California library card holders may lose the ability to visit hundreds of state parks for free as California faces a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year does not include funding for the California State Library Parks Pass, which was launched two years ago and provides free access to over 200 state parks.
The governor estimates the budget shortfall could amount to $38 billion, while the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates the deficit could be as much as $68 billion.
The passes were launched as a three-year pilot program in April 2022. They provide access to all public libraries and entry to a participating state park for one passenger vehicle with up to nine people.
The passes were a part of a one-time funding of $9.1 million for outdoor learning programs.
The California State Parks Foundation, which has launched an online petition to restore the program’s funding, estimates that $6.5 million would keep the pass program operating at its current level next year.
The foundation’s director, Rachel Norton, told the LA Times that funding for the project was a “drop in the bucket” compared to California’s overall proposed $291.5 billion budget.
“This is just such a good program,” Ms. Norton said, “and it’s so inexpensive in the context of the state budget that it seems crazy that you wouldn’t keep doing it.”
The foundation, which surveyed the program’s participants last year, reported that nearly 70 percent of the survey’s respondents indicated an income level of $60,000 or less, while more than 63 percent said they were black, indigenous, or people of color.
The survey also reported that 63 percent of participants previously considered cost to be their main reason for not having visited state parks before, and that 90 percent said they would visit state parks multiple times a year due to the parks pass.
If the program is not funded in the 2024-25 budget, libraries will stop receiving park passes to distribute by Dec. 31, 2024.
