Every January, the Board of Supervisors adopts a Federal Legislative Platform that establishes federal funding needs and policy positions with regard to potential federal legislation and regulation. These documents are utilized by the County's federal advocates and staff as the basis for advocacy efforts.
The State and Federal Legislative Platforms are prepared each year by staff of the County Administrator's Office in collaboration with County department heads, other key staff, the County state and federal advocates, and with input from the Board's commissions/committees and the public. CAO staff generally conducts outreach in the fall of year year regarding the Platform process and invites input so that draft documents can be considered by the Legislation Committee in November and/or December of each year. Elements of the Platforms related to the subject matter of the Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee are also reviewed by that committee prior to the Proposed Platforms being presented to the Board of Supervisors in January for adoption.
With direction from the Board of Supervisors for the 2020 Platforms to be more streamlined, concise and provide greater prioritization, staff of the CAO's office has conducted 2020 Platform input meetings on multiple occasions, convening a "2020 Platform Workgroup" to solicit input on Platform structural/formatting changes.Conference calls with the federal advocates from Alcalde & Fay and state advocates from Nielsen Merksamer were also conducted as part of this process.
At its October 3, 2019 meeting, the Legislation Committee provided direction to staff on the development of the Platforms, largely consistent with the recommendations of the Platform Workgroup. CAO staff continued soliciting input from Departments and advocates on the development of the 2020 Platforms consistent with the direction from Legislation Committee related to structural/format changes. Departments had an opportunity to provide further input at a Legislative Training and Platform Input session conducted on October 9, 2019, and several preliminary drafts were provided to the Platform Workgroup and CAO staff.
SUMMARY OF
PROPOSED FEDERAL PLATFORM CHANGES
Additions to the Draft 2020 Platform:
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County Profile
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Demographic Highlights
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Governance
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Legislative Platform Purpose (including Attachments A & B )
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Mission, Vision, Values statement
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Federal Funding Needs: Project Specific (consolidation of prior identified projects and inclusion of Airports)
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Federal Funding Needs: Program Specific
Substantive text changes were made to the sections related to:
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Climate Change
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Criminal Justice and Mental Health
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The Delta
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Health Care
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Homeless Services
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Human Services
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Natural Resources/Permit Streamlining (new)
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Telecommunications and Broadband
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Transportation/Mobility Management and Coordination
Eliminated:
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Appropriations and Grants--Support Positions
Policy Positions have been refashioned as " Priority Policy Statements," to focus federal advocacy efforts on specific subject matters.
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