V Bit Set

With the loss of the proposed off-shore oil funding source, the California State Parks are once again at risk of losing funding due to the economic situation in California. During each of the last several budget cycles the State Parks were threatened with closure as an attempt by the Governor to bend the legislature to his will. While, for the most part, the parks continue to stay open we are now approaching the one year anniversary of the closure of 60 parks and a reduction in service at nearly all sites.

Using the fear of State Park closures the California State Park Foundation (CSPF) is once again proposing adding a vehicle licensing fee to provide a dedicated funding stream for the State Parks. This is a truly awful idea and should be fought no matter how you feel about the State Parks.

The State Park Access Pass is a regressive tax. It is most burdensome to those near the very bottom of the economic scale, the very people who may not have the resources to make use of the State Parks. More importantly, the primary goal of the CSPF is to provide a dedicated funding source for the State Park System. The very idea of a dedicated funding stream for any governmental activity is abhorrent, but especially in difficult economic times. The SPAP VLF is fundamentally a straight tax increase because the money saved from the general fund will be allocated by the government to some other activity.

We need all levels of government to be responsive to the current economic climate and providing a dedicated funding source eliminates the need for the State Park System to seek better, less expensive ways of operating.  We need our elected leaders to have the freedom to fund operations according to the priorities we specify and not to have their hands tied by having funding legally tied to special interest parks.

It would be fruitless for us to have beautifully maintained parks, fully staffed with professionally managed educational experiences that nobody could visit simply because we no longer have the resources left to put gas in our car or take a day away from our work. I urge you to lobby your representatives to ensure situationally appropriate funding for the state parks from the general fund and to reject and new taxes or fees that tie funds to special interest projects, no matter what projects those are.