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AB-1486 • 2026

Climate resiliency: research farms: grant program.

Climate resiliency: research farms: grant program.

Agriculture Budget Education Elections
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Soria
Last action
Official status
Senate - Appropriations
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The effective date is not listed in the provided source material.

Grants to Build Climate-Resilient Research Farms

This law allows state education officials, with input from the Department of Food and Agriculture, to give money from a voter-approved bond program to public colleges so they can build or improve farms that study how agriculture can handle climate change.

What This Bill Does

  • Makes $15 million available for grants if the Legislature approves spending it.
  • Allows the State Department of Education and the Department of Food and Agriculture to work together on these grants.
  • Lets the State Department of Education pay early in fiscal years 2026–27 and 2027–28 for contracts with the Department of Food and Agriculture related to this program.
  • Removes the need for approval from the Director of General Services for specific contracts between these two agencies under this program.
  • Defines developing a research farm as building new farms or maintaining, changing, or improving old ones built by Agricultural Experiment Stations or Research Institutes.
  • States that the University of California and California State University decide which schools are designated as Agricultural Experiment Stations or Agricultural Research Institutes for these grants.

Who It Names or Affects

  • The State Department of Education
  • The Department of Food and Agriculture
  • Public colleges and universities with Agricultural Experiment Stations or Agricultural Research Institutes

Terms To Know

Proposition 4
A voter-approved bond act from November 2024 that raised $10 billion for projects including climate-resilient farms.
Appropriation
The formal action by the Legislature to set aside money so it can be spent on a specific program.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The $15 million in grants is only available if the Legislature officially approves spending that amount.
  • The law does not list which specific universities will receive the grant money yet.
  • Details about how much each farm project can cost are not included in this text.

Bill History

  1. California Legislative Information

    Senate - Appropriations

Official Summary Text

Climate resiliency: research farms: grant program.