Climate resiliency: research farms: grant program.

Assembly Member Soria's climate resiliency initiative directs $15 million in voter-approved bond funds toward agricultural research farms at California's public postsecondary institutions. The measure implements provisions from Proposition 4, the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act approved by voters in 2024.

The State Department of Education, working with the Department of Food and Agriculture, would establish a grant program by July 2026 for institutions designated as Agricultural Experiment Stations or Agricultural Research Institutes. These grants would support developing or expanding research farms focused on climate resiliency. The program draws from a broader $300 million allocation in Proposition 4 dedicated to agricultural land sustainability projects.

The measure adds new provisions to the Education Code creating the grant program framework while maintaining the funding parameters established in Proposition 4. Implementation requires a legislative appropriation to activate the designated bond funds. The departments would then develop specific grant criteria and oversee distribution to qualifying institutions.