survivors of everything from domestic or child abuse to human trafficking have been eligible to receive follow-up help, in the form of cash compensation and counseling and other services. But, this year, the federal program that pays for that help was slashed by a whopping 44.7%.
So, in May, crime victims in California asked Newsom for $200 million in state money to fill the expected gap.
The new budget deal provides about half of that — $103 million — as a one-time “backfill” for the federal VOCA funding.
Lita Mercado, chief program officer of victim assistance programs at Waymakers, an Orange County nonprofit that supports victims of violence, had said “preparing for a 44.7% cut is an impossible task.”
Mercado said she doesn’t yet know how that money will be allocated, or how it will affect Waymakers’ programs. But she does believe the money will be “truly lifesaving for our victims.”
Once the budget is signed, the state’s Office of Emergency Services, which administers these grants, will reach out to grantees with further information, said H.D. Palmer, the state’s finance department spokesperson.
Waymakers, one of those grantees, served more than 20,000 victims of crime last year, Mercado said, including people affected by an August mass shooting at Cook’s Corner restaurant in Trabuco Canyon. In the hours and days after that event, Waymakers provided on-scene support, making sure victims were connected to the resources they need. Mercado said her group also gave support to families during death notifications.
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