By admin 
In the final moments of the Legislative session, lawmakers passed a budget bill that drew scrutiny for allocating millions to personal security for current and former state elected officials.
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Assembly Bill 113 was the last budget trailer bill to pass through the Legislature during this session, amending the 2026-27 budget to allocate additional funds to issue areas such as healthcare, housing and disaster relief, among others.
The measure would allocate nearly $2.7 billion in climate bond funds to support storm preparation and recovery, wildlife conservation and stewardship of natural resources, according to Assembly Budget Committee chair and bill author Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, D-Encino, in a presentation during Tuesday’s Assembly floor hearing.
The measure would also allocate $450 million to greenhouse gas reduction funds for transit and invest in fire mitigation, food banks, healthcare, legal service providers and programs to aid disadvantaged communities. According to Gabriel, these investments are a response to national increases in the cost of living.
“We have doubled down,” Gabriel said. “We have stepped up to the plate. We have looked to do as much as we can to help our constituents with healthcare and childcare and housing and all of the things that we know people are struggling with. But it is the leadership in the White House and Washington, D.C., that makes that harder.”
But Republican lawmakers opposed the bill over one allocation. They said a nearly $20 million increase to California Highway Patrol for transportation security would constitute an undue burden on taxpayers. The funding would come out of the state’s Motor Vehicle Account, which is funded by California driver’s license registration fees.
Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez, R-Indio, claimed the money would go towards security for former California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom — a policy he condemned.
“I know $20 million could go far in any one of my colleagues’ districts,” Gonzalez said. “This body continues to show that its priorities are out of touch with the realities facing many Californians.”
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While Newsom has not disclosed whether or how he plans to use the funds, Harris relied on several dozen CHP officers to provide security during her international book tour earlier this year, according to reporting by KCRA 3.
However, the bill’s proponents say the expanded security funds are necessary, as a number of politicians have experienced threats to their safety amid an increasingly polarized, antagonistic political environment.
“I don’t want to have to put $20 million into security either,” said Assemblymember Chris Rogers, D-Santa Rosa. “But I would hope that some of my colleagues across the aisle would look at their own social media and the way that they have used that to weaponize against us, people on this floor, who have needed more security because they have grown their following at the expense of people’s safety.”
Members of budget committees in both chambers celebrated the bill, which was the final legislative step to balance the state budget for the upcoming two fiscal years.
“We basically positioned ourselves for next year,” said Senate Budget Committee Chair Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz. “We did our best to triage against cuts that were beyond our capacity to deal with, and in certain ones with food and medical care, we bridged it to the next year in the hope that the better budget picture will allow us to address those cuts. … This is a good budget. It’s the result of a lot of work from people across this chamber and the floor.”
The bill passed 29-4 on the Senate floor and 60-10 on the Assembly floor Tuesday morning.
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