City of Sacramento
Law and Legislation Committee Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2023-01067 8/15/2023 Consent Item 3.
Legislative Advocacy Correspondence
File ID: 2023-01067
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Receive and file.
Contact: Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs, (916) 808-7395, [email protected], Office of the City Manager Presenter: None.
Attachments:
1-Legislative Advocacy Correspondence_ June and July_2023
Date Bill/Subject Author Description of Issue Position Notes AB 223 Ward Confidential Proceedings Support
AB 645 Friedman Vehicles: Speed Safety Pilot Program Support 7/11/23 AB 783 Ting Single-Use Restrooms Support
7/11/23 AB 957 Wilson Family Law and Gender Identity Support 7/11/23 AB 994 Jackson Law Enforcement: Social Media Support 7/11/23 AB 1078 Jackson Instructional Materials and Curriculum: Diversity Support 7/11/23 SB 372 Menjivar DCA Licensee and Registration Records Support 7/11/23 SB 760 Muratsuchi School Facilities: All Gender Restrooms Support 7/10/23 AB 1052 McCarty Sacramento Regional Transit District's Ballot Authority Support 6/23/23 AB 40 Rodriguez Emergency Medical Services Support 6/21/23 AB 28 Gabriel Firearms and Ammunition: Excise Tax Support 6/9/23 SB 407 Wiener Foster Care: Resource Families Support Position Letters 2023-2024
7/11/23
7/7/23
6/9/23 SB 659 Ashby California Water Supply Solutions Act of 2023 Support 6/9/23 SB 511 Blakespear Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories Support 6/9/23 AB 350 Aguiar-Curry Regional Transportation Plans: SACOG Support 5/23/23 Regulation Change re the Striped Bass Slot Limit Coalition letter to California Fish and
Game Commission
4/11/23 Budget request to fund 30x30 Support
4/11/23 SB 511 Blakespear Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories Support 4/4/23 AB 735 Berman Workforce Development: Utility Careers Support 3/28/23 AB 285 Luz Rivas Pupil Instruction: Science Requirements: Climate Change Support 3/27/23
Budget request to fund the Local Equitable Access to Food (LEAF) Program Support Coalition letter
3/21/23
Budget request for Continued Assistance for Customer Water and Wastewater Arrearages Accrued During the Pandemic Support Coalition letter 3/21/23 AB 333 Nguyen Abandoned Vehicle Service Authorities Licenses and Permits Support 3/6/23 AB 350 Aguiar-Curry Regional Transportation Plans: SACOG Support
July 11, 2023
Assemblymember Christopher Ward
1021 O Street, Suite 6350
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 223 (WARD): CONFIDENTIAL PROCEEDINGS – SUPPORT
Dear Assemblymember Ward:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento, I write to express our support of your AB 223. AB 223 would require any petition for a change of gender and sex identifier or petition to change of gender, sex identifier, and name filed by a person under 18 years of age and any paper associated with the proceedings to be kept confidential by the court. The court shall restrict access to these records to specified individuals such as the minor, the minor’s parents, and their attorneys.
It is in the best interest of the public to keep these records confidential to ensure the privacy rights and safety of transgender and non-binary youth. These individuals are 2-
2.5x more likely to experience mental illness and contemplate suicide than their cisgender LGBQ peers. We support our children’s right to choose when and how they decide to share their personal details to protect their physical and mental health.
For the reasons stated above, I am pleased to have the City of Sacramento support AB 223. Should you have any questions about our support, please contact Consuelo
Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
July 7, 2023
Senator Thomas J. Umberg
Chair, Senate Committee on Judiciary
1021 O Street, Room 3240
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 645 (FRIEDMAN): VEHICLES: SPEED SAFETY PILOT PROGRAM –
SUPPORT
Dear Senator Umberg:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento, I write to express our support of AB 645 (Friedman). AB 645 would authorize pilot programs to test the efficacy and equity impacts of speed safety systems.
Through Sacramento’s Vision Zero work, we know that driving at unsafe speeds is the top reason for our traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Traditionally, there are two ways to address driving speeds: enforcement and engineering. Re-engineering our streets costs a minimum of $12-20 million a mile. It will take the City decades to re-engineer our streets and we continue to have one of the highest fatality rates in California. The other way to curb driving at unsafe speeds is through enforcement. Speed Safety cameras can help us curb speeding and work to remove bias from this tool.
Speed safety cameras are not legal in California but are in many other states and from those other states, we know it can be an effective tool. This bill includes key equity and bias provisions to establish a framework for a more equitable process. It requires cities to work collaboratively with relevant local organizations, including racial equity, privacy protection, and economic justice organizations, in developing the speed safety system use policy, which will include where the cameras will ultimately be located. This bill also requires the program be operated out of departments of transportation (in our case, Public Works), not police departments.
For the reasons stated above, I respectfully request your support of AB 645. Should you have any questions about our support, please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
July 11, 2023
Assemblymember Phillip Ting
1021 I Street, Suite 8230
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 783 (TING): SINGLE-USE RESTROOMS – SUPPORT
Dear Assemblymember Ting:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento, I write to express our support of your AB 783. AB 783 would require a city or county that issues a business license, permits, or equivalent instrument, to provide written notice to individuals applying for business for a new or renewal of a business license, permit, or equivalent instrument, of the requirement that all single-use restrooms be identified as all-gender toilet facilities.
Designating all single-use restrooms as all gender toilet facilities is essential to the safety and inclusiveness of transgender and non-binary individuals. By identifying single-use restrooms as all-gender toilet facilities, we will reduce the harassment and intimidation of transgender and non-binary individuals. This ensures the safety and privacy of those individuals.
For the reasons stated above, he City of Sacramento is pleased to support AB 783.
Should you have any questions about our support, please contact Consuelo Hernandez,
Director of Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or
[email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
July 11, 2023
Assemblymember Lori Wilson
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 942249-0011
RE: AB 957 (WILSON): FAMILY LAW AND GENDER IDENTITY– SUPPORT
Dear Assemblymember Wilson:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento, I write to express our support of your AB 957. AB 957 would include a parent’s affirmation of a child’s gender identity or expression as part of the health, safety, and welfare of the child. This affirmation is essential to creating a safe and healthy environment for a child.
Transgender and non-binary youth are more likely to suffer from mental illness, including being 2-2.5x more likely to suffer from mental illness than their LGBQ peers.
Including gender identity or expression as part the definition of the health, safety, and welfare of a child, is essential to affirming their experience and providing protections for them during custody disputes. A parent or other person seeking custody of a child must demonstrate a commitment to and affirmation of a child’s gender identity and expression in order to prove themselves fit for custody of that child.
For the reasons stated above, I respectfully request your support of AB 957. Should you have any questions about our support, please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Director of
Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
July 11, 2023
Senator Anthony Portantino
Chair, Senate Committee on Appropriations
State Capitol, Room 412
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 994 (JACKSON): LAW ENFORCEMENT: SOCIAL MEDIA – SUPPORT
Dear Senator Portantino:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento, I write to express our support of AB 994 (Jackson).
AB 994 would require a law enforcement agency (LEA), upon posting a booking photo on social media, to use the name and pronouns given by the person. The LEA may include other names and aliases if doing so will assist in locating or apprehending the person or in reducing or eliminating imminent threat. The bill also requires an LEA to remove any booking photo from social media within 14 days of posting it, except in specified circumstances.
Recognizing the chosen name and pronouns of transgender and non-binary individuals will serve to increase inclusivity in LEAs across the state, as well as the safety of the transgender community. Using the names and pronouns provided by the person will also reduce potential for harassment and intimidation of transgender and nonbinary individuals.
For these reasons, I respectfully request your support of AB 994. Should you have any questions about our support, please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Director of
Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
July 11, 2023
Senator Anthony Portantino
Chair, Senate Committee on Appropriations
State Capitol, Room 412
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 1078 (JACKSON): INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND CURRICULUM:
DIVERSITY
Dear Senator Portantino:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento, I write to express our support of AB 1078 (Jackson). AB 1078 would require the State Board of Education (SBE) to develop, by July 1, 2024, a policy for local educational agencies (LEAs) to follow before removing any instructional materials or ceasing to teach any curriculum.
Education is a fundamental right under the California Constitution. Accurate and inclusive education is essential to ensure the educational success of all pupils, especially LGBTQ pupils and Black, Indigenous, and other pupils of color. This includes through honest discussions of racism, the history of slavery in our society and in California, and the diversity of gender and sexual orientation that reflects the lived reality of those pupils. We support students’ right to an accurate and thorough education.
For these reasons, I respectfully request your support of AB 1078. Should you have any questions about our support, please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Director of
Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
July 11, 2023
Assemblymember Chris Holden
Chair, Assembly Committee on Appropriations
1021 O Street, Suite 8220
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: SB 372 (MENJIVAR): DCA LICENSEE AND REGISTRANT RECORDS –
SUPPORT
Dear Assemblymember Holden:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento, I write to express our support of SB 372 (Menjivar). SB 372 requires that a board that has received government-issued documentation, from a licensee or registrant demonstrating that the licensee or registrant legal name or gender has been change, the board, shall replace all references to the former name or gender with the current legal name and gender.
It is important that all records be updated and maintained in the normal course of business for any agency or board. It is particularly imperative to do so for those that are transgender or non-binary. References to a person’s previous name or gender, ‘dead- naming’, could negatively affect an individual’s ability to be successful in their respective field. It could also have unintended consequences to that person’s mental or physical health.
For the reasons stated above, I respectfully request your support of SB 372. Should you have any questions about our support, please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Director of
Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
July 11, 2023
Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi
Chair, Assembly Committee on Education
1020 N Street, Room 159
Sacramento, CA 95822
RE: SB 760 (NEWMAN): SCHOOL FACILITIES: ALL GENDER RESTROOMS–
SUPPORT
Dear Assemblymember Muratsuchi:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento, I write to express our support of SB 760 (Newman). This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2025, each school district, county office of education, and charter school, including charter schools operating in a school district facility, maintaining any combination of classes from kindergarten to grade 12, inclusive, to provide at least one all-gender restroom for voluntary pupil use at each of its school sites.
Designating all single-use restrooms as all gender toilet facilities is essential to the safety and inclusiveness of transgender and non-binary individuals. By identifying single-use restrooms as all-gender toilet facilities, we will reduce the harassment and intimidation of transgender and non-binary individuals. This ensures the safety and privacy of those individuals. Trans and non-binary youth are 2-2.5 times more likely to suffer from mental health issues than their LGBQ peers. This bill would take proactive measures to make a more inclusive and welcoming environment that might alleviate this type of mental health.
For the reasons stated above, I respectfully request your support of SB 760. Should you have any questions about our support, please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
July 10, 2023
Senator Lena Gonzalez
Chair, Senate Commitee on Transportation
1021 O Street, Room 1200
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE:
AB 1052 SACRAMENTO REGIONAL TRANSIT DISTRICT’S BALLOT
AUTHORITY – SUPPORT
Dear Senator Gonzalez:
On behalf of the
City of Sacramento (City), I write in support of AB 1052 (McCarty). As you may know, many transit agencies throughout California are facing difficult financial situations. Although the Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) is perhaps in better fiscal condition than other transportation agencies in California, it too continues to face reduced ridership and higher costs originally driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of those negative impacts from COVID continue today, along with the lasting societal changes the pandemic caused.
We believe that a robust, efficient, and cost-effective transit system benefits all people within the service area of that system, but we also recognize that some projects do provide more benefits to a subset of the residents living within SacRT’s service area.
However, currently, if SacRT wants to place a measure on the local ballot to increase a sales or use tax, or property tax, that measure must cover our entire service territory.
In the wake of these changes and the ongoing financial uncertainty, AB 1052 would give SacRT the authority to ask a subset of its customers to support paying for those specific projects that more directly benefit and impact their particular area. Many much- needed community and SacRT projects are more localized, impacting and delivering the most benefits to a more geographically specific region as opposed to the entire wide- spread, 440-square mile SacRT service area.
There is no doubt that efficient public transit provides tremendous regional benefits. It reduces traffic, improves air quality, boosts a region’s economic growth, creates jobs, and connects communities. It also offers residents a cost-effective way to get to and from school, work, medical appointments and essential services. In addition, it provides mobility equity, by providing access to unlimited opportunities and services so all members of our community can connect, thrive and prosper.
For the reasons stated above, the City is pleased to support AB 1052. Should you have any questions about our support, please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
June 23, 2023
Senator Susan Talamantes
Chair, Senate Committee on Health
1021 O Street, Room 1200
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 40 (RODRIGUEZ): EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES – SUPPORT
Dear Senator Talamantes:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento (City), I write to express our support of Assembly Bill 40 (Rodriguez). AB 40 would establish a statewide standard for ambulance patient offload time and require a protocol to reduce ambulance patient offload time, should it exceed the statewide standard.
Extensive “wall times” have been a problem for our first responders for decades. This occurs when an ambulance arrives at a hospital and must wait for the hospital to assume responsibility of care for the patient that exceeds a locally established patient offload time interval. Wall times result in untimely care for patients experiencing an emergency and prevents ambulance personnel from responding to other emergencies.
The ambulance unit and staff that are waiting are effectively out of service, decreasing advanced life support coverage in the community, which can increase response time for subsequent critical cases.
According to the Emergency Medical Services Authority, each year, roughly 70,000 Californians wait over an hour for an ambulance gurney and before their care is assumed by emergency department staff and moved to a hospital bed. Additionally, the National Association of Emergency Medical Services Physicians (NAEMSP) reported that offload delays lead to delays in definitive care, poor pain control, delayed time to antibiotics, increased morbidity, and possibly even mortality. Ultimately, there is a reasonable concern that ambulance offload delay will compromise patient safety.
The City supports multidisciplinary collaboration with first responders and health agencies to better serve our communities. AB 40 is a critically needed measure to protect the health of transported patients, to prepare for surges in medical emergencies and to free up ambulances and first responder crews to offer aid to additional emergencies in communities.
For the reasons stated above, I respectfully request your support of AB 40. Should you have any questions about our support, please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
June 21, 2023
Senator Aisha Wahab
Chair, Senate Committee on Public Safety
1020 N Street, Room 545
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 28 (GABRIEL): FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION: EXCISE TAX – SUPPORT
Dear Senator Wahab:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento (City), I write to express our support of Assembly Bill 28 (Gabriel). AB 28 would establish an excise tax on licensed firearms dealers, firearms manufacturers, and ammunition vendors. The revenue raised from this tax would provide funding for lifesaving violence intervention initiatives and related gun violence prevention, education, and research purposes.
AB 28 would provide a permanent and sustainable funding source for essential violence prevention programs and help protect communities. The City’s leaders understand the critical need to reduce youth and gang violence. We have our own Office of Violence Prevention (OVP), which was created to respond to increased gang activity in the City.
OVP coordinates a comprehensive effort in the City to address youth and gang violence through the implementation of four key initiatives:
• The Gang Prevention and Intervention Taskforce is a coalition comprised of stakeholders representing a broad range of sectors including service providers, health care providers, school administrators, faith leaders, law enforcement personnel, and elected officials. The Taskforce strives to encourage cross- collaboration and align all entities under a unified violence prevention framework. • Gang Prevention and Intervention Taskforce Grant Program awards community- based organizations funding to deliver services proven to curb gang violence.
• The Peacemaker Fellowship Program aims to disrupt the cycles of violence by enrolling individuals who are the most likely perpetrators and/or victims of gun violence into an 18-month intensive program.
• The Violence Reduction Summit brings together violence prevention service providers with the goal of building cross-sector awareness and improving service coordination.
AB 28 would enable the City to continue these efforts with a reliable source of funding.
For the reasons stated above, I respectfully request your support of AB 28. Should you have any questions about our support, please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
June 9, 2023
Assemblymember Corey Jackson
Chair, Assembly Committee on Human Services
1020 N Street, Room 124
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: SB 407 (WIENER) FOSTER CARE: RESOURCE FAMILIES – SUPPORT
Dear Assemblymember Jackson:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento (City), I write to support SB 407 (Wiener). SB 407 would strengthen protections in existing law to ensure that LGBTQ+ foster youth in California are placed in homes that are affirming of LGBTQ+ identities.
Youth who identify as LGBTQ+ are overrepresented in foster care, with multiple studies estimating about 30 percent of youth in foster care identify as LGBTQ+. LGBTQ+ youth often run away or are removed from their foster homes because of caregiver’s hostility toward their sexual orientation or gender identity. These youth are also less likely than other youth to find permanent homes, either through reunification or adoption.
SB 407 would require a resource family to demonstrate the capacity to meet the needs of a child regardless of the child’s sexual orientation or gender identity, as specified.
This is critical to ensuring that LGBTQ+ youth are provided a safe and supportive home.
For the reasons stated above, the City requests your support of SB 407. Should you have any questions about our support, please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
June 9, 2023
Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan
Chair, Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife 1021 O Street, Suite 6320
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: SB 659 (ASHBY) CALIFORNIA WATER SUPPLY SOLUTIONS ACT OF 2023 –
SUPPORT
Dear Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento (City), I write to support SB 659 (Ashby), as amended May 18, 2023, which is a measure to help improve California’s water supply reliability as it relates to advancing groundwater recharge.
It is critically important that we address the challenges posed by climate change and a water system in California that was built many decades ago for different climate patterns. This measure would place a high priority on groundwater recharge, the fastest and most scalable solution to ensure California can capture and store more water and improve the resiliency of our communities, agriculture and the environment to drought and dry years. Increasing groundwater storage capabilities is vital to the City to ensure that future demands are met as populations grow and climate change impacts water supplies. As an agency who is invested in the long-term health of the Lower American River, increased groundwater storage enables less reliance on surface water, therefore leaving more water in the environment.
The root challenge to California’s water supply uncertainty is being driven by increased temperatures, wild precipitation swings, precipitation coming more as rain than snow, and an unreliable spring and summer snow melt. A loss of surface water of approximately 10 million acre-feet annually in the immediate future is projected due to these climate changes.
In the Sacramento Region, these changes mean that water will come all at once, creating a Catch-22 situation between operating Folsom Reservoir for flood protection and water supply. Groundwater recharge is the one alternative that can allow for this dilemma to be navigated. The good news is that the Sacramento region’s groundwater levels have been increasing. That has been achieved through groundwater recharge.
These promising results have great potential to be expanded. On a statewide basis, groundwater recharge is also an economically feasible alternative that can meet the scale of our water supply challenge.
Simply put, SB 659 would spur the advancement of groundwater recharge. The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has identified the potential for 13 million acre-feet of recharge statewide. Due to the sudden development of wet conditions this winter, the state took actions to generate one million acre-feet of recharge in a matter of weeks. SB 659 establishes a sensible and non-controversial path to capture water during future wet periods.
For all of these reasons, the City believes that SB 659 is an important policy framework to be advanced. If you or your staff have questions, please contact Brian Sanders, Program Specialist with the Department of Utilities at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
June 9, 2023
Assemblymember Luz Rivas
Chair, Assembly Committee on Natural Resources
State Capitol, Room 447
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: SB 511 (BLAKESPEAR) GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INVENTORIES - SUPPORT Dear Senator Allen:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento (City), I write in support of SB 511. SB 511 would direct the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to prepare inventories of greenhouse gas ( GHG) emissions for use by cities and counties to use in the preparation of Clima te Action Plans (CAPs) and to prioritize the use of funding and resources to achieve optimal reductions of GHG emissions in local communities.
SB 511 will fill a significant gap in the work done by local governments to address climate change. While important actions have been taken and resources allocated at the state level, it is local communities that are on the front line of meeting the climate change challenge. This bill, in directing CARB to assemble and share GHG emission inventories with local governments, will provide critical data essential to the task of drafting the best CAPs possible and making the best decisions on the application of available resources to benefit communities. The bill would have four major benefits: 1) comprehensive cove rage across the state, 2) data and methodology consistency, 3) visibility i nto patterns and progress, and 4) reduced cost in generating GHG emission profiles.
Previous legislation, SB 379 (Jackson) from 2015, requires cities and counties t o update the safety elements of their general plans to address climate adaptation and resilience strategies.
By taking a statewide approach, SB 511 could alleviate the burden on individual agencies to do the analytics or hire consultants. Many cities have indicated that they would welcome assistance with this work. If the state were to take on this role, it would allow the City and other cities and counties more time for implementation of their GHG reduction efforts.
For the reasons stated above, the City requests your support of SB 511. Should you have any questions about our support, please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or [email protected].
S
incerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
June 9, 2023
Senator Lena Gonzalez
Chair, Senate Committee on Transportation
1021 O Street, Room 1200
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 350 (AGUIAR-CURRY): REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLANS:
SACRAMENTO AREA COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS – SUPPORT
Dear Senator Gonzalez:
On behalf of the City of Sacramento (City), I write to express our support of Assembly Bill 350 (Aguiar-Curry). AB 350 would facilitate greater interregional collaboration by more closely aligning the Sacramento Area Council of Government’s (SACOG) sustainable communities strategy update with those of its regional partners, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG), both for SACOG’s current plan update and into the future.
MTC, SJCOG and SACOG collectively make up the Northern California Megaregion, which includes 16 counties and 136 cities with a total population of nearly 11 million.
Among other joint efforts, the regions have been collaborating to advance interregional projects that will benefit quality of life, transportation, and commerce throughout Northern California. By more closely aligning the timing of SACOG’s next sustainable communities strategy update with those of the MTC and the SJCOG, AB 350 will facilitate better interregional planning and encourage the development of shared priorities across the Megaregion that support improved quality of life and continued economic growth throughout the Megaregion.
AB 350 will also allow SACOG more time to meaningfully collaborate and iterate with its partner agencies and it will provide the opportunity for additional robust outreach and engagement of under-resourced communities well beyond what is required by law. This additional time will ensure that the technical work of the plan does not diminish the
important work of engaging member jurisdictions, regional partners, community-based organizations, and the public on what this plan means for the future of the region and how we implement it together.
F
or that reason, I respectfully request your support of AB 350. Should you have any questions about our support, please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs, at 916-808-7395 or [email protected].
S
incerely,
Katie Valenzuela
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee