At the end of the 2025 legislative season, the Governor and both houses of the legislature came together to advance an historic package of bills that have significant implications for the future of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and the Cap and Trade Program. Rebranded as the Cap and Invest Program, this suite of bills guarantees the future of the program to 2045 and bolsters the program’s viability in the near-term, as the marketplace has been softening due to uncertainty for the program’s future. However, the package of bills has drawn both support and criticism from wide-ranging interests. This webinar will provide an overview of the future of the Cap and Invest Program featuring a panel of individuals deeply involved in negotiating and implementing these policies.
Meet the Speakers
David Ernest García, Ph.D.
Legislative Director
California Air Resources Board
Steve Frisch
Senior Legislative Advocate
Nielsen Merksamer
Steve Frisch
President
Sierra Business Council
David Ernest García, Ph.D.
Dr. David Ernest García was appointed as the Legislative Director for the California Air Resources Board in June of 2019. The Legislative Director is the Board’s representative to the California and federal Legislatures, as well as the legislatures of the other 49 states.
From 2016 to 2019, Dr. García was a consultant to the California State Senate Committee on Environmental. From 2014-2016, Dr. García worked as a Legislative Consultant for Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson. From 2013-2014, Dr. García was a Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the California Council on Science and Technology and was placed in the Office of then-Assemblymember Nancy Skinner, where he performed the duties of both a legislative aide and a press secretary.
Dr. García earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California-Berkeley in 2013.
Geoff Neill
Geoff Neill is Senior Legislative Advocate at Nielsen Merksamer, LLP, representing local agencies before the Legislature and Governor’s administration. He has over twenty years of experience as an advocate for local agencies, working in a variety of capacities for both the California State Association of Counties and the California Special Districts Association. Mr. Neill has spoken at conferences, conventions, webinars, and university classrooms around the state and in Washington, D.C., on a wide variety of issues and currently serves as a board member for the Special District Leadership Foundation. Mr. Neill was born and raised in California and currently lives in Sacramento with his family.
Steve Frisch
Steve Frisch is the President and CEO of the Sierra Business Council (SBC) a regional business
based non-governmental organization. SBC works through a network of 6,000 businesses,
community organizations and local governments to foster thriving communities through “on-the-
ground” projects that benefit the region’s social, environmental and financial capital by applying
the principles of sustainable development and entrepreneurship. Sierra Business Council has
been actively engaged in California climate policy for more than 20 years and has advocated for
programs and funding allocations to speed climate adaptation and mitigation practices through
non governmental organizations in partnership with local governments.