Alameda County PAL Committee Meeting – November 10, 2025: Federal Shutdown & State Legislative Updates
Alameda County Board of Supervisors PAL Committee Meeting – November 10, 2025
This meeting of the Personnel Administration and Legislation Committee (PAL) focused on the ongoing federal government shutdown (day 41), a pending continuing resolution (CR) to reopen the government, and state legislative developments including Proposition 50's passage and related litigation. The committee received updates from legislative analysts and discussed implications for county programs like SNAP/CalFresh.
Federal Legislation Update
- Emily Bacque de Silva and John Assini (CJ Lake) reported that the Senate is expected to vote at 5:00 PM on a CR that includes a three-bill minibus (agriculture, military construction/VA, legislative branch) funding for the remainder of FY26, plus healthcare extenders (community health centers, telehealth flexibilities). The House would vote on Wednesday, with potential presidential signature by Friday.
- The Senate vote on the motion to proceed was 60‑40, with eight Democrats joining Republicans. Key supporters included senators Shaheen, Hassan, Durbin, Kaine, King, Rosen, Cortez Masto, and Fetterman—many retiring or not up for reelection in 2026.
- Amy Costa (Full Moon Strategies) provided an update on SNAP/CalFresh litigation: California Attorney General Rob Bonta, joined by 22 other attorneys general, filed a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts to pause the USDA’s November 8th guidance that ordered states to stop issuing full SNAP benefits and to attempt to claw back benefits already issued. The court granted the TRO request and set a remote hearing at 12:30 PM Pacific on the same day.
- Discussion ensued about the impact of a government reopening: if the CR is signed, full SNAP funding would resume, though states that issued full benefits during the shutdown may face federal enforcement actions (e.g., loss of administrative cost share) for the period before reopening. California had already issued some full benefits over the weekend.
- Supervisor Fortunato asked about the timeline: Senate vote in 15 minutes, House vote Wednesday, possible signing by Friday, with hope that services return to normal before the holidays, though air traffic may take longer.
State Legislative Update
- Amy Costa reported on Proposition 50 (redistricting reform) which passed with 63.8% yes (about 8.9 million votes) versus 36.2% no. A lawsuit was filed by California Republicans within 12 hours of polls closing, arguing the measure violates the 14th and 15th Amendments by favoring Latino voters.
- Governor Newsom urged other Democratic-led states to follow California’s lead in countering Republican gerrymandering, and then departed for climate talks in Belém, Brazil, coinciding with United Nations climate negotiations.
- Clarification was provided on CalFresh/SNAP funding: the $80 million in state funds for food banks has been released, but the full SNAP benefits issued over the weekend came from federal contingency funds (authorized by court order at the time). The state has not yet used the $80 million for food banks.
Key Outcomes
- The committee received updates and took no formal action. No public comments were made on agenda items.
- Staff will continue to monitor federal CR votes and court rulings on SNAP benefits, and will report back on any changes.
- Attendees present included representatives from Supervisor Miley’s office, Alameda County Community Food Bank, Alameda County Health, and the Assessor’s Office.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon and welcome to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors Personnel Administration and Legislation Committee meeting for Monday, November the 10th, 2025. May I have roll call, please? Supervisor Fortunato Pass. Supervisor Pam present. We have a quorum. Thank you. Let's start with day 41 of the shutdown and the federal legislation update. Good afternoon. You've got Emily Bacque de Silva and John Assini here with CJ Lake. It looks like the Senate, they're trying to work an agreement and could vote uh tonight. I'm hearing as early as five o'clock, which is 30 minutes from now. If that's the case, I think that's the expectation that the House would vote on Wednesday. So that's what it's looking like right now. Of course, anything can change, but it seems like Senators, now that the deal has been reached, want to get out of here and just get it done. So, you know, Speaker Johnson has already called the House back. Um, and so I think again, the House votes would be scheduled for Wednesday. Um, I mean, you guys know last night the Senate voted 60 to 40 um to on a motion to proceed. Uh eight Democrats joined Republicans, um, you know, Shaheen and Hassan from New Hampshire, Durbin from Illinois, Kane from Virginia, King from Maine, who has um continued to vote in favor, Rosen from Nevada, Cortez Masto from Nevada. She's another one who's continued uh to support, and then Fetterman from Pennsylvania. You know, those were the three that were consistently um voting with Republicans on the House Pass CR. Uh just noting these members are either retiring or are not up for reelection uh in 2026. Uh it includes a continuing resolution through January 30th. Um a piece that's interesting is it does include a three-bill minibus, uh, three appropriations bills for FY26. So it would fund for the remainder of FY26, agriculture, military construction, veterans' affairs, and legislative branch. Um, you know, on the upside as far as AG, that means if we were to have some other sort of shutdown, SNAP and WIC would not be impacted. Um I will say also, and I think John and I have talked about this in previous PAL calls when we were talking about the shutdown. You know, we were saying there does seem to be like if we can get out of the shutdown, there seems to be a desire to pass FY26 appropriations bills. And so the fact that kind of these first bills will go alongside the CR, I think says a lot. Um, and so I think it gives us hope that they will pass um, you know, full year bills for the the remaining uh agencies, if not before January 30th. Hopefully they will get some through um, you know, by January 30th. Um John, what else? I mean, those the extenders, health care extenders were also included. So funding for community health centers, um, uh the telehealth flexibilities. Um, I'm I know I'm missing a lot, John, but I'll turn it to you. I mean, those are kind of the big items. Um, yeah, I mean, the the CR's extensions are basically the same from what they were agreed to in the house. So there weren't a whole lot of changes. I mean, the big the big triumph is to your point, the three bill mini bus that was included. Um you're right to say that they're gonna start voting at five. They have seven votes scheduled, and the senate's going to be out for the rest of the week. Senators have already started to book nighttime fights to go back home. Tomorrow is the Veterans Day holiday. Um, and then the House will be back on Wednesday for their vote. We anticipate that will likely pass as some Democrats are probably going to vote for the CR. Um, of course, Jeffrey's and the leadership team are very upset with the Senate um for compromising last night. Um, but I think that there's a consensus in the Democratic coalition um that it was a mistake to move forward, but there's also a good number of members uh whose constituents um are from heavily impacted areas where they think that this is something they could potentially vote for. So it'll be interesting to see what the House vote is. Of course. The Senate um has a 60 vote threshold. The House has only two votes to spare.
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