Governor Newsom Announces $80 Million in Funding for Nonprofit Security Grants

January 10, 2025

SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Governor Gavin Newsom released his January budget proposal. His $322 billion spending plan includes a modest surplus, markedly better than the two prior years of major budget deficits.

The budget proposal includes $80 million to fund the state’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP). An annual initiative led by Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (JPAC) and the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, the NSGP provides funding for synagogues and other nonprofits at risk of hate-motivated violence to secure their institutions from hate crimes. Recipients of these funds include synagogues and other faith-based institutions, LGBTQ and community centers, and reproductive health facilities. If it remains in the final budget, grants will be available in Fall 2025.

Prior to 2024, the NSGP had never been funded at more than $50 million in a year. In the 2024-25 budget process, the Governor announced a commitment to funding the program at a record $80 million annually for two years – the first such multi-year commitment of its kind. The funding in his January budget proposal implements that commitment.

“Security infrastructure remains a top priority for the Jewish community as the number of hate crimes continue to surpass already-unimaginable record highs,” said David Bocarsly, JPAC’s Executive Director. “Today, we are relieved to know that synagogues and other institutions impacted by hate will be safer. We’re grateful to Governor Newsom for manifesting his multi-year record commitment, and to the Legislative Jewish Caucus for working with us to champion this request.”

About the January Budget Proposal: The Governor’s January Budget proposal is required to be presented by January 10th each year, according to the State Constitution. It is the first proposal in a six-month negotiation between the Governor and the Legislature to finalize the state budget, which must be passed by June 15th and signed by June 30th, to take affed at the start of the new fiscal year on July 1st.

About JPAC:

The Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (JPAC) is the voice of California’s Jewish community to the State Capitol. Composed of California’s leading Jewish community organizations, JPAC advocates in Sacramento on behalf of the Jewish community’s concerns and broadly shared values. JPAC member organizations – including Jewish Federations, Jewish Community Relations Councils, Jewish Family Service agencies, and others – collectively serve hundreds of thousands of Californians of all backgrounds and represent the interests of California’s 1.2 million Jews, making it the largest single-state coalition of Jewish organizations in the nation.

Since 2019, JPAC has successfully advocated for over $465 million dollars from the state budget for a wide range of community projects, including enhancing community security initiatives for institutions at-risk of being hate-crime targets, and expanding Holocaust education institutions.

For more information, visit us at http://jpac-cal.org.

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Contact: David Bocarsly, JPAC Executive Director, david@jpac-cal.org