A political test for Gov. Gavin Newsom

Late last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom made an unusually substantive legislative push by unveiling a plan to help speed up infrastructure projects by, among other things, finally taking on the California Environmental Quality Act.

Business groups have responded favorably to the governor’s plan to streamline certain construction projects and speed up judicial reviews.

“For too long, special interest groups have weaponized CEQA to delay, scale back, or halt projects altogether for reasons unrelated to the environment,” said California Chamber of Commerce CEO Jennifer Barrera. “Streamlining CEQA for clean energy, water and transportation infrastructure, as well as more directly for the construction of new housing, can be achieved with environmental protections that help to restore the statute’s original intent.”

But lawmakers weren’t particularly moved to act on the governor’s proposals and environmentalist groups are pressuring lawmakers to halt any action on the proposals for now.

In a letter from a coalition of environmental groups critical of Newsom’s plan dated June 3, the governor is criticized for “short-circuiting the regular legislative process for new significant policy proposals” by trying to get his plan through by way of budget trailer bills.

Incidentally, these groups are right to note the abuse of the trailer bill process. From a simple good government perspective it has been troubling that the state has often preferred to use state budget trailer bills to ram through proposals that should go through the legislative process for public vetting.

To be clear, it is a positive development that the governor is demonstrating interest in streamlining slow permitting processes and reforming CEQA. He just appears to be going about it in a politically challenging way — while not actually going far enough to fight CEQA abuse.

The fact is that CEQA reform is not only necessary but politically popular among normal people.

Recent polling from the Public Policy Institute of California shows that 59% of Californians support CEQA reform “as a way to make housing more affordable” in California.

Whatever the success or failure of the current push, CEQA reform is needed.