For immediate release: 9/1/18
Contact:
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, 209-479-2053, barbara@restorethedelta.org
Nora Kovaleski, 408-806-6470, nora@kovaleskipr.com
AB 2649 Dies at the End of Legislative Session, JLBC Hearing Rescheduled for 9/11
Assembly Member Richard Bloom’s last minute gut-and-amend bill, AB 2649 has died at the end of this legislative session. The bill would have sunseted the requirement to hold the JLBC meeting to proceed with the State Water Project contract extension and its unfinished, unseen amendments related to the Delta tunnels project.
In other words, the bill would have created a shortcut for tunnels proponents and the State Water Contractors to finalize the State Water Project contract extension and its amendments without proper legislative oversight. Had the bill passed, State Water Contractors would only be required to present information on the contract extension to the JLBC ten days prior to any contract finalization.
The bill’s demise followed another win for state legislators and advocates who managed to put enough pressure on key legislators to postpone the JLBC hearing in just two days—the same amount of time that NGO’s fighting the tunnels caught wind of the unnoticed hearing.
However, on Friday the JLBC rescheduled their hearing on the State Water Project contract extension to September 11.
Executive Director of Restore the Delta Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla said,
“We are most grateful to Delta legislators and their staff members, our coalition partners, and our fiercely vigilant supporters for working with us to stop AB 2649.
“Sadly, the JLBC has called for the hearing and has rescheduled it two weeks from now, despite not having finished the Delta tunnels contract amendments or a detailed finance plan for the project. Without these essential materials, the legislature will end up rubber stamping the second largest public works project in California history with no understanding as to how it will be financed. This rushed process will not provide the legislative oversight needed to successfully execute a project as large and as expensive as CA WaterFix.”
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