RE: Request for California State Budget to Prioritize Investing in Healthy & Resilient Homes and Communities FY 2022-23 and 2023-24

On behalf of a broad coalition of environmental justice, labor, tenants, environmental, manufacturer, and clean energy organizations, we write to express our support for the $922 million proposed in the January budget for a statewide low-income building retrofit and upgrade program. In addition, we are requesting $1 billion for the construction of and holistic upgrades to community resilience centers, including neighborhood based facilities such as community centers, schools, libraries, health clinics, and other public institutions in communities. This combined $2 billion infrastructure investment will help reduce climate pollution, mitigate the impacts of worsening extreme heat, address historic burdens and structural inequities in working-class communities of color, spur economic growth by creating good jobs, and build climate resilience in households and communities.

Working-class communities of color, disabled people, the elderly, and other vulnerable communities face disproportionate harms from a multitude of climate disasters (e.g., extreme heat, wildfire smoke, power outages) alongside impacts from increasing energy burden and economic insecurity. The State must correct years of underinvestment and ensure communities hit hardest have the resources, infrastructure, and capacity to adequately respond to the cumulative climate, health, and economic crises they are experiencing every day.

At the same time, California must also address the need to rapidly decarbonize the economy to meet ambitious, yet achievable, greenhouse gas emission reduction targets to avoid further exacerbating extreme heat events and other climate disasters. The complex nature of these tasks calls for parallel efforts to maximize equitable climate and economic benefits while employing zero emission technologies.

To that end, we support the $922 million proposed in the January budget for a statewide low-income building retrofit and upgrade program. In addition, we request $1 billion for the construction of and holistic upgrades to community resilience centers as outlined below:

● CEC Equitable Building Decarbonization Program Towards Healthy & Resilient Homes - $922 million to establish new CEC program in coordination with CSD & CDPH

We strongly support the $922 million proposed in the Governor’s January budget for incentives and a direct install program targeted toward low-income residents to provide heat pumps for cooling, energy efficiency, necessary panel upgrades, and building insulation and sealing. We also appreciate the Administration’s intent to ensure equitable access to these clean energy technologies, and we look forward to working with the Administration and the Legislature to ensure that the proposed program enables holistic building upgrades, offers inclusive household eligibility by prioritizing those most vulnerable, engages in community partnerships and effective state and local coordination, and includes strong tenant protections and anti-displacement measures.

Furthermore, mobile homes and manufactured homes without adequate cooling and weatherization must be eligible for this program. This funding would complement statutory changes necessary to fill gaps in current state law, specifically, the lack of any requirement to ensure safe and habitable temperatures in areas of the state that are experiencing and will experience extreme heat.

For more info: Merrian Borgeson (mborgeson@nrdc.org)

●SGC Community Resilience Centers – at least $1 billion to SGC to bolster this program

We urge bolstering the newly-created SGC Community Resilience Centers program with an additional $1 billion. The SGC Community Resilience Program is a critically needed program that, with adequate funding, can address a foundational gap in climate resilience investments in communities and neighborhoods throughout the state. This program would leverage a skilled and trained workforce to construct and rehabilitate neighborhood-based community facilities such as health clinics, community centers, libraries, schools, and other public and community facilities to serve as community resilience centers that address the growing needs of working class communities of color in the face of the converging climate, economic, and public health crises (e.g., extreme heat, wildfires, power outages, smoke waves, and evacuations). Importantly, these resources must also enable SGC to have sufficient resources to administer the program to ensure its success. The need for community resilience centers is rapidly increasing as climate disasters grow in frequency and intensity, and, therefore, a deeper investment is needed to protect communities in California.

For more info: Amee Raval (amee@apen4ej.org)

The recommendations outlined above will help build resilience and safety at both the community and household levels through infrastructure investments, while prioritizing climate and economic equity benefits in communities most impacted. By fully funding these programs, California has a critical opportunity to support the state’s most vulnerable workers, communities, and households as they face intensifying effects from climate change.

We look forward to hearing from you, and continuing to work with you on this important issue.

Sincerely,