LEGISLATION COMMITTEE
Meeting Date: August 24, 2026
Subject: Legislative Delegation Reception Meeting Planning
Submitted For: Legislation Committee
Department: County Administrator’s Office
Presenter: E. Struthers
Contact: (925) 655-2045
Referral History:
Legislation Committee would like to hold a meeting with the County’s legislative delegation. The goals of the meeting are to enhance relationships between elected officials, their staff, the Legislation Committee members, and other key County staff. The meeting would also aim to educate the delegation on the County’s progress on major priorities, policy issues and concerns during the current session. A similar meeting was held last year on August 8, 2025.
The reception meeting is intended to be relatively conversational, with a focus on relationship-building and education about key legislative issues. However, in the spirit of the Brown Act and applicable public meeting laws, this event is planned as an agendized public meeting.
Staff is requesting additional direction regarding meeting goals, topics to be covered, format of the event, and county presenters. This direction will dictate other logistics, such as the room configuration, handouts and materials, technology needs, and other planning needs.
Referral Update:
Wednesday, October 7, 2026 is currently being considered for the reception, pending attendee (legislator) and room availability.
Staff is seeking direction on several planning issues related to the event, including:
• Meeting Goals:
o Build relationships with elected state and federal officials.
o Enhance understanding of the County’s work, progress, and priorities on major policy issues.
o Increase interaction and develop foundation for ongoing partnership between the County and its state and federal legislators on issues of interest to our mutual constituencies.
• Venue
• Approach/General Flow:
o Set-Up/Arrival
o Welcome/Introductions: full group
o Opportunities for Legislators to speak:
§ Full group or smaller groups
§ Length of presentation and whether slides are advised
§ Topics to cover:
• Legislative priorities in the current session
• Opportunities for partnership & collaboration
o County presentations:
§ Full group or smaller groups
§ Length of presentation
§ Format
§ Handouts
§ Topics to cover
• Potential Topics for County Presenters
Based on last year’s event, staff recommends no more than three (3) topics. Four topics was lengthy and created logistical challenges for attendees and presenters.
As directed by the Committee, topics are likely to focus on potential priority sponsored bill issues in the upcoming session. Accordingly, staff recommends the following three topics:
o Preparing for FEMA Changes
o Local Government intellectual property
o Improving outcomes for youth following Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) realignment
A summary of each topic is included below, for more context. The recommended focus of each presentation would be to provide background and context on these issues. Potential policy solutions would be introduced in the upcoming months, following the Board’s future consideration of sponsored bills.
Preparing for FEMA changes / fiscal emergency preparedness / risk-based reserves:
Federal disaster policy is undergoing significant transformation through two major channels: the FEMA Review Council Report and congressional reform efforts. Together, these initiatives signal a shift toward higher federal disaster thresholds, greater state responsibility, expanded use of parametric insurance, and potential restructuring of Public Assistance and Individual Assistance programs.
These changes will substantially increase financial and administrative demands on California and its local governments. Potential policy solutions would ensure California proactively studies, prepares for, and adapts to these anticipated shifts while strengthening long‑term disaster resilience.
Juvenile Justice Realignment: Improving Outcomes for Youth placed into Least Restrictive Programs (LRPs): Following the 2023 Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) realignment, there were no standards or regulations for LRP facilities-whether around treatment standards, basic safety issues, or administrative requirements. Locally, this issue is beginning to create concerns and jeopardizes the safety and outcomes of youth in these placements. There is a need to develop better guardrails to ensure better outcomes for DJJ youth. The most recent effort was SB 1157 (Archuleta), which was held in Appropriations in its second house due to its perceived cost.
Local government Intellectual Property: Recent case law has complicated the issue of local government ownership of intellectual property in California, and the law has not been updated to keep up with the current environment. If not corrected, this could be a major emerging issue as local governments increasingly develop their own technology-based or AI tools. Any policy solution would be structured to preserve ownership of government-funded, internally developed software tools, related IP, etc.), and to ensure that it does not limit access to public records/information.
Other potential roundtable topic ideas could include:
If the Committee does not concur with the proposed topics, they may provide other direction.
Some potential topics to consider may include: County budget; H.R. 1 impacts on Health and the health system; H.R. 1 impacts on human services; unfunded mandates overview (California Commission on State Mandates process, history, etc.); Economic development; emergency response and preparedness; Housing and homelessness; behavioral health; CARE Court; housing; climate; and other emerging or priority issues in the County’s adopted legislative platforms, as recommended by the Legislation Committee.
Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):
Provide feedback and direction to staff.
Fiscal Impact (if any):
None.