***URGENT ACTION ***

CALL ASSEMBLY, SENATE AND GOVERNOR’S OFFICE NOW to

Oppose SB 292, SB 226, AB 900

Last-minute bills give special treatment to big developers, threaten communities, and weaken environmental protections

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is under an almost unprecedented assault in the State Legislature. In the last 36 hours of the legislative session, several bills – SB 226, SB 292 and AB 900 – will weaken CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) for urban communities throughout California.  SB 226 would exempt certain urban projects deemed ‘green’, with inadequate definitions of for what defines ‘urban’ and ‘green’. AB 900, while not an exemption, “streamlines” CEQA’s judicial review requirements, potentially limiting the public’s voice in challenging projects. And SB 292 is, most simply, special treatment under the law for an influential developer (AEG) seeking to build a downtown Los Angeles football stadium. These bills are all being heard in the Legislature this morning, so make your voice heard NOW!

CEQA is a vital process that provides information about projects to decision makers and community members so that, together, they can ensure communities are provided important benefits promised, and avoid unintended impacts. Communities support sustainable economic development. Hiding under the pretense of job creation (without real evidence those jobs will ever come) these bills create different standards for the protections of CEQA.

Moreover, these bills are all being proposed at the 11th-hour of the legislative review, with little or no chance of meaningful public participation and often lawmakers themselves approving legislation without even seeing final versions of the bill. The lack of transparency and deliberation in the law-making process happening right now is alarming. We need you to call your assembly member, senator, and the Governor’s office right now and tell them to stop shoving through last minute bills that give special treatment to big developers, disenfranchise communities, and attack environmental protections.

For more information about the importance of CEQA and the threats it faces, click here.

Call Assembly Members, Senators, and the Governor RIGHT NOW and tell them:

We DO NOT want special treatment for big corporations like AEG and other big developers.

Last-minute laws like this erode public trust, and in the long term do not create more jobs or healthier communities. Vote NO on SB 292, SB 226 and AB 900.

Governor’s Office

Gov. Jerry Brown: Phone (916) 445-2841, Fax (916) 558-3160, or to e-mail please click here.

Legislator Offices

Please contact your representatives in the Capitol. To ensure your voice is heard, please contact their Capitol office NOT their district offices. To find your Assembly Member and Senator please click here.