April 10, 2025

Before leaving for a weeklong spring break, the Legislature passed an early action budget bill jr. (AB 100), sending it to the Governor’s desk to be signed and enacted into law. A budget bill jr. amends a prior budget act and early action budget bills are passed almost every spring, primarily to make changes to the current year budget to address the needs of the state that cannot wait until the next fiscal year. AB 100 amends both the 2023 and 2024 Budget Acts to make both substantive changes and technical adjustments.

Below is a summary of some of the major changes included in this budget bill jr. 

Expands Eligible Uses for Already Appropriated Wildfire Recovery Funds. In late January, the state appropriated $2.5 billion to support the wildfire response and recovery efforts related to the January wildfires in the Los Angeles area (ABX1 4 and SBX1 3).  As of March 31, 2025, the Department of Finance reports that only $286 million of the $2.5 billion has been allocated to state department budgets. Rather than appropriating new funding, AB 100 expands the allowable uses of the existing wildfire recovery funds to include the following:

• Property Tax Backfills—Provide property tax backfills to affected taxing entities (counties, cities, and independent special districts) for property tax losses occurring in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 fiscal years resulting from damage caused by the Eaton and Palisades fires.
• State Cash Flow Assistance­ for Local Agencies—Allow state funding to be allocated to Los Angeles County or cities within the county for unmet wildfire response and recovery needs. Any funding received cannot duplicate or replace the benefits in existing assistance programs. To the extent the local agencies receiving the state funding are reimbursed for local response and recovery efforts, presumably by the federal government, those funds would be deposited back into the state General Fund. This approach essentially provides cash flow relief for local agencies to reduce the impacts of waiting for reimbursement from the federal government. 

Appropriates Initial Resources from the Proposition 4 Climate Bond. AB 100 appropriates $181.1 million from the wildfire and forest resilience section of the recent climate bond passed by the voters in November 2024. This funding is allocated to several conservancies, as outlined in the proposition, to support improving local fire prevention capacity, improving forest health and resilience, and reducing the risk of wildfire spreading into populated areas from wildlands.  The allocations are as follows:  

• $30.9 million to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy
• $23.52 million to the California Tahoe Conservancy
• $31.35 million to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy
• $30.9 million to the State Coastal Conservancy
• $30.9 million to the San Gabriel and Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy
• $23.52 million to the San Diego River Conservancy
• $10 million for purposes of funding training center infrastructure for a fire resiliency center for the Karuk Tribe

Provides Additional Resources for Medi-Cal. This budget bill jr. appropriates $2.8 billion General Fund to address the projected current year deficit in the Medi-Cal program identified in the Governor’s January budget. The projected deficit is due to higher overall enrollment and increased pharmacy costs, among other things. An additional $8.3 billion in federal fund expenditure authority is also included to account for federal matching funds for the same purpose. These additional resources allow the state to cover increased expenditures until June, which is the end of the fiscal year. Additional information about the overall Medi-Cal caseload projections will be released in the Governor’s May Revision budget proposal.

Allows More Funding to be Used for Property Tax Postponement Disbursements Related to Manufactured Homes. AB 100 allows the State Controller’s office to use additional funds from the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund to fully fund the remaining approved program applications related to manufactured/mobile homes in the 2024-25 fiscal year.

Makes other smaller and technical changes.  AB 100 also includes various technical changes, encumbrance extensions, and corrections to the budget bill that are typical of a mid-year budget adjustment bill.

What happens next?

The Governor will publish the annual mid-year budget adjustment (the May Revision) sometime on or just before Wednesday, May 14. Consistent with previous years, CSAC will publish a May Revision Budget Action Bulletin shortly thereafter that analyzes that state budget and notes significant issues for counties. Past publications of the Budget Action Bulletin are available on the CSAC website.

CSAC will continue to advocate on behalf of counties to empower and elevate our collective county voice. CSAC legislative affairs staff will work diligently with the administration and state lawmakers, as well as in coalition with other local government partners, to achieve a prudent budget plan that enables counties to continue to support all Californians. Please contact CSAC legislative affairs staff with questions about specific policy areas.