Meeting Minutes - Final

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY Legislation

Committee

Supervisor Diane Burgis, Chair

Supervisor Shanelle Scales-Preston, Vice Chair

10:00 AM

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

3361 Walnut Boulevard, Suite 140, Brentwood,

CA | 190 E 4th Street, Pittsburg, CA

SPECIAL MEETING

Zoom link: https://cccounty-us.zoom.us/j/85291316025

Join via audio: USA 888 278 0254 US Toll-free

Meeting ID: 852 9131 6025 / Conference code: 832395

The public may attend this meeting in person at either above location. The public may also

attend this meeting remotely via Zoom or call-in.

Agenda Items: Items may be taken out of order based on the business of the day and preference of the

Committee.

Introductions

Chair Burgis and Vice Chair Preston-Scales were both present, attending from their district offices in

Brentwood and Pittsburg, respectively.

Public comment on any item under the jurisdiction of the Committee and not on this agenda

(speakers may be limited to two (2) minutes).

No general public comments were provided on this item.

RECEIVE and APPROVE the Record of Action for the February 24, 2025

meeting of the Legislation Committee, with any necessary corrections.

25-1297

25-1298

Draft Record of Action - February 24 2025

Attachments:

No public comments were made during this item.

The record of action for the February 24, 2025 meeting was approved as received.

RECEIVE a report on federal matters of interest to the County and provide

direction and/or input as needed.

Attachment A - TRP Tip Sheet - April 4

Attachments:

Attachment B - Trump 2.0 EO Tracker

Attachment C - Senate Budget Resolution News

Attachment D - Padilla Press Release - FEMA Ind. Act

Jim Davenport and Paul Schlesinger, the County's federal advocates at Thorn Run Partners,

provided an update on several federal matters of interest, including the upcoming

Congressionally Directed Spending request process for Fiscal Year (FY) 26, updates on

direct federal impacts to County programs and services, the budget reconciliation process.

Additionally, new bipartisan legislation on FEMA reform, called the FEMA Independence

Act (S. 1246) was shared as an informational item. Vice Chair Scales-Preston requested

that the bill to return for further review and discussion at a future meeting.

No public comments were received on this item.

RECEIVE a report on the FY25-26 State Budget and matters of interest to

the County in the FY25-26 legislative session, and provide direction to staff

and the County's state advocates as needed.

25-1299

Attachment A - Bills Advanced to Senate

Attachments:

Geoff Neill, the County's state advocate at Neilsen Merksamer, provided an update on state

matters of interest, including the state budget and unknown impacts from the upcoming

federal budget process.

The Legislature will adjourn on September 12 this year, and the current federal continuing

resolution is set to expire on September 30, 2025, making it likely that the federal budget

will take effect after the Legislature adjourns. Given the extreme cuts proposed by Congress

through the recently-adopted budget resolution, it is likely that a special session of the

Legislature will be necessary.

In addition to the federal budget, other budgetary pressures include the LA Fires: both the

cost of rebuilding and the property tax backfill. The state budget is also impacted by

macroeconomic trends, such as the impact of tariffs, which could cause further budgetary

pressures.

No public comments were received on this item.

REVIEW positions taken and recommended positions on state legislation of

interest, and provide direction.

25-1300

Attachment A - Tracked Bills List - Updated 2025.04.04

Attachment B - March Bill Letters Sent

Attachments:

The Committee reviewed several recommended positions on bills that were consistent with

the County's adopted platform.

The Committee recommended that:

-An "Oppose" position be taken on AB 306 (Schultz), AB 479 (McKinnor), AB 933 (Avila

Farias), AB 946 (Bryan), SB 16 (Blakespear), and SB 357 (Menjivar).

-An "Oppose" or "oppose unless amended" position be taken on SB 606 (Becker), due to

the unfunded mandate as the problem, rather than the policy.

-A "Support" position be taken on AB 346 (Nguyen), AB 871 (Stefani), AB 896

(Elhawary), AB 898 (Bryan), AB 970 (McKinnor), and AB 1288 (Addis).

-Staff watch and monitor AB 1198 (Haney) and SB 789 (Menjivar).

Staff will continue to update the Committee on major amendments to the above and

attached bills.

No public comments were received on this item.

RECEIVE presentation on the proposed updated Delta Water Platform and

DIRECT staff as appropriate.

25-1301

Attachment A - Delta Water Platform Presentation

Attachment B - Delta Water Platform Final Draft

Attachments:

Attachment C - Board Approved Delta Water Platform 5-13-14

Ryan Hernandez, Principal Planner and head of the Contra Costa Water Agency, provided

an update on the development of the Delta Water Platform development and revisions.

No public comments were received on this item.

DISCUSS the request for qualifications (RFQ) for state and federal

advocacy and government relations services, and DIRECT staff on next

steps.

25-1302

Attachment A - DRAFT RFQ for Federal Advocacy Servicecs

Attachment B - DRAFT RFQ for State Legislative Advocacy

Attachments:

Committee staff provided an update on the soon-to-expire advocacy contracts, which are

due to go out to bid this year pursuant to the County's procurement policy.

The Committee reviewed the draft RFQs and provided feedback. Chair Burgis

recommended adding a response opportunity for new, innovative, or add-on services that

would enhance the County's advocacy efforts, in order to allow respondents to further

describe the innovative and value-added services they can offer.

Staff was directed to make these changes, correct any dates or errors before publishing the

RFQ on/near April 15, to be open for approximately 2.5 to 3 weeks and closing on/after

May 5.

No public comments were provided on this item.

The next meeting is currently scheduled for April 30 (special meeting due to budget hearings).

Adjourn

General Information

This meeting provides reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities planning to attend a the

meetings. Contact the staff person listed below at least 72 hours before the meeting. Any disclosable

public records related to an open session item on a regular meeting agenda and distributed by the County

to a majority of members of the Committee less than 96 hours prior to that meeting are available for

public inspection at 1025 Escobar St., 4th Floor, Martinez, during normal business hours. Staff reports

HOW TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT:

Persons who wish to address the Committee during public comment on matters within the jurisdiction of

the Committee that are not on the agenda, or who wish to comment with respect to an item on the

agenda, may comment in person, via Zoom, or via call-in. Those participating in person should offer

comments when invited by the Committee Chair. Those participating via Zoom should indicate they

wish to speak by using the “raise your hand” feature in the Zoom app. Those calling in should indicate

they wish to speak by pushing *9 on their phones.

Public comments generally will be limited to two (2) minutes per speaker. In the interest of facilitating

the business of the Board Committee, the total amount of time that a member of the public may use in

addressing the Board Committee on all agenda items is 10 minutes. Your patience is appreciated.

Public comments may also be submitted to Committee staff before the meeting by email or by

voicemail. Comments submitted by email or voicemail will be included in the record of the meeting but

will not be read or played aloud during the meeting.

For Additional Information Contact:

Emlyn Struthers, Committee staff

(925) 655-2045

Emlyn.Struthers@cao.cccounty.us