State Senator Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Santa Clarita) announced Monday that more than $10 million in state investments is headed to Senate District 23 under the state budget package, AB 113, which Governor Newsom signed. The figure comes from the senator's own office, which listed ten funded projects across the Santa Clarita Valley, the Antelope Valley, and the Victor Valley and High Desert.
The announcement is a first-party accounting of the district's share of the budget, not an independent tally. But the itemized list offers a readable picture of where the money goes. The largest single line, $5 million, funds boat ramp repairs at Castaic Lake. The next largest, $2.7 million, covers storm repairs in Phelan and Pinon Hills. Everything else on the list is smaller, and most of it is under $600,000.
Business News coverage of state spending often focuses on big-ticket programs. This list shows the other end of the budget: small, local appropriations that repair specific facilities or fund specific services. Readers tracking how state money reaches communities can also follow the broader policy picture as budget details are published.
Where the $10 million actually goes
The senator's office itemized the projects as follows:
- $5 million for Castaic Lake boat ramp repairs
- $2.7 million for Phelan/Pinon Hills storm repairs
- $885,000 for Hesperia Recreation & Park District storm repairs
- $575,000 for Victorville Civic Center Plaza
- $250,000 for Palmdale American Legion renovations
- $250,000 for Antelope Valley EV infrastructure
- $150,000 for Hesperia Fire Station 305 HVAC
- $100,000 for AV EDGE economic development and job recruitment
- $100,000 for AV Chambers small-business assistance and micro-grants
- $75,000 for clean drinking water stations at Hughes Elizabeth Lakes Union Elementary School
Added together, the ten lines come to roughly $10.1 million, consistent with the office's "more than $10 million" framing. Two projects, the Castaic Lake and Phelan/Pinon Hills repairs, account for about $7.7 million of that total, or roughly three quarters. Storm and water-related repairs dominate the list: three of the ten lines address lake or storm damage.
What the smaller lines fund
The tail of the list is where local services sit. A $150,000 line covers an HVAC upgrade at Hesperia Fire Station 305. Two $250,000 lines fund Palmdale American Legion renovations and Antelope Valley electric-vehicle infrastructure. A $75,000 line pays for drinking water stations for students and teachers at Hughes Elizabeth Lakes Union Elementary School. Readers following this should also see How Tariffs Work And Who Actually Pays Them.
Two lines touch the local economy directly. AV EDGE receives $100,000 for economic development and job recruitment. AV Chambers receives $100,000 for small-business assistance and micro-grants. Readers who want to know how such small-business support fits into wider lending and grant programs can read How SBA Lending Actually Works: 7(a), 504 and Microloans, which explains the federal side of that kind of financing.
What the budget package says about the district's other projects
The package also reappropriates the remaining balance for Antelope Valley College's Gymnasium Replacement project, keeping it moving through its working-drawings phase, according to the announcement. Reappropriation means the project's unused funds carry forward rather than lapse, which the office described as keeping the project on track.
The political framing, and what is not in the release
Valladares framed the investments as money returning to a district that sends more to Sacramento than it gets back. "Our communities send plenty of money to Sacramento," she said in the release. "I've fought to make sure some of those dollars come back home, to invest in our community and our future." She added that the Santa Clarita, Antelope Valley, and Victor Valley communities "deserve their fair share."
The release does not say how the district's total compares with other Senate districts, how these projects were selected, or what share of AB 113 the ten lines represent. Those comparisons would be needed to test the "fair share" claim against data, and they are not in the supplied record. The office said Valladares will continue working with state officials to secure additional resources for the district.
For readers following state budget mechanics, the practical takeaway is procedural: the projects are part of a signed budget bill, so the listed amounts are committed appropriations rather than proposals. Timing of the actual repairs and grants is not stated in the release.
Sources: sr23.senate.ca.gov
