LEGISLATION COMMITTEE
Meeting Date: July 28, 2025
Subject: Federal Legislative Updates of Interest to Contra Costa County
Submitted For: Legislation Committee
Department: County Administrator’s Office
Referral Name: Federal Update
Presenter: P. Schlesinger and J. Davenport, Thorn Run Partners
Contact: E. Struthers (925) 655-2045
Referral History:
The Legislation Committee of the Board regularly receives reports on federal legislation and budget matters of interest to the County and provides direction and/or input to staff and the County’s lobbyists, as necessary.
Referral Update:
The County’s federal lobbyists will be present via Zoom to provide an update to the Committee.
Several informational updates of interest include:
• Recently enacted budget reconciliation bill, H.R. 1, and likely impacts to the County.
o Note that impacts of H.R. 1 on Contra Costa will also be further discussed as a separate item at this meeting.
• Federal Appropriations updates, including FY26 Community Project Funding submissions and process.
• Impacts of federal Executive Branch funding freezes, pauses, and cancelations.
In addition to the enclosed attachments, Executive Orders and Litigation are increasingly relevant to funding and policy decisions.
• Thorn Run Partners produces an Executive Orders and Actions tracker.
• A popular tracker litigation is produced by Just Security, based at the New York University School of Law, available at: <https://www.justsecurity.org/107087/tracker-litigation-legal-challenges-trump-administration/>.
As part of this item, the Committee is also asked to review two recommended positions on recently-introduced federal legislation:
• The Fix Our Forests Act (Senator Padilla): Would require federal immigration enforcement agents to display identification.
• The VISIBLE Act (Senator Padilla): Includes a comprehensive suite of policies to prevent and respond to forest fires.
Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):
Receive the report and provide direction or input to the County’s federal advocates, as needed.
Fiscal Impact (if any):
None.