DATE: June 6, 2017
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Jean M. Rousseau, County Administrative Officer
SUBJECT: Fresno County State Legislative Platform Updates
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Adopt recommended changes to the Fresno County State Legislative Platform;
2. Authorize the Chairman to execute letters of support, or opposition, in accordance with the platform; and,
3. Authorize the County Administrative Office to work with the County’s State Legislative Delegation, Sacramento lobbyists, and/or other necessary parties to support, or oppose, legislation in accordance with the platform.
REPORT
The Legislative Platform is a statement of the goals and priorities of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors and establishes the basis for its advocacy efforts with the Legislature and State agencies.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
1. Make changes to recommendations or language in the State Legislative Platform.
2. Postpone updates to the State Legislative Platform.
3. Choose not to make changes and continue to work off the existing State Legislative Platform, last updated on March 15, 2015.
If your Board chooses to postpone or not make updates to the platform, staff will need to bring items that are not currently included in the platform to your Board to be addressed on an individual basis.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no additional Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions.
DISCUSSION:
The State Legislative Platform is used by County officials and staff as policy guidelines for legislative action and to facilitate timely responses to requests from the County’s State Legislative Delegation, the County’s State lobbyists, and interested citizens. Your Board last updated the State Legislative Platform on March 10, 2015, prior to that, the last update was on March 8, 2011. Going forward, the Legislative Platform will be updated on an annual basis.
The platform serves as a guide for departments to identify if State issues they are working on fall within the County’s State Platform. Any specific State issues falling outside of the platform would require an agenda item for presentation to your Board.
The proposed platform (Attachment A) contains three sections:
I. Introduction - an explanation of the purpose of the legislative platform.
II. Major Legislative Issues - identifies significant issues for the County.
III. General Principles - provides positions that will guide County actions and advocacy efforts in specified categories of Criminal Justice and Public Protection; Economic Development and Workforce Investment; Elections; Energy/Air Quality; Environmental Quality; General Government and Finance; Labor Relations and Employee Benefits; Land Use; Public Health, Mental Health, and Health Care Services; Social Services; Transportation; Water and Agriculture.
Approval of the recommended actions will adopt the updated State Legislative Platform; authorize the Chairman to execute letters of support or opposition in accordance with the platform, and allow the County Administrative Office to express your Board’s position on legislation in accordance with the platform.
OTHER REVIEWING AGENCIES:
The legislative platform was developed with the cooperation and input of County departments and the County’s State lobbyists.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #4, March 10, 2015
BAI #22, March 8, 2011
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Attachment A - Fresno County State Legislative Platform
CAO ANALYST:
Jeannie Z. Figueroa