(Sacramento, CA) – Save Our Capitol! issued the following statement today in response to the passage of two bills as part of the 2025-26 state budget package: AB 130 (Committee on Budget) and SB 131 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review):

“Although we understand the urgent need to address California’s housing shortage, we are deeply disappointed by Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Legislature’s continuing pattern of rolling back integral provisions of the landmark California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)through last-minute budget trailer bills.

“Comprehensive reform cannot come at the expense of transparency, public input, and the environmental protections which have long safeguarded our communities. CEQA exists to ensure that development is thoughtful, inclusive, and accountable to the people it impacts.  

“In 2024, the Legislature circumvented the public and the Courts by fully exempting the entire Capitol Annex Project from CEQA. This brazen hypocrisy allowed our elected leaders to run roughshod over environmental and historical landmarks while shutting out citizens who sought a fair and transparent process.

“When the Newsom Administration and legislative leaders cannot secure consensus through regular legislative channels, they simply change the law—not through public debate, but through rushed and opaque processes. This same strategy appears to be laying the groundwork for fast-tracking the Governor’s controversial Delta Tunnel Project. In a state which prides itself on environmental leadership, it’s deeply troubling to see the very laws designed to protect our ecosystems being rewritten for political expediency. It is not the citizens’ job to constantly remind elected officials that they work for us.

“California’s future and environmental integrity depend upon open governance and honest public engagement —not political shortcuts. Save Our Capitol! urges the Governor and Legislature to respect both the public’s right to participate in the CEQA process and to uphold the purpose of CEQA itself: to protect our communities, our environment, and our shared democratic process.”

About Save Our Capitol!

The purpose of Save Our Capitol! is to preserve the site of the historic Capitol and its surrounding Park as the center and symbol of Californians’ right to truth, transparency, and trust in self-governance. Follow Save Our Capitol! on Twitter and act to #StopTheDemolition by visiting www.saveourcapitol.org