The bill determines how the California Air Resources Board would use money raised from carbon auctions. But debate focused instead on whether California should even have a carbon cap and trade program. Republican Assemblymember Shannon Grove called the program a job-killer.
Grove: "This is a crime against the business owners. It's a crime against the citizens in the state of California who will lose their jobs because of this cap and trade implementation."
The bill's author, Assembly Speaker John Perez, says opponents missed the point.
Perez: "It says that the legislature should have a role in evaluating on annual basis as we do the budget, the revenues and the expenditure of the revenues."
The first auction of carbon dioxide pollution permits is scheduled for November. The bill passed the Assembly on a party line vote.
