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M E M O R A N D U M
To: The Honorable Juan González III, Mayor of San Leandro Honorable Members of the San Leandro City Council
CC: Fran Robustelli, City Manager
Eric Engelbart, Deputy City Manager
From: Christopher Townsend, President, Townsend Public Affairs, Inc.
Niccolo De Luca, Vice President
Alex Gibbs, Grants Manager
Andres Ramirez, Senior Associate
Carly Shelby, Legislative Associate
Date: January 8, 2024
Subject: Summary of 2023 State Legislative Activities
Townsend Public Affairs, Inc. (TPA) has prepared this report for the City of San Leandro following the end of the 2023 State Legislative session. This report lists our efforts to date including a summary of our legislative advocacy actions on behalf of the City.
As background, TPA has closely partnered with the City of San Leandro for almost 9 years and together the team has achieved great results. This includes 3 City sponsored legislative proposals signed into law, collaborating on numerous legislative efforts, providing critical grant writing support, and helping secure over $21million in state funding for priority projects.
Summary of 2023 State Legislative Session
September 14 marked the final night of the 2023 Legislative Session, constituting the end of the first year of the two-year 2023-24 legislative cycle. The 2023 legislative year featured a number of anomalies, including a record number of freshman legislators, significant leadership changes in both houses, and the highest number of bill introductions in over a decade.
In the final week of the Session alone, the Legislature had more than 700 bills that were still active.
This set the stage for a frenetic pace of activity, with the Legislature determined to act on a number of consequential policy issues, including behavioral health reform, public safety reforms, conservatorship expansion, and proposed constitutional amendments that would enhance and protect local revenue sources. The Legislature decided the fate of a number of bills important to local governments in its final days of session. Of the 3,038 bills introduced this year, the Legislature passed close to 1,100 measures.
The end of the 2023 Legislative Session also marked the beginning of Interim Recess. The Legislature will resume the second half of the 2023-24 Legislative Session on January 3, 2024. TPA has been proactive in beginning conversations with the City’s Legislative Liaisons and State 2023 State Legislative Summary Page 2 of 3
Legislative Delegation and will continue to have robust discussions in the following weeks and months leading up to the 2024 legislative session.
Summary of 2023 State Legislative Highlights
In 2023 TPA worked with the Mayor, City Council, Administration, and Department Heads to develop and advocate for City initiatives through various means, including: writing position letters on priority legislative proposals, drafting language for legislative amendments, engaging in numerous meetings with Senate and Assembly offices, working directly with committee consultants, senior staff, and San Leandro’s elected leaders in Sacramento to help secure critical funding. The TPA/City team was very successful in securing important funds, helping pass and halt legislation that would have had an impact on the City, and closely working with our State legislative leaders to support their priorities.
Please note the following state legislative highlights:
Going into the 2023 legislative session, our top focus was to secure support to help address the unhoused. This effort turned into a multi prong focus on securing state funding to purchase the property at 555 Lewelling Boulevard as a means to providing the unhoused in San Leandro with critical, much needed support. This effort included:
a. Briefed the Office of Senator Skinner on the City’s efforts related to addressing the unhoused, the need for funding for temporary housing, and the need for funding from the State.
b. Briefed the Office of Assembly Member Ortega on the City’s efforts related to addressing the unhoused, the need for funding for temporary housing, and the need for funding from the State.
c. Briefed the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency on the City’s efforts related to addressing the unhoused, the need for funding for temporary housing, and the need for funding from the State.
d. Partnered with the City team to draft and submit a 2023 State Budget Earmark request to purchase the motel at 555 Lewelling Boulevard.
e. Helped lead the efforts with the support of the Office of Senator Skinner and the Office of Assembly Member Ortega to successfully request changes to the Homekey RFP to ensure our project is more successful.
There were two major milestones achieved from this focus. It was:
1. The award of $9,328,250 for the Nimitz Motel from the State Home key Program. This was for the acquisition and rehabilitation of the building to create 29 interim housing units serving individuals experiencing homelessness and chronic homelessness, and
2. A direct earmark from Assembly Member Liz Ortega in the amount of $2,500,000 to the City of San Leandro for the Nimitz Motel Acquisition and Renovation project.
Other accomplishments during the 2023 Legislative Session include:
• Ongoing daily and weekly legislative updates on bills, relevant statewide policy topics, and other matters of interest to ensure the City has up to date information and is directly involved in the decision-making process.
o These updates included specific bills we were working on for the City along with bills we the City consider monitoring, and supporting or opposing. • Detailed analysis of priority legislation.
• Detailed summaries of the Governor’s 2023 Proposed Budget and the 2023 May Revised Budget.
• Ongoing monthly grant memos that go to staff the first week of every month, detailing upcoming funding opportunities at the state, federal and regional levels, as well as private grants.
2023 State Legislative Summary Page 3 of 3
• Ongoing monthly grant calls with department heads to discuss upcoming funding opportunities, discuss priority projects, and brainstorm funding solutions for unique situations. • TPA also regularly provides analysis and advice for the administration of previously funded grant projects to ensure City staff are able to navigate complex reporting requirements.
Next Steps
TPA has partnered with the Administration on a preliminary 2024 State Legislative platform for discussion and potential adoption (legislative platform document is attached separately). The platform includes the framework for both action on relevant legislative proposals, as well as monitoring and recommending actions on potential funding proposals.
TPA looks forward to continuing its efforts to ensure that the City is kept up to date on state legislation, matters relating to the State’s Administration, and funding opportunities in updates that include our efforts on the City’s behalf, status of priority legislation, and other time-sensitive matters.