June 25, 2026
Santa Monica’s coastal zone (which extends all the way to 4th Street) is worth billions of dollars to those who only see it as a resource to be monetized.
Our community has been fighting hard to protect the Coastal Commission’s authority over our coastal zone because it is the premiere agency tasked with that responsibility, and frankly, when you look at our coast— compared to say, Miami—they’ve done a damn good job.
Recently, our community achieved an impressive victory. Assembly Bill 1740, which would have kneecapped the Coastal Commission’s authority in Santa Monica, was stripped of its offending language.
But… (In politics, there’s always a “but.”)
There’s been a last-minute attempt to get Governor Newsom to override our community’s efforts with a so-called “trailer bill,” a backdoor tactic that uses the budget process to push through legislation without any input from anyone. In this case, it would exempt Santa Monica from Coastal Commission jurisdiction. In other words, unwind everything already agreed to, and hand our coast over to developers.
Here's an article in today’s Daily Press about it: https://www.smdp.com/coastal-advocates-sound-alarm-over-reported-newsom-trailer-bill-that-would-gut-coastal-act-protections-in-santa-monica/
The good news is Assemblymember Rick Zbur, Senator Ben Allen, and Santa Monica Mayor Caroline Torosis are all on record opposing this trailer bill.
Now we need the governor and other high-ranking legislators to hear from Santa Monica residents who also oppose this undemocratic, last-ditch effort to undermine our community.
Please contact the following people and cc the City Council, Senator Allen and Assemblymember Zbur today.
Tell them you oppose any trailer bill that would derail the current language of AB 1740 by eliminating Coastal Commission jurisdiction in Santa Monica.
Something as simple as: “I urge you to oppose any budget trailer bill that creates Coastal Act exemptions for Santa Monica. The Assembly already rejected these exemptions in AB 1740. Please do not let them come back through a budget bill."
Here’s the contact information:
Governor Gavin Newsom
Web form: https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/ (no public email -- use form or phone)
Phone (Capitol): (916) 445-2841
Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limon
senator.limon@senate.ca.gov
Senator John Laird -- Chair, Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee
senator.laird@senate.ca.gov
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas
assemblymember.rivas@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly Member Jesse Gabriel -- Chair, Assembly Budget Committee
assemblymember.gabriel@assembly.ca.gov
Cc:
Senator Ben Allen
senator.allen@senate.ca.gov
Assembly Member Rick Chavez Zbur
assemblymember.zbur@assembly.ca.gov
Santa Monica City Council
Caroline.Torosis@santamonica.gov
Jesse.Zwick@santamonica.gov
Dan.Hall@santamonica.gov
Lana.Negrete@santamonica.gov
Ellis.Raskin@santamonica.gov
Barry.Snell@santamonica.gov
Natalya.Zernitskaya@santamonica.gov
We’re so close to winning this important victory and successfully defending our coastline. Please help get us over the finish line.
