In January of each year, Year-End reports are submitted to the Board of Supervisors on the County’s federal and state legislative programs and activities for the prior calendar year. At the same time, the Board of Supervisors also considers and acts on the proposed Federal and State Legislative Platforms for the coming year.
Year-End reports for 2015 were prepared by the County's federal advocate, Mr. Paul Schlesinger of Alcalde & Fay and by the County's state advocate, Ms. Cathy Christian of Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni LLP.
Despite an increasingly partisan and immobilized Congress, and the continuing restrictions on earmarks, Alcalde & Fay are pleased to report significant progress on several fronts important to Contra Costa County.
Army Corps Projects
Funding was obtained in 2015 for water resources projects that are high on the County’s priority list. In the years since Congress imposed an earmark ban on itself, there are two ways to secure funding for local priorities: work with the Administration to have it budgeted in the Administ
ration’s budget request – with such amounts routinely approved by Congress, and utilizing provisions funded in appropriations bills which provide additional, unallocated funding for the Army Corps, with instructions that the Corps itself determine how these additional monies be spent as part of a Work Plan to be submitted to Congress. We were pleased to work with you in securing, as part of the Army Corps' Work Plan prepared for FY 2015 and released in February 2015, an additional $4.042 million for San Pablo Bay/Mare Island Strait (in addition to the $2.4 million initially requested by the Administration), and an additional $2.5 million for the Suisun Bay Channel (in addition to the $2.4 million initially requested by the Administration). We are pleased to report that, as a result of our efforts with the County, the following amounts were provided in FY ‘15 for the Army Corps of Engineers projects of particular interest to the County:
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San Pablo Bay & Mare Island Strait - $6.442 million
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Suisun Bay Channel - $4.9 million
In the FY 2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill enacted with the President’s signature in December, Army Corps funding was included in the following amounts:
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San Pablo Bay/Mare Island Strait: $1.18 million
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Suisun Bay Channel: $3.25 million
We are working now to secure/increase funding for all Army Corps projects of interest to the County as part of the FY ’16 Work Plan, as well as having them included in the President’s budget request for FY 2017.
Advocacy related to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
We have been pleased to work with County officials and staff in advocating with the federal government to achieve the County’s objectives with regard to the Delta. Our efforts on the County’s behalf have been in conjunction with other federal advocates working on behalf of their clients; other members of the Delta Counties Coalition (DCC). Moreover, we have assisted the County in playing a lead role within the DCC on developing and implementing Delta strategies as they relate to the Army Corps of Engineers. During DCC trips to Washington, we have secured meetings with senior Corps officials, in addition to coordinating scheduling for the DCC and arranging for many of the meetings that have been scheduled with Congress and the Executive Branch. We have certainly been the lead among DCC advocates with regard to work not just with the Corps and the Office of Management and Budget, but with the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, Senators Boxer and Feinstein, as well as Congressmen DeSaulnier, McNerney, Thompson, Huffman, and Swalwell.
Related to our work with the County on the Delta, we provided a channel of communication and information between the County and the Hill on the various iterations of drought-related legislation that were moving over the course of the year.
Funding for Mount Diablo Mercury Mine Clean-up
We continued to work this year toward securing federal funding in the amount of $483,000 for clean-up of the Mount Diablo Mercury Mine. Given the current moratorium on earmarks, we recognized that it would not be possible to secure a line-item appropriation for this important project. But, with the language that we previously worked to include in the Statement of Managers accompanying the 2007 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which directed the Army Corps to give priority consideration to the Mount Diablo Clean-up when allocating funds made available for the Remediation of Abandoned Mine Sites program (RAMS), we also recognized that any funding made available in Appropriations bills for the general RAMS program is almost certain to be provided for our project. We are pleased that the Omnibus Appropriations bill, at the County’s request, includes $2 million for the RAMS program. Senator Feinstein has been the champion in securing funding for this program. Her staff has been quite explicit in telling us that the funding is intended to assist with our project. In separate and ongoing discussions with Corps staff responsible for implementing this program, we understand their intent to make available for our project such funds as might be necessary and timely for its moving forward. So, it would appear that there will be sufficient funds to allow the Corps to provide the $483,000 required for the Mount Diablo Clean-Up project.
We also provided the County with advance notice of a hearing in October conducted by the House Transportation and Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Water Resources titled “Abandoned Mines in the United States and Opportunities for Good Samaritan Cleanups.” While Committee staff informed us that the hearing was in response to the Colorado mine issue, the hearing’s focus on abandoned mines provided a prime opportunity to provide the Subcommittee with Contra Costa County's perspective on the issue, and to that end we worked with County staff to prepare testimony by Chairman Gioia that was submitted to the Subcommittee as well as to our Congressional delegation. This should serve as groundwork in making changes to the RAMS program as part of Army Corps authorizing legislation expected to move in 2016.
Other Advocacy Projects
In addition to managing the issues on the County’ legislative platform, we have also assisted the County when new issues surfaced that required attention or communication with our delegation. Below are a few examples that illustrate the breadth of our support for the County in 2015:
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Worked to ensure that language included in the House Republican Budget resolution that would effectively eliminate funding for Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) programs was not included in the FY 2016 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill. This effort included working with the County to prepare and circulate letters to our Delegation in support of preserving IMLS funding. The final FY 2016 Omnibus bill included $230 million for IMLS programs, an increase of more than $2 million above the FY 2015 enacted level.
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Communicated County’s support to our Delegation and others on the Hill of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Act;
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Assisted the County related to its concerns about increased shipments of crude oil by rail;
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Worked to maintain level funding for the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund and its Habitat Conservation Plan subaccount;
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Worked to maintain funding for Title IV-E funding under the Administration for Children and Families;
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Worked to maximize federal funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP); the FY 2016 Omnibus included $210 million for SCAAP, an increase of $25 million over FY 2015 enacted levels.
Activities such as these certainly contribute to the perception around Capitol Hill and elsewhere in Washington that Alcalde & Fay serves as the County’s office here in town; a place that these offices can call, trusting that they will be communicating, if through an agent, with appropriate County officials.
As always, it has been a privilege to represent the County with their efforts as they relate to the federal government. We would be pleased to elaborate on any aspect of this work, and look forward to continuing our efforts in the year ahead.
County Sponsored Legislation: One new legislative proposal from the CAO's office is included in the Proposed Platform and was supported by the Board of Supervisors at its Dec. 8, 2015 meeting: "Pursue legislation to clarify that the disability retirement provisions applicable to Tier III members of the Contra Costa County Retirement Association (CCCERA) also apply to County and dependent special district non-safety employees who become New Members, as defined in Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act (PEPRA), of CCCERA." (p. 2) This bill will ensure that both current Contra Costa County and dependent special district non-safety employees and new hires continue to receive the same disability retirement benefit.
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LEGISLATIVE/REGULATORY ADVOCACY PRIORITIES |
Staff recommends continuing the 2015 advocacy priorities for the County in 2016:
Priority 1: State Budget
Priority 2: Health Care
Priority 3: Water and Levees /The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Priority 4: Realignment Implementation
Changes from the 2015 State Platform: The Water and Levees/The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta priority has been updated to reflect the reference to the BDCP project as the California Water Fix (CWF).
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STATE PLATFORM POLICY POSITIONS |
The following are the recommended Platform policy position changes for the 2016 State Platform:
Health Care: Text changes are proposed to policy #82 related to tobacco products and devices. In addition, 19 new policies are proposed for inclusion in the 2016 Platform. (p. 13-18)
82. SUPPORT legislation that extends the restrictions and prohibitions against the smoking of tobacco products to include restrictions or prohibitions against electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) in various places, including, but not limited to, places of employment, school campuses, public buildings, day care facilities, retail food facilities, multi-family housing, and health facilities;
preventing the use of tobacco, electronic smoking devices (e-cigarettes) and flavored tobacco by youth and young adults; eliminating exposure to second-hand and third-hand smoke; restrictions on advertising of electronic smoking devices; reducing and eliminating disparities related to tobacco use and its effects among specific populations; increasing the minimum age to 21 to purchase tobacco products; and the promotion of quitting among young people and adults.
84. SUPPORT funding and policy changes to support population-based chronic disease prevention efforts. Collectively, these include efforts to move up-stream from the treatment of illness associated with chronic disease to advance a policy, systems and organizational-change approach to address the underlying environmental factors and conditions that influence health and health behaviors.
85. SUPPORT efforts that would advance a Health-In-All-Policies approach to policy work done across the County. This implies consideration of how health is influenced by the built environment and a connection with land use planning and development.
86. SUPPORT ongoing study of the health impact of global and regional climate change and ongoing countywide mitigation efforts.
87. SUPPORT efforts that would preserve the nature and quality of safety net services historically provided at the local level, such as the California Children’s Services (CCS) and Child Health and Disability Prevention (CHDP) programs, which are being transitioned into managed care at the state level.
88. SUPPORT maintaining level or enhanced funding, streamlined processes and greater flexibility for Public Health Emergency Preparedness initiatives including Pandemic Influenza, and continued funding for all categories related to Public Health Preparedness, including Hospital Preparedness Program, Cities Readiness Initiative and core Public Health Preparedness.
89. SUPPORT increased funding and policy changes for Tuberculosis (TB) prevention and treatment, to reflect the increased risk of transmission faced across the Bay Area.
The Bay Area, including Contra Costa County, experienced more cases of active Tuberculosis than do most states in the nation. The demographic make-up of our communities combined with frequent international travel between the Bay and areas where TB is endemic, present an added risk and thus the need to maintain adequate funding and program infrastructure.
90. SUPPORT increased funding for the public health infrastructure and prevention services as outlined in the public health components of the Affordable Care Act and the National Prevention and Public Health Fund.
91. SUPPORT recognition of Local Public Health Departments as an authorized provider for reimbursement related to the provision of Immunization, Family Planning, HIV, STD and TB services.
92. SUPPORT the reversal of the pre-emption language regarding local Menu-Labeling that is included the Affordable Care Act.
93. SUPPORT enhanced funding for public health programs, specifically:
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Prevention programs in the areas of chronic disease, specifically oral health, obesity, diabetes, cancer, teen pregnancy and injury prevention as well as health promotion programs, such as nutrition and activity education;
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Protecting the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF), as established in the Affordable Care Act.
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Increased resources dedicated to surveillance and prevention programs targeting chronic diseases such as cardiovascular, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and asthma, as well as injury and violence;
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Combating infectious diseases, such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Chlamydia, and Influenza and providing screening, diagnosis, and treatment;
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Provide for adequate State funding for children’s programs, including the California Children’s Services (CCS) program for clients who are not Medi-Cal eligible to assure that counties are not overmatched in their financial participation; and
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Programs which seek to limit the effects of injury, violence and abuse on children and adults.
94. SUPPORT efforts to strengthen needle exchange programs as part of an overall program to combat the spread of HIV and other diseases; allowing items associated with needle exchange programs such as, cookers, sterile water, and cotton to be distributed along with clean needles; and the elimination of the federal ban on funding needle exchange programs.
95. SUPPORT legislative efforts to reduce or eliminate lead and toxic substances in consumer products, particularly those used by infants and children.
96. SUPPORT legislative efforts to reduce exposure to toxic air pollutants and the reduction of CO
2 emissions.
97. SUPPORT funding, policy and programs dedicated to suicide and violence prevention.
98. SUPPORT funding, policy and programs aimed at reducing the misuse of prescription drugs, most especially opioids. Additionally, support restrictions on the sale and use of powdered alcohol, which can lead to unsafe levels of intoxication if it is mixed incorrectly or ingested in its powdered form.
99. SUPPORT necessary County infrastructure and adequate funding related to the support and enforcement functions of newly passed State Medical Marijuana regulatory controls.
100. SUPPORT legislation such as AB 1357 and/or similar policy efforts to tax certain beverages that contain added sugars, by establishing a per fluid ounce health impact fee on sugar sweetened beverages at the distributor level. In addition, support SB 203, a two year bill, or similar efforts which would create the Sugar Sweetened Beverage Safety warning act, which would require a safety warning on all sealed sugar sweetened beverages.
101. SUPPORT legislation such as AB 292 (Santiago) and/or similar efforts that support healthy meals and adequate meal time for school-age children. The bill would require school districts, in addition to providing a nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal for each needy pupil each school day, to ensure that each of the schools in their respective jurisdictions makes available to its pupils adequate time to eat after being served lunch. The bill would declare that the State Department of Education specifies that an adequate time to eat school lunch is 20 minutes after being served. The bill would require a school that determines, upon annual review of its bell schedule, that it is currently not providing pupils with adequate time to eat, to identify and develop a plan to implement, in consultation with the school district, ways to increase pupils’ time to eat lunch.
102. SUPPORT efforts to dedicate funding that sustains and expands non-infrastructure Safe Routes to School programs that educate students, parents, and school staff about safe walking and bicycling to school.
Human Services: Text changes are proposed to policy #106 related to eliminating elder financial abuse. In addition, 18 new policies are proposed for inclusion by EHSD staff. (p. 18-20)
103. SUPPORT efforts to promote safety of Adult Protective Services workers conducting required unannounced home visits by allowing them to request and receive from law enforcement criminal record checks through the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS).
This would primarily be used for reported abusers in the household.
104. SUPPORT efforts to develop emergency/and or temporary shelter options for Adult Protective Services population and consider options that include but are not limited to, licensing of facilities specifically for this population and exploring Medi-Cal billing options to support clients in hospitals and other care facilities pending a more permanent housing placement.
105. SUPPORT simplification of IHSS service hour calculation and allocation to insure compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and efficiently provide services to consumers.
106. SUPPORT efforts that seek to identify and eliminate elder financial abuse and elder exposure to crime that may be committed through conservatorships, powers of attorney, notaries and others who have the right to control elder assets,
including through solutions that allow access for Adult Protective Services to access financial records for investigation of financial abuse and exploitation. Financial abuse is a fast-growing form of abuse of seniors and adults with disabilities and current law does not authorize financial institutions to grant access to financial records necessary to investigate the reported abuse without the consent of the account holder or authorized representative.
107. SUPPORT legislation that authorizes juvenile courts to deny reunification services to a parent who has knowingly engaged in or consented to the sexual exploitation of the child.
108. SUPPORT efforts to extend family stabilization mental health/substance abuse funding to include all family members.
Current law only funds services for adult Welfare to Work participants.
109. SUPPORT revision of CalWORKs Program regulations to eliminate the Welfare to Work 24 Month Time Clock in order to provide clients with a full 48 months to participate in Welfare to Work activities.
110. SUPPORT solutions to address gaps in existing state statute that cause disruptions to continuity of care for some Covered California Insurance Affordability Program (IAP) enrollees when a new determination of IAP takes place.
111. SUPPORT the use of state funds to pay for CalFresh benefits for those Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACAs) who would otherwise be eligible for CalFresh.
112. SUPPORT efforts to extend eligibility to zero share of cost Medi-Cal when recipients report new earned income.
Potential increases to state and local minimum wage impacts eligibility to free health care.
113. SUPPORT efforts to increase CalFresh participation by eliminating Gross Income Test for all applicants, exempting Veteran’s Benefits from any income test, increasing shelter deduction to average rate based on County of Residence (varied across State), and eliminating countable resources and/or expanding Modified Categorically Eligible regulations to all households.
114. SUPPORT efforts to simplify the CalFresh application process through the creation of a statewide telephonic and electronic signature system to reduce denials and discontinuances due to failure to provide.
115. SUPPORT efforts to extend eligibility of CalWORKs benefit by exempting the first 6 months of earned income received from new employment or wage increases.
Intended to create better financial stability when a family’s income increases due to changes in local and state minimum wage law.
116. SUPPORT fully funding Medi-Cal Administrative costs.
117. SUPPORT increased funding for Foster Parent Recruitment and Retention.
118. SUPPORT expanding CalWORKs Homeless Services Program.
119. SUPPORT eliminating the Maximum Family Grant (MFG) Rule.
MFG prevents from families from receiving benefits for children conceived and born while receiving CalWORKs benefits.
120. SUPPORT funding for statewide Adult Protective Services training.
121. SUPPORT the efforts of CHSA (California Head Start Association) in securing legislation to support a state-wide integrated child care licensing structure. This will allow childcare programs to apply for and have one child care license for all children 0-5 as opposed to the current system of a two-license structure for varying ages of children in care. California remains only one of two states in the nation to maintain the two license structure.
Staff of EHSD recommends the
deletion of policies contained in the 2015 Platform that are no longer needed (
numbering refers to prior policy numbers):
89. SUPPORT efforts to allow the CalFresh redetermination process to be done by mail without interview and permit the mail in process for CalFresh aged and/or disabled households.
This would increase the efficiency of CalFresh redetermination and help people who are receiving the benefit who would have difficulty coming into a benefits office.
90. SUPPORT efforts to expand the number of counties in the Federal IV-E waiver funding for pre-placement, prevention activities; development of caretaker recruitment and retention campaigns; and, funding to implement Children’s Child Welfare Workload Study Results, SB 2030. Changes in these areas would enable counties to better meet their performance accountability goals, as required under federal and state statutes.
91. SUPPORT efforts to allow Medi-Cal clients transportation access to medical care via the most efficient transportation mode possible instead of the very costly ambulance transportation that is currently prevalent. California is currently limited to the types of non-emergency medical transportation for reimbursement by Medi-Cal. However, the federal Medicaid program allows other much less costly forms of transportation to be used. Other states use this more permissive definition of approved non-emergency medical transportation to encourage Medicaid clients to receive preventative care and reduce the incidence of last-resort ambulance transportation to hospital emergency rooms for primary care.
100. SUPPORT ending the student restrictions that disallow CalFresh for poor students. Students should not be penalized for getting an education.
102. SUPPORT a State Earned Income Tax Credit. Developing a state earned income tax credit would incentivize work and reduce poverty. The Federal EITC program is the most effective government antipoverty program and 22 other states have a state EITC.
Land Use/Community Development: Minor text change proposed to policy #148 to update the amount of funding requested for the East Contra Costa County NCCP from the $90 million allocation for NCCPs in Proposition 84 from $20 million to $24 million. (p. 24)
Law and Justice System: Text change to policy #164 to add: The Board, through recommendations from the Public Protection Committee, has adopted amendments to the Alcoholic Beverage Sales Commercial Activities Zoning Ordinance that authorizes the County to prohibit the sale of alcopops at any establishment not in compliance with the performance standards. Along with the code changes, various implementation strategies were also approved in order to better coordinate efforts between County Departments and agencies for streamlined implementation and enforcement of the Ordinance. (p. 26)
Telecommunications: "Broadband" is proposed to be added to the category. In addition, there is a proposed addition of policy #176: "SUPPORT the expansion of broadband (high speed internet service) to drive economic development and job opportunities, support county service delivery, and improve health, education and public safety outcomes for residents. For communities to realize these full benefits of broadband it must be capable of supporting current technology.
Access and adoption are both necessary elements that should be supported in state and federal legislative or regulatory proposals. This entails the following:
• Establishing and maintaining reliable broadband in unserved or underserved communities;
• Promoting the knowledge, skills and behaviors that comprise digital literacy;
• Making broadband affordable for all households;
• Maximizing funding for infrastructure; and
• Reducing infrastructure deployment barriers." (p. 28-29)
Transportation Issues: Minor text change proposed to policy #176 to refer to State Route 239 as "TriLink."
Staff proposes the addition of policy #187: "SUPPORT funding increases for active transportation projects including funding for enhancements and expansion of separated trails (Class I, cycle track) including corridor planning, trail access improvements, trail expansion/enhancements, overcrossings, intersection improvements, Class I trail inter-connectivity projects, and wayfinding/signage projects." (p. 31)
Workforce Development (
new category) (p. 34)
Consistent with CSAC policy, staff proposes the addition of a new policy:
201. SUPPORT legislative and regulatory efforts that make the necessary changes to existing law for the implementation of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) in California.
An implementation bill (currently SB 45) will be before the State Legislature in 2016. The County supports legislation that would include provisions that state that the Local Plan developed by local workforce boards should be the basis of all workforce planning in the local areas and all workforce-related state grants. Additionally, the County supports provisions that ensure that staffing costs and support services should be included in the training expenditure requirement. Finally, the County supports provisions that require all programs listed in the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) work together to ensure that data is collected and reported across all programs, utilizing the state’s base-wage file system to ease local reporting burdens.