California can’t afford to have critical projects keep getting tied up by special interests.
SACRAMENTO – Today, Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (Yuba City) issued the following statement applauding the signing of legislation to streamline construction of water and energy infrastructure projects:
“I’m tired of watching infrastructure projects like Sites Reservoir get tied up for years, while Californians are left to suffer the consequences. For years, Republicans have been trying to cut red tape that holds up these critical projects. I’m glad Gov. Newsom and our Democrat colleagues have finally joined us.
“While this legislation is a major step in the right direction, we still have more work to do – Democrats sided with special interests to leave housing and wildfire prevention projects out of this package, ensuring the state’s affordability crisis will continue to worsen.”
Republican bills to reform California’s permitting process that were killed by Democrats include:
- AB 311 (2015-16) – Would have streamlined approvals for water surface storage projects.
- AB 1273 (2017-18) – Would have renewed streamlining provisions for levee repairs.
- AB 394 (2019-20) – Would have expedited road projects for wildfire ingress/egress routes.
- AB 1774 (2021-22) – Would have streamlined review for water storage and conveyance projects.
- AB 1488 (2023-24) – Would have expedited water infrastructure projects.
