ACTION ALERT: Don’t let budget cuts endanger millions!

We urgently need your continued support on an issue that business leaders helped advance last year in the interest of all Californians. We know you're busy and we want to get right to our action-oriented ask, so here's the one-sentence quick-take on what we're up against in Sacramento.

Funding for seismic resilience efforts that BizFed members helped secure in 2022 has been cut from Governor Newsom's proposed 2023 budget amid a projected $22.5 billion deficit.

Remember when we asked you to raise your voices in support of BizFed-backed AB 1721, also known as the California Emergency Services Act? As a result of your advocacy efforts, it was folded into last year's budget that was adopted by the Legislature and signed by Governor Newsom.

This established the state's Seismic Retrofitting Program for Soft-Story Multifamily Housing Fund. Money from this $250 million bucket was supposed to help property owners mitigate earthquake hazards facing older buildings. As many as 2.5 million Californians live in older, soft-story, multifamily housing at risk of collapse in earthquakes due to weak construction.

TAKE ACTION NOW

We need this funding written back into the budget to create the incentives, assistance, and coordination necessary for small rental property owners to protect their buildings and tenants. This is how we protect our economy, environment, and already limited affordable housing supply. Seismic resilience is an economic issue. It's an environmental issue. It's a housing issue. It's also a homelessness prevention measure.

We're urging all BizFed members to review and sign on to our coalition letter asking Governor Newsom to reinstate this funding in his proposed budget for 2023. Please send your logos to chris.wilson@bizfed.org by 5pm this Friday, February 3.

Onward!

<img style="height: auto;"
Tracy Hernandez
BizFed Founding CEO