MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING of the Legislative & Regulatory Committee of the Clean Power Alliance of Southern California
Wednesday, November 16, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
The Legislative & Regulatory Committee conducted this meeting in accordance with California Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-29-20 and COVID-19 pandemic protocols.
CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL
Committee Chair Deborah Klein Lopez called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. and Gabriela Monzon, Board Clerk, conducted roll call.
Roll Call
Agoura Hills Deborah Klein Lopez Chair Remote
Carson Reata Kulcsar Alternate Committee
Member Remote
All votes are unanimous unless otherwise stated.
GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
CONSENT AGENDA
1. Approve Minutes from October 26, 2022, Legislative & Regulatory Committee Meeting
Motion: Committee Member Kulcsar, Carson
Second: Committee Member Lopez, Agoura Hills
Vote: The consent agenda was approved by a roll call vote.
REGULAR AGENDA
2. 2023-2024 Legislative & Regulatory Policy Platform Discussion Gina Goodhill, Director of Government Affairs, provided a brief review of the Legislative & Regulatory Platform adopted in 2018. Ms. Goodhill explained the normal approval process for bill positions and described the alternative protocol urgent bill positions. Ms. Goodhill advised that in 2023, staff would like to discuss revising the platform framework altogether to allow staff to regularly take bill positions using the platform as a guide. Ms. Goodhill also explained that a review of the platform over the past year revealed weaknesses in CPA’s ability to nimbly weigh in on topics later in the legislative session; not weighing in on these types of bills may impede CPA from building relationships with organizations pertaining to more ‘big picture’ bills, such as bills on electric vehicles that may not have a direct impact to Community Choice Aggregations (CCAs). Ms. Goodhill added that Clean Power Alliance Legislative & Regulatory Committee Page 2 of 2 November 16, 2022 Minutes
another downside of the current platform is that it does not allow CPA to act on bill positions later in the legislative session when they tend to change quickly. Staff informally polled organizations similar to CPA and found that the vast majority use more detailed policy platforms proactively as a guide to take bill positions and report back to the Board. If the Committee is interested in exploring this option, the Committee would then be responsible for driving CPA’s legislative priorities through a more prescriptive policy platform.
Responding to questions from the Committee relating to signatory power and an implementation timeframe, staff noted that Ms. Goodhill signs bill position letters; high-profile bills are often sent to Board members for signatures. Regarding a timeframe, staff could bring a proposed policy platform in January for Board consideration in February.
Chair Lopez expressed support for the idea, adding that Agoura Hills has its own legislative platform that has proven critically important; suggested that the new platform could be expansive. Committee Member Kulcsar echoed Chair Lopez’s comments. Ted Bardacke, CEO, remarked that the current platform does not allow Ms. Goodhill to provide timely support to organizations or elected CPA members, hindering CPA from building trust and relationships. Chair Lopez opined that she appreciated the flexible nature of the platform, as it still allows a bill position to be taken to the Committee or the Board if needed.
COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS
Chair Lopez expressed a desire to do outreach to recruit more members to the Committee.
Committee Member Kulcsar noted that the City of Carson appointed Councilmember Cedric L. Hicks, Sr. as the Regular Director and Councilmember Jim Dear as the Alternate Director on the CPA Board. Chair Lopez commented that Agoura Hills currently does not have a council member alternate but will regroup next month and reminded the Committee there is no December meeting.
ADJOURN
Chair Lopez adjourned the meeting at 10:23 a.m.