Office of Administration, Policy,
and Intergovernmental
Relations
2025 Summer Intergovernmental
Relations Report
San José City Council 9.16.25
Presenter:
Sarah Zárate, Deputy Director, City Manager’s Office
of Administration, Policy, and Intergovernmental
Relations
Intergovernmental Relations Team:
Steve Stamos, Senior Executive Analyst, IGR
Nicholas Ochoa, Senior Executive Analyst, IGR
Lobbyist Support:
Steve Cruz, Cruz Strategies
Nick Romo, Cruz Strategies
Leslie Pollner, Holland & Knight
2025
Summer
IGR
Report
Legislative Priorities
Federal Highlights
State Highlights
City-sponsored Legislation
Additional Advocacy Efforts
Legislative Priorities
(Approved by City Council January 14, 2025)
Reduce Unsheltered Homelessness, Support Unhoused Residents, and Increase Opportunities for Affordable Housing
Enhance Community Safety Initiatives and Realize Vision Zero Advocate for Educational and Employment Opportunities that Foster Equitable Outcomes for San José Families
Drive Downtown Revitalization and Cultivate Equitable Investment in our Neighborhoods
Pursue Funding for Equitable, Sustainable, and Resilient Infrastructure and Accelerate San José’s Climate Smart Goals
3 IGR
By The
Numbers
Advocated for $6.5 million in
federal earmark funding
391+ Bills Actively Monitored
69+ Advocacy Letters
4 Legislative Advocacy Days to
Sacramento
And…dozens of meetings with
Legislators and Agency Staff to
advocate for San José priorities
Intergovernmental Relations = IGR
Federal Highlights
Budget Reconciliation – H.R.1 (The One Big Beautiful Bill Act) Funding increases for border and immigration enforcement; funding cuts and programmatic changes to Medicaid and SNAP
Extension of Opportunity Zones and expansion of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit $625 million for planning and security for 2026 FIFA World Cup host regions FY 2026 Appropriations bills in progress; Continuing Resolution needed by September 30 $78 million included in draft THUD bill to support public transportation needs for World Cup host cities Community Project Funding (earmarks) - $6.5 million for 5 projects Seismic Retrofit Program ($2M); Yerba Buena Bridge ($2M); Guadalupe River Trail Construction ($1M); Copper/Wire Theft Surveillance System ($1M); Ending Sideshows ($500K) Ongoing discussions on Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Reauthorization (WIOA funds the City’s work2future program) Recent Key Executive Orders
Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets (homelessness related) Improving Oversight of Federal Grant Making
Continued engagement with federal delegation on priority issues, including BART FFGA, immigration, grant advocacy, quiet zones, housing, etc.
5 State Highlights
FY 2025-2026 adopted budget:
Limited funding for the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program (HHAP) Includes a commitment for $500 million for HHAP in the FY 2026-2027 budget (by September 1, 2026) New statutory exemptions from CEQA for certain infill housing development projects $10 million for security costs associated with the 2026 FIFA World Cup (between Bay Area and Los Angeles) Additional Funding Advocacy:
Trailer bill advocacy, in collaboration with the Big City Mayor’s coalition, for continued flexibility of HHAP dollars [SB 158] – On Governor's Desk
Ongoing advocacy for flexible funding for interim homelessness solutions to be included in the Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026 [AB 736 (Wicks) and SB 417 (Cabaldon)] – two-year bills Supported VTA in securing $100 million in SB 1 funding for the BART Silicon Valley Phase II project Legislative Advocacy:
Regional transportation measure [SB 63 (Wiener)] and Cap and Invest reauthorization [SB 840 (Limon) and AB 1207 (Irwin)] – On Governor's Desk
Advancing functional zero standard [SB 16 (Blakespear) and SB 606 (Becker)] – two-year bills 6 City Sponsored Legislation
7 AB 476 (González)
Copper Theft
SB 753 (Cortese)
Abandoned Shopping
Carts
Expands the information junk dealers and recyclers must collect before purchasing copper
Prohibits the possession of additional types of scrap metal from public infrastructure
Supporters: League of California Cities, County of Los Angeles, numerous cities, utility agencies, and law enforcement organizations
Governor’s Desk: Action Required By October 13
Allows local governments to return carts directly to retailers and recover the actual costs of managing the program
Supporters: League of California Cities, California State Association of Counties, Santa Clara Valley Water District, numerous cities Governor’s Desk: Action Required By October 13
Other Substantive Advocacy Efforts
8 Transit Oriented Developments [SB 79 (Wiener)] – On Governor's Desk Immigration-specific legislation to protect residents from potential federal action [AB 49 (Muratsuchi) On Governor’s desk; AB 421 (Solache), and AB 1025 (Pellerin) – two-year bills] Downtown Revitalization Package (Haney): [AB 507 (Haney) and AB 564 (Haney)] – On Governor’s desk Speed limits in school zones [AB 382 (Berman)] – On Governor's Desk Data center usage requirements [AB 222 (Bauer-Kahan)] – two-year bill; [AB 93 (Papan)] – On Governor's desk
Cost recovery for encampment clean-up on Caltrans properties [SB 569 (Blakespear)] – two-year bill Proposition 4 (Climate Bond) implementation [(AB 105 (Gabriel) – On Governor's Desk Prop 1, Prop 36, Care Court implementation [SB 28 (Umberg) and SB 38 (Umberg)] – two-year bills Provided comment on CA DOJ Bureau of Gambling Control rulemaking regulation that could impact the City's cardrooms
Presenter:
Sarah Zárate, Deputy Director, City Manager’s
Office of Administration, Policy, and
Intergovernmental Relations
Intergovernmental Relations Team:
Steve Stamos, Senior Executive Analyst, IGR
Nicholas Ochoa, Senior Executive Analyst, IGR
Lobbyist Support:
Steve Cruz, Cruz Strategies
Nick Romo, Cruz Strategies
Leslie Pollner, Holland & Knight
Council
Actions
San José City Council 9.16.25
2025 Summer Intergovernmental Relations
Report
Accept the 2025 Summer IGR Report
Reaffirm City positions in Federal
Legislative Log
Reaffirm City positions in State Legislative
Log