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An important $1 million allocation to The Pasadena Playhouse previously cut from the State’s budget was officially restored Thursday in Governor Jerry Brown’s May revisions.

The money had earlier been promised to fund the Playhouse’s extensive renovations being undertaken as the venue prepares for its 100th anniversary.

Last year, when California’s fiscal outlook was cloudy, Brown had originally pulled back on the funding. At the time Assemblymember Chris Holden, who represents Pasadena in the California Legislature, said the cut would have been very deep.

Yesterday, Holden was upbeat after the money was back in the budget.

“I applaud Governor Brown for restoring the one million in funds for the Pasadena Playhouse renovation projects that were cut in January’s budget proposal,” he said. “Since that time, I worked directly with the Pasadena Playhouse and the Governor’s office to secure the original funding amount.”

Pasadena Playhouse funds have been restored; one million dollars in total. Recently, Gov. Jerry Brown announced his proposed May Revision Fiscal Year 2017-18 Budget.  Revenues in Brown’s May Revision are up $2.5 billion dollars while the Rainy Day Fund grows to $8.5 billion. Assembly member Chris Holden released the following statement:

“I applaud Governor Brown for restoring the one million in funds for the Pasadena Playhouse renovation projects that were cut in January’s budget proposal. Since that time, I worked directly with the Pasadena Playhouse and the Governor’s office to secure the original funding amount. Thankfully our work led to the Playhouse receiving $413,000 earlier this month to pay off the money already spent. I’m proud to support the Playhouse, the official State Theater of California, as it celebrates its 100th Anniversary.”

Four months ago, Gov. Jerry Brown took back $1 million in funding promised to the Pasadena Playhouse as part of a budget-balancing move, sending the theater company scrambling for loans to pay for ongoing renovations to the 93-year-old building.

On Thursday, Brown restored the funding into his $124 billion general fund budget after local Democrats in the Assembly and Senate convinced the governor and the state Department of Finance that the take-away amounted to a broken promise.

Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena) has been trying to get a bill creating a transit pass program through the legislature for a couple of years. Last year, his A.B. 2222 died in the Assembly when no source of funding was found for it.

Today’s Pasadena is difficult to imagine without thinking about science, making it a natural setting for a satellite event to the national March for Science in Washington, DC, and the local one in downtown Los Angeles. Spearheaded by Caltech postdocs, the Pasadena event will be family-friendly fun on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22.

Pasadena-area State Assemblyman Chris Holden joined other state, labor and community leaders Wednesday in a press conference by the California Legislative Black Caucus to support a resolution against President Donald Trump’s federal budget proposals.

Resolution HR 28, authored by Assemblyman Mike Gipson, takes aim at Trump’s budget proposals related to healthcare, immigration, worker protection and their disproportionate impact on the African American community.

SOUTH PASADENA >> Assemblyman Chris Holden introduced legislation that would prohibit building a tunnel to close the 6.2-mile gap of the 710 Freeway between the 10 and 210 freeways, the assemblyman announced Thursday.

This is the first time a piece of legislation would aim to kill the controversial project proposed by Caltrans. The freeway tunnel project would run through El Sereno, South Pasadena and Pasadena and has divided communities in the San Gabriel Valley.

State Assemblyman Chris Holden’s bill 1696, which cleared the Senate Appropriation Committee last month, will make it easier for California’s low income residents to quit smoking.

The bill requires tobacco cessation medications, counseling, and assessments to be covered for Medi-Cal patients.  Besides the detrimental health effects, smoking takes an $18.1 billion toll on California annually, according to a University of California, San Francisco study.