Brown includes $16.17 Million in Budget Proposal for Boating Facility Projects
January 16, 2014
SACRAMENTO (LOG NEWS SERVICE) — Gov. Jerry Brown Jan. 9 proposed a $154.9 billion “total state funds” budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 that includes $16.17 million for public boating facility loans and grants.
The $16.17 million — $7.9 million for small craft harbor loans and $8.27 million for public launching facility grants — would be appropriated from the state’s Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund (HWRF) and is included for the second year in the Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks) budget. It is included in the State Parks budget because effective July 1, 2013, pursuant to the Governor’s Reorganization Plan No. 2, the Department of Boating and Waterways (DBW) become a division within Parks and Recreation.
The governor’s budget proposal for State Parks also includes $10.6 million from the HWRF for boating safety and local law enforcement assistance.
Brown, while not the first governor to advocate eliminating DBW in the name of efficiency and saving money — former governors Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger both tried unsuccessful to eliminate DBW — is the first to have accomplish it.
Boat registration fees, the state tax on gasoline used in boats, interest on public and private loans for the construction of recreational boating facilities, and public and private loan repayments are the major sources of revenue for the HWRF.
Brown’s $154.9 billion “total state funds” budget includes $106.8 billion in general funds plus spending from bond and special funds that are dedicated to a special program.
Brown’s 2014-15 budget proposal now goes to the Legislature and may be revised in May.
Lawmakers have until June 15 to send their own budget plan to the governor.
