THE BUZZ: A “death spiral.” A “financial emergency.” A matter of “survival.”
Bay Area’s public transit systems are hurtling toward a dire end of the line, according to officials who testified at an often-bleak Senate hearing Tuesday. Senators were there to listen and question, not to vote — but the exhortations for state assistance spoke to one of the marquee budget disputes as Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers haggle over diminished dollars.
Newsom wants to close a $31.5 billion deficit in part by slicing billions of dollars previously allocated to transit. Legislative Democrats can only contest the governor on so many fronts, and leaders have telegraphed that transit is a priority where they will seek to hold the line. Senate Democrats “rejected” Newsom’s plan, Sen. Scott Wiener said Tuesday, and “I know our Assembly Democratic colleagues get it as well.”
No lawmaker has sounded the trainmageddon alarm louder than Wiener, who has pushed Newsom and leaders to redirect revenues to a $5.15 billion transit infusion. “We cannot and will not allow our public transit system to collapse due to inaction by the state of California,” the San Francisco Democrat said Tuesday, arguing that BART and Muni and are critical Bay Area economic pillars.
The pandemic eviscerated transit budgets across the country. Locked-down riders vanished, and many of them have not returned as work-from-home becomes more commonplace. That phenomenon is particularly acute in San Francisco, where empty office spaces have fanned fears of a reeling downtown plunging into an economic “doom loop.” Federal money is dwindling. As deficit projections soar, there is a concrete possibility BART runs out of money.
Hence the sense of urgency from Wiener and others. The ripples are bigger than people commuting to Giants games. Efforts to allay California’s housing crisis often seek to expedite projects that are close to transit. Environmentalists and urban planners argue expansive transit systems are critical to reducing carbon emissions. “Public transit is the vanguard of California’s fight against climate change,” Speaker Anthony Rendon said last week.
People don’t always love riding BART. Polling shows they want rides to be safer, cleaner and more efficient. But the beleaguered system — along with train and bus routes in the Bay Area and beyond — have some public champions in legislative Democrats. The next month will tell if they can get Newsom on board.
BUENOS DÍAS, good Wednesday morning. Legislators are rallying with grocery workers this morning for a package of bills that would give workers job security or severance pay when mergers lead to layoffs and closures.
Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up at [email protected] and [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte.
WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We have tried to be very clear about the magnitude of the risks here. … My worst fears are that we cause significant — we, the field, the technology, the industry — cause significant harm to the world.” OpenAI founder Sam Altman before Congress.
TWEET OF THE DAY:
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Former Rep. George Miller … TechCrunch’s Karyne Levy … Rebecca Nelson Kay
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