Guest Opinion | Senator Sasha Renée Pérez and Dr. Raymond Francis: SB 895 Would Ensure JPL Remains World Leader in Space Exploration, Climate Research

Watching the President attack science and hold federal funding for research hostage over the past year has been unnerving to say the least. Consensus on what have historically been bipartisan issues has evaporated before our eyes as the Trump administration has taken unilateral action, irrespective of what Congress has authorized. Threats to research are why Californians like ourselves are mobilizing to protect science. We are supporting SB 895 – the $23 billion bond measure to fund California science backed by UAW – to increase stability for space exploration and climate research at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), a world-renowned NASA center located here in Los Angeles County.

JPL is a world leader in creating robotic spacecraft, measuring ocean heights, monitoring greenhouse gas emissions, researching wildfires, and more. Although the Lab’s projects benefit Californians and humanity at large, JPL’s mission is being threatened by the volatility and uncertainty created by the new administration. State Senator Scott Wiener introduced SB 895 as a solution and we believe it should move forward. SB 895 would ensure that JPL’s work is not compromised in the face of volatility in DC. We are advocating not just for the futures of JPL employees, but for the future of discovery and the needs of humanity that it serves.

JPL’s extraordinary successes have come in large part from decades of stable NASA funding. Those funds support work that has never been done before by humans, is extraordinarily difficult, and couldn’t have been done anywhere else in the world: developing new space missions, building new kinds of instruments to study the climate, and collecting global datasets – work which can take 10 or 20 years to succeed. But with the uncertainty in D.C, the Lab is in a crisis. JPL has already laid off nearly 1,500 workers since 2024. This is a historic moment for the lab and we need secure, stable funding to both protect JPL, its dedicated and specialized workforce, and, most of all, its critical missions.

The Trump administration has been clear that they are not willing to prioritize science and see federal funding as a bargaining chip. They have illegally withheld NASA funds that support climate research at a time when many JPL employees lost their homes in the Eaton fire. Despite decreasing support from the federal government, science is very popular in California. According to a poll, 72% view scientific researchers favorably and 78% of California residents support fire safety and wildfire prevention research. Most Californians cite wildfires as a major concern. We are joining the growing number of state residents who are willing to take action to protect science, even when the White House can’t be counted on.

Support from California taxpayers through initiatives like SB 895 will benefit JPL’s work into the future. State funded research provides transparency, public accountability, and ensures JPL’s work is rooted in community priorities, such as climate change. While other funding sources such as private corporations may function as stop gaps in the current crisis, those revenue streams ultimately have far less transparency or long-term reliability than public funding does.

By supporting SB 895 and other innovative efforts backed by UAW scientists and engineers, we can ensure that JPL’s work remains by, of, and for the people. That is why we – along with other UAW members and state legislators – are working together to ensure scientific discovery does not get set back by attacks from the Trump administration. SB 895 would help JPL to remain a leader in climate research and space science not just in the next five or ten years, but in the decades to come.

State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez is Chair of the Senate Education Committee and represents the 25th Senate District that includes the communities of Pasadena, Altadena and La Cañada Flintridge.

Raymond Francis is a Science Operations Engineer at the Jet Propulsion Lab and is organizing to form a union with JPL Workers United – UAW. He has worked at JPL for 11 years and supports operations for the Curiosity and Perseverance Rovers. He holds a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Western Ontario.

“The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory”.