Some proposed cuts to transit funding are off the table, and Bay Area transit agencies including, primarily, BART and Muni, will be receiving a lifeline in the form of an interest-free loan from the state in the upcoming budget.

State Senator Scott Wiener was running a virtual victory lap Tuesday, saying that an agreement with Governor Gavin Newsom to avoid sizable cuts to transit funding and secure a $750 million loan for Bay Area agencies have been made official in the soon-to-be-approved state budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

"We fully protected public transportation funding — reversing all proposed cuts — & fully protected the $750M loan to Bay Area transit systems we previously agreed to with the Assembly," Wiener said in a post on Bluesky. "Combined with our legislation (SB 63) to authorize a Bay Area regional revenue measure for 2026, we’re taking strong steps to advance the short-term & long-term sustainability of our Bay Area transit systems."

The proposed cuts Wiener is referring to totaled $1.1 billion in a previous proposed budget from the governor. But Wiener, along with Berkeley's state Senator Jesse Arreguín announced two weeks ago that Assembly and Senate budget negotiators had taken those cuts off the table in their latest budget blueprint.

"Our public transportation systems’ future is still far from secure, and they require greater engagement and prioritization from our leaders to avert disaster,” said Arreguín and Wiener in a joint statement at the time. "Even with this one-time relief package, systems across the state continue to face large budget shortfalls that threaten devastating service cuts."

Newsom had been proposing that $1.5 billion of revenue in the state’s cap-and-trade fund be redirected to Cal Fire instead of transit, as KQED reported. But Wiener is partly taking credit for convincing his colleagues in the legislature not to let this happen.

Last month, a CalMatters columnist criticized Newsom and his budget team for their track record of often poorly estimating income and outflow of cash for the state, noting that Newsom's sweeping cuts were based on a "Trump slump" and foreign tariffs that seem far from a done deal.

Wiener and Arreguín will now work to shore up support for their senate bill, SB 63, which would put a regional tax measure on the ballot next year to bolster transit agencies' budgets and account for lost revenues and post-pandemic ridership slips.

"So much work lies ahead, but we’re making progress to shore up these critical systems," Wiener said today.

Photo by Emma