DATE: April 17, 2018
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Jean M. Rousseau, County Administrative Officer
SUBJECT: Fresno County Federal Legislative Platform Updates
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Adopt recommended changes to the Fresno County Federal 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 Federal Legislative Delegation, Washington lobbyist, 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 Congress and Federal agencies. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
1. Make changes to recommendations or language in the Federal Legislative Platform.
2. Postpone updates to the Federal Legislative Platform.
3. Choose not to make changes and continue to work off the existing Federal Legislative Platform, last updated on March 28, 2017.
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 Federal 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 Federal Legislative Delegation, the County’s Washington Lobbyist, and interested citizens. Your Board last updated the Federal Legislative Platform on March 28, 2017. As indicated at that time, this is the annual update to the Legislative Platform.
The platform serves as a guide for departments to easily identify if Federal issues they are working on fall within the County’s Federal Platform. Any specific Federal issues falling outside of the platform would require an agenda item for presentation to your Board.
The proposed platform (Attachment A1) 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 Agriculture; Community Development and Workforce Investment; Criminal Justice and Public Protection; Elections; Energy/Air Quality; Environmental Quality; Federal Lands and Installations; General Government and Finance; Library; Public Health, Mental Health, and Health Care Services; Social Services; Transportation and Infrastructure; and Water.
Recommended changes to the Federal Legislative Platform are highlighted in Attachment A2 and include the following:
• Agriculture - established a separate category and moved pertinent items from the previous Water and Agriculture; General Government and Finance; and Public Health, Mental Health, and Health Care Services categories to this category and revised the Immigration Reform bullet to specify Agriculture needs.
• Elections - added a bullet regarding funding for the 2020 U.S. Census data collection.
• General Government and Finance - revised the local property and income taxes bullet based on recent tax changes.
• Public Health, Mental Health and Health Care Services - revised bullets to be consistent with State Platform changes and added a bullet regarding the need for a comprehensive approach and funding to address the Opioid epidemic.
• Social Services - added a bullet regarding funding to address housing and human service needs.
• Water - added a bullet to address the need for surface water storage (e.g., dams, groundwater recharge facilities).
Approval of the recommended actions will adopt the updated Federal 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 Washington lobbyist.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #7, March 28, 2017
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Attachment A1 - Fresno County Federal Legislative Platform
Attachment A2 - Fresno County Federal Legislative Platform (Redlined)
CAO ANALYST:
Jeannie Z. Figueroa