DATE: April 9, 2019
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Jean M. Rousseau, County Administrative Officer
SUBJECT: Fresno County State Legislative Platform Update
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. This item is countywide.
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 and approved on March 6, 2018.
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 6, 2018. This is the annual update to the Legislative Platform.
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 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; Child Support Services; 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; Library; Public Health, Mental Health, and Health Care Services; Social Services; Transportation; and Water.
Recommended changes to the State Legislative Platform are highlighted in Attachment A2 and are as follows:
• Agriculture - added a bullet regarding assistance and/or incentives to landowners fallowing land due to water supply reductions or other factors beyond their control.
• Child Support Services - revised the bullet based on recent legislative proposals.
• Economic Development and Workforce Investment - revised funding bullet to include employment-related investment and added a bullet on community revitalization and economic development tools.
• General Government and Finance - revised the bullet on local control and authority to include regulations and administrative rulings.
• Labor Relations and Employee Benefits - revised the bullet on employment laws to include employee relations and added a bullet on harmonizing California’s tax treatment of Health Savings Accounts with federal law.
• Land Use - revised the bullet on parks to address State funding for improvements to local and regional parks.
• Social Services - added bullets regarding services and resources for seniors, older and dependent adults and veterans; added a bullet regarding the care of foster youth by relative caregivers in other states; added a bullet regarding the safety of social workers in performing their daily duties; and added a bullet regarding addressing the needs of individuals and families who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness.
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 #9, March 6, 2018
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Attachment A1 - Fresno County State Legislative Platform
Attachment A2 - Fresno County State Legislative Platform (Redlined)
CAO ANALYST:
Jeannie Z. Figueroa