Info Session: California Air Resources Board cuts to transit, housing, communities and how we can reverse the cuts
Start: 2026-07-28 19:00:00 UTC Pacific Daylight Time (US & Canada) (GMT-07:00)
End: 2026-07-28 20:00:00 UTC Pacific Daylight Time (US & Canada) (GMT-07:00)
Event Type:
Virtual
A virtual link will be communicated before the event.
Host contact info info@transbaycoalition.org
The California Air Resources Board recently made a decision which:
- Cut funding for affordable housing throughout the state by $800M, effectively eliminating a program that helped build tens of thousands of homes in recent years
- Cut funding for public transit programs throughout the state by $600M, effectively eliminating a program that funded free/reduced transit fare programs for people with disabilities, older adults, and children in certain communities; expand bus and rail service; and helped transit agencies switch to zero-emissions buses
- Defunded other clean air and clean water programs
- Gave billions to big polluters like oil refineries.
Tune in to learn more about what these cuts means for your community; what the legislature can step in and fix this; and ways you can take action to help maintain funding for affordable housing, public transit, clean air and clean water programs!
Panelists include:
Natalie Spievack, Senior Legislative & Regulatory Affairs Manager, Housing California
Natalie Spievack is the Senior Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Manager at Housing California, a statewide, non-profit advocacy organization focused on increasing the supply of affordable homes, preventing and ending homelessness, and protecting low-income renters. Natalie helps champion legislative, regulatory, and budgetary policy priorities that expand and preserve the supply of affordable homes for California’s lowest-income households. Before joining Housing California, Natalie worked at the Urban Institute and the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, where she conducted research on housing and school segregation, economic mobility, workforce development, and early childhood education. Natalie holds a B.A. in political science and economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master of City Planning from UC Berkeley.
Michael Pimentel, Executive Director, California Transit Association
CTA is the non-profit trade organization that represents 85 transit and rail agencies in California and more than 220 member organizations nationwide. Michael was named Executive Director of the Association in 2021 and previously served as the Association’s Deputy Executive Director and Legislative and Regulatory Advocate. Prior to joining SYASL, Michael held various positions in the administration of Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., including in the Office of the Governor and at the California High-Speed Rail Authority, focused on policy and budget issues impacting transportation and environmental programs. Michael began his career in Sacramento politics as an aide on the Brown for Governor 2010 campaign. Michael received a Master of Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
CTA is the non-profit trade organization that represents 85 transit and rail agencies in California and more than 220 member organizations nationwide. Michael was named Executive Director of the Association in 2021 and previously served as the Association’s Deputy Executive Director and Legislative and Regulatory Advocate. Prior to joining SYASL, Michael held various positions in the administration of Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., including in the Office of the Governor and at the California High-Speed Rail Authority, focused on policy and budget issues impacting transportation and environmental programs. Michael began his career in Sacramento politics as an aide on the Brown for Governor 2010 campaign. Michael received a Master of Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Katie Valenzuela (she/her) is policy consultant based in Sacramento, California. For more than 25 years, Katie has empowered communities, organizations, and coalitions to engage in state and local policy. She has built legislative campaigns for education justice, civil rights, food access, public safety, public health, housing access, and environmental justice. Katie’s experience includes serving as a member of the Sacramento City Council from December 2020 to 2024, as Policy and Political Director for the California Environmental Justice Alliance, as Principal Consultant for the California Legislature’s Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies, and as founding board member of the Sacramento Community Land Trust. She has shared her expertise as an invited speaker and training session leader at venues across the country, including Yale University, Stanford University, and the University of California at Berkeley. Katie was born and raised in Oildale, California, and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in community development from UC Davis.
Jeanie Ward-Waller, Director of Transportation Advocacy, Fearless Advocacy Inc.
