(Governor announces budget revisions last week)...The revisions were good news for Imperial County.

The revisions provide funding for Higher Education Expansion and Development of Lithium Valley in Imperial County. California Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled $300.6 billion May Revision budget proposal for fiscal year 2022-2023. The revision provides significant funding and support to accelerate development by streamlining geothermal permitting; supports the development of geothermal energy and lithium recovery in the Salton Sea Region; Incentivizes projects that manufacture, process or recover lithium through a sales and use tax exclusion; establishes a tax per ton of lithium extraction to benefit local governments and residents; and creates a pathway for local residents to benefit from jobs created by the new industry. The revisions are a major step forward, but still need to be negotiated and approved by the state legislature before becoming law.