California's biggest green jobs bill didn't quite make it to the
governor's desk this year, but it went much further than anyone
expected. And it will be back, stronger and better, in 2009! SB 1672
(Steinberg) would have invested $2.25 billion in green career education
and training, especially for California's disadvantaged communities. We
enjoyed small victories as the bill sailed through the State Senate and
almost all the way through the Assembly. Alas, the bill got held up in
the Assembly Appropriations Committee in the midst of California's
worst budget year in recent memory. But we're not worried -- along the
way, we've helped amass the largest, most powerful green jobs coalition
ever seen in the Golden State. And we're just getting started.
Senator
Steinberg has vowed to bring the bill back as his "number one priority"
in 2009. He'll be President pro-Tem next year -- add that to our
amazing coalition, which includes major organizations representing
labor unions, environmental advocacy, business and industry, community
and social justice, and YOU -- and we'll be nearly unstoppable.
We
also want to thank the core allies who are part of our "Green Jobs
Working Group": Green For All, the California Apollo Alliance, the
California Labor Federation, the California State Building Trades
Council, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Verde
Group. This group's combined expertise and clout made it a central
anchor of the larger coalition. Together, we helped shape the bill into
something that surpassed even our expectations, then move it through
the legislature much farther than anyone expected.
Next year,
we'll redouble our efforts to ensure that SB 1672 passes both houses of
the legislature and is signed into law by the Governor. We will also
grow our network of community-based organizations, education and
training groups, policy experts, and green businesses to advance our
green-collar jobs agenda across the state.
