1127 11TH STREET, SUITE 300, SACRAMENTO, CA 95814 • 916.974.9270 • PUBLICPOLICYGROUP.COM PAGE 1 CPPG and Glendale Recent Successes CPPG lobbyist, Kyra Ross, has been successfully advocating for the City of Glendale for the last decade. She fought for changes to protect Glendale’s redevelopment funds, backfill funding for utility arrears post-COVID and millions in state budget allocations. She has assisted the City in procuring over $125,000,000 since 2015. Successful legislative advocacy requires strong coalition building, a keen political acumen and expertise in the field as well as connections with both individual legislative offices and committees. Our powerhouse team of legislative, policy, funding and technical experts is well-positioned with extensive networks in the Capitol and a stellar record of legislative successes. A few of these successes are noted below: SB 1177 (Portantino, 2022) Burbank Glendale Pasadena Regional Housing Trust- Chaptered In early 2022, the cities of Glendale, Burbank and Pasadena recognized the need for funding assistance for families in the tri-city region with extremely low, very low, low, and moderate incomes and homeless individuals. The acute shortage of affordable housing in the Arroyo Verdugo region combined with insufficient funding to bring all of the housing projects in the pipeline to completion created the need for an additional funding option. The three cities sponsored SB 1177 (Portantino) that allowed the cities to enter into a joint powers agreement to create and operate the trust to fund housing in the region. In addition to the enacting legislation, a budget appropriation of $23 million was successfully obtained through the budget process. CPPG lobbyist, Kyra Ross, was the lead lobbyist on the bill, drafting bill background documents, talking points, and other materials for the author and committee offices. Additionally, she coordinated and led all lobbying meetings in the Capitol with policy committee consultants, policy committee members and their staff as well as meetings with the Governor’s office on both the bill and appropriation. All three city clients were kept up to date through weekly email updates, bi-weekly calls with city staff as well as calls and emails as needed within 24-hours of any action on the bills. Impressively, the bill had no “no” votes throughout the process and was signed by the Governor. In June 2024, the Burbank Glendale Pasadena Regional Housing Trust issued its first award, a capital construction grant paving the way for a pioneering, multipurpose Homeless Solutions Center in Burbank. CPPG lobbyists have also protected city clients, including the City of Glendale from legislation that would be detrimental to both the City and Glendale Water and Power. SB 445 (Wiener) 2025 High Speed Rail- Halted In 2025, Senator Wiener introduced a bill that proposed to drastically alter existing approval and coordination processes by imposing highly prescriptive and impractical timeframes that do not reflect the complexity of infrastructure coordination, environmental review, and public engagement necessary for responsible project delivery. The author sought to address deadlines in the permitting process by imposing deadlines on local governments, publicly owned utilities, special districts, privately owned utilities and telecommunications companies to comply with the permitting process. If the state agency does not get the local agency permits because of these delays, they are
1127 11TH STREET, SUITE 300, SACRAMENTO, CA 95814 • 916.974.9270 • PUBLICPOLICYGROUP.COM PAGE 2 empowered to just begin construction. The legislation would have also limited local governments from requiring concessions unrelated to the project as a requirement for receiving a permit. In June 2025, the bill was amended to only apply to the High Speed Rail Authority and those local agencies in the path of High Speed Rail tracks focused primarily on Investor Owned Utilities and Publicly Owned Utilities, including Glendale Water and Power. CPPG lobbyists engaged with the California Municipal Utilities Association, the League of California Cities, and the Association of California Water Agencies to lobby the legislative members highlighting the numerous issues of concern in the bill including the ability to manage public infrastructure, ensure worker and public safety, and coordinate with all critical infrastructure sectors. Notably, because the bill was in the Assembly and being heard in the Assembly Utility Committee which Assemblymember Schultz is a member, CPPG lobbyists met with Assemblymember Schultz on the bill on several occasions, noting the specific impacts to the City of Glendale. Assemblymember Schultz spoke out in opposition to the bill in committee as a direct result of CPPG lobbyist interactions. In August, in response to the large and growing coalition of Cities, Utilities and others in strong opposition to the bill, the bill was held by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, halting its progress in 2025. CPPG lobbyists both communicated client concerns directly to the legislative delegation on numerous occasions through letters submitted to the legislative portal, direct meetings with the legislators and their staff and through coalition efforts. Clients were kept up to date through bi-weekly meetings, weekly written updates and calls and emails as needed within 24-hours of any action on the bills. SB 423 (Gonzalez) Housing: real property transfer taxes: affordability covenants In the final days of the 2025 legislative session, SB 423 was “gut and amended” to include language that would have prohibited cities from imposing a real estate transfer tax on certain newly constructed residential and commercial properties. The proposal would have barred transfer taxes for 15 years following the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for multifamily and commercial developments and for five years on single-family homes rebuilt after a disaster. Another version of the proposal extended these restrictions to document transfer taxes, posing significant fiscal impacts for local governments statewide. CPPG mobilized immediately, working directly with city clients to quantify potential revenue losses and prepare city-specific impact analyses. Our team also coordinated with each city’s legislative delegation, the League of California Cities, and external partners such as the California Professional Firefighters, amplifying statewide opposition and elevating the issue politically.
1127 11TH STREET, SUITE 300, SACRAMENTO, CA 95814 • 916.974.9270 • PUBLICPOLICYGROUP.COM PAGE 1 City of Glendale Recent Funding Successes Since 2015, CPPG lobbyist Kyra Ross has assisted the City of Glendale in procuring over $125,000,000. Below is a list of recent successes along with City funding that she has assisted with. • In 2022 EJA coordinated and led the effort to create the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Regional Housing Trust (SB 1177) and the $23 million budget allocation for seed dollars. • In 2021 and 2022 EJA worked successfully with CMUA and other publicly owned utilities to secure funding for electricity and water arrears. In 2021, GWP received $6.2 million in 2021 and additional funding in 2022. • In 2022, EJA successfully lobbied for an additional $6 million in funding for the city library from the state budget. • In 2021, EJA successfully assisted the City in securing $1 million from the state budget for a mental health and drug intervention pilot project. City of Glendale and Glendale Water & Power Funding Since 2015 • 2023 $933,000 in State budget funding for Fremont Park Renovation • 2023 $1,000,000 in State budget funding for the expansion of Glendale’s technology hub • 2022 $1,700,000 in State budget funding for POU utility arrears to cover electric and water customer non-payment (CAPP 2.0) • 2022 $5,000,000 in State budget Active Transportation funds for Verdugo wash • 2022 $23,000,000 in State budget funding for Tri-City Housing Trust Fund (split by Burbank, Glendale & Pasadena) • 2022 $34,000,000 TICRP Caltrans funding for Beeline electrification • 2022 $6,095,000 in State budget funding for the City Library • 2022 $1,100,000 in State budget Active Transportation funds for Wildfire Prevention Infrastructure • 2021 $6,200,000 in State budget funding for POU utility arrears to cover electric and water customer non-payment (CAPP) • 2021 $1,000,000 in State budget funding for the Lark Musical Society Cultural Annex • 2021 $1,000,000 in State budget funding for mental health and drug intervention pilot program • 2019 $5,000,000 in State budget funding for the Armenian American Museum • 2019 $1,000,000 in State budget funding for the Technology Acceleration Program • 2017 $20,000,000 in State Park Bond Act funding for bike pedestrian path • 2016 $1,000,000 in State budget funding for the Armenian American Museum • 2015 $45,000,000 Re-Instatement of Redevelopment Funds with interest