This week we ran newspaper ads in key Democratic presidential primary states calling out Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent support for cutting $2B from programs supporting public transit, affordable housing, and clean air and water.
In May, Newsom’s appointees on the California Air Resources Board voted to restructure California’s signature Cap-and-Invest climate program to give Big Oil and other polluters $2B in free giveaways–money that would otherwise go to support clean water, public transit, and affordable housing.
Take action now: Call your representatives in the Senate and Assembly and join us and hundreds of others from across the state on August 10 in Sacramento for a rally and lobby day to talk to legislators about restoring this critical funding.
This week, Streets For All did something unusual for a California transportation advocacy organization: we bought newspaper ads more than 2,000 miles away in South Carolina and Nevada.
Why?
Because Governor Gavin Newsom increasingly wants to be judged by voters across the country—and those voters deserve to know what he is actually doing in California.
Just days ago, Democratic Party officials recommended South Carolina and Nevada as the first two states in the proposed 2028 Democratic presidential primary calendar. On Sunday, August 2, our full-page color ad appeared in The State in Columbia, South Carolina. On Wednesday, August 5, a second ad will appear in the Reno Gazette Journal.
Both ads carry a simple message:
Dear South Carolinians and Nevadans,
California Governor Gavin Newsom just supported moving billions away from clean drinking water, public transit, and affordable housing into subsidies for refineries and industrial polluters.
Sincerely,
Struggling Californians
The story behind California’s $2B giveaway to Big Oil
For more than a decade, California’s Cap-and-Invest program has operated around a basic principle: major polluters pay for the pollution they produce, and the resulting revenue helps fund programs that reduce emissions and improve people’s lives.
That funding supports public transportation, affordable housing near transit, clean drinking water, community air-quality improvements, and other investments that make it possible for Californians to drive less and save money.
But in May, the California Air Resources Board—whose voting members are overwhelmingly appointed by Governor Newsom—approved a major overhaul of the program thatprovides billions of dollars in free emissions allowances and incentives to oil refineries and other industrial facilities. That means less money coming into the state’s climate-investment accounts, which will translate directly into cuts to critical programs that fund public transit, housing, clean water, and clean-air.
The California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office has indicated that available annual funding could fall roughly in half—from approximately $4 billion to approximately $2 billion.
Governor Newsom publicly applauded the decision.
Transit agencies, affordable-housing advocates, environmental organizations, local governments, and state legislators warned that this move could devastate essential programs. In San Francisco, over $200M could get cut that’s already committed to Muni modernization projects and funding for Free Muni for Youth and seniors. LA Metro uses the funds from Cap and Invest for fare subsidies and expanding light rail lines. The governor’s appointees backed it anyway, with the Governor cheering from the sidelines.
This isn’t the first time Newsom has tried to defund transit
This is not a one-time mistake. Since 2023, Governor Newsom has repeatedly treated public transportation funding as a convenient source of money whenever his administration wants to balance a budget or fund something else.
In 2023, Newsom proposed taking $2 billion from promised transit and rail investments as agencies warned that expiring federal assistance could force major service cuts. Legislators, advocates, and riders ultimately fought to restore the funding.
In 2024, his administration unexpectedly froze $2.4 billion that transit agencies had already been promised while also proposing cuts and delays to transit, rail, and zero-emission bus investments. The money was released only after sustained pressure.
In 2025, Newsom again put committed funding at risk, proposing to redirect climate dollars intended for local transit and other programs. The Legislature intervened to restore funding and prevent devastating service cuts.
Now, in 2026, Newsom is attacking the funding source itself. The CARB overhaul supported by his administration gives billions in free emissions allowances to refineries and industrial facilities, potentially cutting annual climate-investment revenue from roughly $4 billion to $2 billion.
Public transportation funding should not have to be rescued from California’s governor every budget cycle. While we are fortunate that every year leaders in the legislature have fought to restore funding, Californians deserve a governor who treats transit as essential infrastructure—not as an account to raid whenever another priority comes along.
Newsom cannot run against Trump while following the same playbook
The timing makes this decision even harder to ignore.
President Donald Trump and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy are pushing Congress to eliminate the Highway Trust Fund’s dedicated Mass Transit Account and redirect federal transportation policy toward highways.
In Washington, Trump and Duffy are trying to dismantle dedicated transit funding.
In California, Newsom is supporting a decision that takes billions away from transit and other community investments while subsidizing refineries and industrial polluters.
The political branding may be different. The practical result is strikingly similar.
Governor Newsom wants the country to see him as the opposite of Donald Trump. But Californians should not be treated as props in a national political campaign—especially while the governor undermines the very climate, transportation, and affordability programs he uses to promote himself.
And you cannot boast about being a climate leader while shifting money away from public transit, affordable housing, clean water, and clean air to protect industrial polluters.
View and download the South Carolina and Nevada advertisements here.
Help Us Defend Transit Funding
This fight is not over—and lawmakers need to hear from the people who rely on public transportation and believe California should invest in a cleaner, more affordable future. Call your state senator and assemblymember and urge them to protect dedicated transit funding from further cuts or diversion.
Then join transit riders, workers, advocates, and elected leaders at noon on Monday, August 10, on the steps in front of the State Capitol in Sacramento for a rally and lobby day demanding that California stop treating public transportation as expendable. Transit funding will be protected only if Californians make it politically impossible to take away.