Ready.

Thank you.

Good afternoon and welcome to the Almeida County Board of Supervisors Personnel Administration and Legislation Committee meeting for Monday, December the 8th, 2025.

May I have roll call, please?

Supervisor Fortunato Pass.

Supervisor Town.

Present.

We have a quorum.

Thank you.

Did you want to go through instructions on participation?

Since once again, we're using MS teams.

Got it.

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Please state your name for the record prior to your comment.

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Thank you.

Thank you.

Let's start with the federal legislation update from CJ Lake.

Good afternoon.

You've got Emily DeSola here with CJ Lake, and I think John will be joining shortly.

Um, you know, just thinking about the schedule.

Congress has two weeks left.

Um, the Senate came in today, the house comes in tomorrow.

But um they are, as I look at my calendar on my desk, they are set to adjourn on um the 19th.

So a lot to get done or not done in um these two weeks.

And so I know we'd been talking about uh first up just appropriations and kind of tell you where things are there.

I think is the bottom line.

You know, we were hoping that they would be able to move some sort of uh package with multiple bills that they call a mini bus um before the end of uh the calendar year.

Of course, we know the current CR uh expires January 30th.

It just seems like from conversations that we've had with staff on the Hill, um, with appropriators, they're just not as far along as they need to be in order to uh bring a package up in either the Senate uh or the House uh between now and the end of the year.

So that's not to say that they don't get something done in January before uh the 30th.

I mean, this idea of moving labor H and defense and transportation HUD uh with interior and CJS, it it makes sense, but um I just they're not there yet.

So um a probes is is on the back burner right now, and so the the focus um is really health care and defense for these next two weeks.

Um, I know uh we talked a good bit last week about kind of where things stand um with the the Obamacare subsidies, and the Senate is set to take a vote this Thursday.

Um, right now we're expecting um at least one vote on a democratic proposal and or the Democrats' proposal, and that I believe, John, correct me if I'm wrong, that's a three-year extension.

That is what Democrats want.

On the Republican side, they're still talking, and so they don't yet have a particular package that they are planning to bring up.

You know, originally it would be that there'd be a Democrat uh proposal and then a Republican alternative, neither of which would pass, uh, wouldn't have the votes to go anywhere.

But at this point, we don't really know what a Republican package will look like.

And I'll stop in a second and turn over John so he can give his take on this.

And then on the House side, they're not there either.

Um, you know, the speaker has said that he will put forward some sort of package, but it may not be a vote on subsidies.

Um, but we just don't know what that is.

So um there just seems to be a lot of uh discussion internally in the Republican conference on the house side, and they haven't reached an agreement.

But John, I'll turn it over to you and you can talk a little bit more kind of on the ins and outs of the health care piece.

But I think the bottom line is, and John said this.

I remember last week, we're not gonna see anything done before the end of the year.

We're just not.

There's not gonna be a proposal that gets enough votes uh in the Senate and the House, and then to go to the president.

But I'll turn it over to John now.

No, I think that really sums it up.

I mean, um, Republicans haven't had a health care plan as an alternative to the Affordable Care Act.

They didn't have one in 2018 and they don't have one in 2025.

Um, you know, the White House had their test balloon that they released probably three weeks ago at this point.

That got shot down almost immediately as Republicans are comfortable voting against the Affordable Care Act.

And the majority of the conference and both the House and the Senate are more than happy to see the um enhanced premium tax credits expire, um, which of course is going to have an impact on their constituents, but uh as a political matter, they have been on the record many times trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act and certainly don't care for uh a tax credit that was passed by the Inflation Reduction Act on a partisan basis in the first place.

Um the White House has not yet attempted to offer an alternative to their framework, um, and with Congress having uh about 11 or 12 days left in their legislative session before the end of the year, there doesn't really seem to be an incentive um to have a Republican alternative.

Um there's a potential tax credit plan that's been kind of floated by Senator Hawley for a future reconciliation package.

Um, but the likelihood that uh set the House and Senate Republicans can get behind a budget resolution and push a uh a second reconciliation package in this current environment.

And I mean, in my opinion, it's fairly low.

Um, there seems to be very little agreement, not only in the health space, but the ability for uh Congress to do a second reconciliation bill, which requires uh additional offsets to be found, many of which were already spoken for during the last uh reconciliation fight in uh July, which concluded in July.

Um, so they uh will continue to kind of spar with each other.

Mr.

Cassidy, who's uh chair of the help committee, will continue to push his uh 2,000 for uh health savings accounts or HSAs.

Um, but even then they've admitted that it's not going to be uh an adequate replacement um to the increased premium costs associated with the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of the year.

Um Mr.

Crapo, who is the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has said that he wants to work in the bipartisan fashion to try to find a solution to this problem.

Um, but that has not really yielded a whole lot of support from the rest of the Republican conference in the Senate and any bipartisan plan that he can even get out of the Senate would likely fall flat in the House with the very thin margins that the House is experiencing in the significance way that any one member can have the likelihood that Mr.

Johnson, who's already in a pretty precarious position as it stands now, as a number of his conference members are not very upset with his leadership, um, turning to Democrats in order to pass a bill that they seem that they see as a democratic priority would be the end of the speakership.

Um, very similar to what we saw with Mr.

McCarthy when there was a revolt in the House of Representatives several years ago.

It was precipitated by the fact that in order to get bills passed, he often had to turn to Democrats in order to get them over the finish line.

Um, and that has been something that Mr.

Johnson has been loathed to do, um, which has led to uh additional gridlock uh between the House and the Senate beyond the OBBA passage and and earlier this year.

Um but happy to answer any questions on kind of the health care front and um hopefully not on the appropriations front because there isn't a whole lot between last time and this time, but um, and of course any any other issue that um additional detail on.

Well, and I'll just note real quick as far as kind of what else they're focused on, it's NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act, and um House and Senate did reach a deal over the weekend, and they released the text of the bill.

This is something I know we talked about uh is traditionally bipartisan passes every year.

Um House, I think is expected to vote on the bill this Thursday.

It sets kind of policy for the Department of Defense and authorization levels of funding.

Um the Senate will take it up next week.

So those will that'll be kind of the last big bill uh that moves before the end of this year.

So that's that's it for our report and happy to answer any questions.

Thank you very much for that report.

Uh, Supervisor Fortune, not about comments or questions.

Just a brief comment.

Uh thank you for the update.

Uh regarding health care, it's just incredibly frustrating.

I think um many of us probably feel like we lost leverage or the Democrats lost leverage when they gave up so quickly uh during the government shutdown.

So here we are uh with this gridlock.

Um shifting gears.

I did want to um thank you, Emily as well as Lynn for joining last Thursday's um act for all meeting.

Really appreciate the update that you shared regarding the public charge rulings and um what to either to our lobbyists or to our staff, has our Alameda County comment letter been submitted for public charge yet?

Not yet.

Okay, um, it's it's my understanding, and someone else can jump in if there's someone from social services or health care services, but it's my understanding that they're working on uh joint comments that the county would then submit.

Terrific.

And um to Chair Tam, do those um those don't necessarily need to be approved by our committee, right?

But those comment letters, is that correct?

Uh generally, if we are uh writing a letter on behalf of the county uh lobbying on a specific bill or procedural change, we do uh have it run through the committee.

Oh, okay.

In that case, is it possible to see it next week, which I believe is our last panel?

Yeah, December 15th, and then we we had some conversations earlier at health committee that there might be another item.

I heard that.

Yes, excuse me, supervisors.

There's uh someone from social services that would like to speak.

Oh, terrific.

Okay.

Oh, hi, good afternoon.

Hi can you all hear me?

Yes, hi.

Uh this is Hanna Hamilton uh with social services agency.

I know Jessica Blake Moore is on the line as well.

We're both policy directors for uh our separate agencies.

Um we are working on a joint uh comment letter and uh it has been approved by our director.

We're um just uh in the process of getting it over to AC Health for their review.

Um, but our our goal was to bring it um to Powell next week as you know, kind of a placeholder so that uh and and put it on uh the regular board meeting as a placeholder uh for Tuesday, so it will be approved on Monday and then brought to the regular meeting on next next Tuesday.

That was the that was the plan that um that we had discussed.

So I'm not yep.

Thank you, Hana.

Really appreciate that update and and and the work to make sure our comments get into the feds.

Yeah, okay.

Thank you for those questions and comments.

Uh uh uh last week, um, Supervisor Fortunato Bass and I, along with Supervisor Marquez and Supervisor Halbert, were at a uh press event uh with Senator Adam Schiff, and he talked about uh the efforts that he's working on with the housing boom.

And I I noticed that they uh include provisions that uh would fund affordable housing in in various forms for um uh especially through the HUD program, and we had uh pretty robust discussion this morning about uh some of the cuts that we're facing at the county, uh, because of the rules and changes with HUD.

Do you know how uh we're tapped into that?

And at some point, are we planning on bringing that uh bill forward for consideration or amendments in terms of uh the county formally taking a position?

I'm asking Amy or anyone.

I'm sorry, can you repeat that, Supervisor?

Uh Senator Schiff's housing boom.

Uh it's called Building Occupancy Opportunities for Millions Act, uh, to expand housing construction through a variety of new measures aimed at rapidly boosting construction of affordable and middle income housing.

Supervisor it's Michelle Spirit, housing director.

Um that's definitely something that my staff are looking at.

And if you'd like us to bring a PAL letter, we can do so.

Okay.

I think it's important for us to also engage if we can.

Some of the our local nonprofits like St.

Mary's in particular wanted to see some amendments on the low-income uh housing tax credits and some provisions that would uh work make it more workable.

Um I'll reach out to Sharon and see what she's speaking about specifically.

Okay, I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

On uh Senator Schiff's uh boom bill, uh Congresswoman Simon mentioned this at the event, and I talked with her as well.

She's introducing sort of the House companion bill.

So I know that she is looking at some potential amendments, including um, you know, working with our labor partners as well.

So I just a note to our lobbyists to perhaps work with both of our representatives in both houses to see how that comes together.

Sure.

I'll reach out to both.

Thank you.

Okay.

Uh and then uh with respect to all that you've reported in terms of the ACA extension and what's happening right now.

I I think um I ironically or not, uh Senator Schiff concurs with about basically your your timing and some of the expectations.

Um, but I think he mentioned that it's even hard to even consider a one-year extension on AC, the Affordable Care Act.

Uh, because you you were talking more about the three-year extension potential.

Um, but he he didn't seem at least on his side of the house, that um would move as um it's not expediently, but uh it would not likely move for next year.

Is that your assessment as well?

Uh yes, there would I mean the likelihood that they're able to pass a one-year extension without any sort of additional policy changes out of the Senate would be fairly low.

Part of the problem is if they were if Republicans are going to put a health care bill on the floor that extend the tax credits.

There will likely be two provisions that they would request that be attached to it.

Number one would be a level uh income cap, and number two, it'd be some something similar to uh high amendment provision, which prohibits federal funding from uh funding any abortion services.

Um because you know, you can't because the height amendment is attached to Medicaid dollars, that is a uh standard as apply to federal funding to the Medicaid program to use for abortion services, they would want essentially that to be expanded to any policyholder that has uh an affordable care act plan that is provided federal subsidy.

Um of course, if you attach any sort of hide amendment like language to uh that provision, there's no democratic support or very little democratic support that you're going to get out of the Senate, and it will follow a similar trajectory to a one-year extension, a three-year extension.

Um so forth.

So there's a it's a it's it's still difficult.

Um, there was a plan originally um to have something similar, have a side-by-side, um, have a Republican version of a democratic version, but Republicans still can't get uh agreement on what that Republican version looks like, which is why they're voting on just the Democratic alternative, which is a three-year extension.

Okay.

Thank you for that confirmation, though not very optimistic, obviously.

So I have no other questions or other questions or public comments on our federal legislative update.

There are no speakers.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Uh, let's move to the state legislative update from Full Moon Strategies.

Good afternoon, Amy Costa with Full Moon Strategies.

Um late last week, California launched a new online portal uh to help the public report potential misconduct by federal agents, an effort that was jointly announced by the governor and the attorney general late last week.

In our written POW report, we will include a link to both the press release as well as the online portal.

The tool allows Californians to submit photos and videos documenting suspected unlawful actions and is intended to support the California Department of Justice in tracking improper behavior and informing possible legal challenges to protect Californians' rights.

State leaders condemned recent federal enforcement tactics, emphasizing that while federal agents may enforce federal law, they must do so constitutionally.

Officials stressed that filing a report does not guarantee legal action and reminded the public that the attorney general cannot provide legal representation to individuals that might be impacted by these enforcement actions.

The announcement comes as California continues its extensive legal pushback against the Trump administration.

As I reported last week, we have at least 48 lawsuits, some of which have secured significant rulings protecting state funding, constitutional right, and due process.

The state also highlighted ongoing efforts to shield communities from aggressive federal immigration practices and enacting protections for schools, hospitals, child care centers, and other more sensitive locations, and reaffirmed its commitment to defending Californians from policies it's used as harmful, unlawful, and disruptive to public safety and community trust.

In other legal news, the Attorney General also announced that he filed an amicus brief opposing the Trump administration's emergency appeal of a preliminary injection that blocks the deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, DC, and seven other states without DC's consent.

Leading a coalition of 22 attorney generals and three governors, Banta argues that deploying the National Guard for domestic policing without authorization is unlawful, unconstitutional, and contrary to longstanding American principles that limit military involvement in civilian affairs.

Signing California's own experience, which we've reported previously as the first state to undergo such deployment, Bonta warns that the sustained military presence has instilled fear in communities, harmed local economies, undermined trust and law enforcement, and diverted National Guard members away from essential missions like wildfire response and fit null interdictions.

The coalition urges the U.S.

Court of Appeals for the DC circuit to uphold the lower court's ruling, stressing that the National Guard troops are neither trained nor equipped for civilian law enforcement, and that their use in this manner violates the constitutional balance between federal and state authority.

Bonta emphasized that the president's unprecedented use of the guard to police American cities endangers communities and disrupts critical functions, calling for an end to what he described as an unlawful and harmful misuse of military power.

And last week, the legislative analyst or the LAO released a blog that California's income tax withholding continues to be significantly influenced by the rise of stock-based compensation at some of these major uh technology companies.

New data shows that tech companies' stock pay has driven more than one quarter of withholding growth in the first quarter of 25-26.

As the AI boom accelerates, stock prices at firms such as Apple, Google, NVIDIA, Broadcam, and Meta are now collectively valued at $15 trillion.

The LAO notes, including California's other large technology firms, the state's tech companies make up more than 60% of the total value of the NASDAQ 100 index, which is a list of the 100 most valuable companies listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

Along with the rise in these tech companies, many of these companies provide employees with stock options as part of their total compensation package for employees.

As part of that, many employees are offering what's known as a restricted stock unit or an RSU, which is when a company makes installment stock payments to the employees.

This type of compensation actually requires the employers to pay withholding.

It has become a major contributor to state revenues, accounting for roughly 10% of all income tax withholdings in the state, or nearly $10 billion annually.

But we're now seeing that RSU's withholding has surged back to record levels similar to gains we saw previously in 2024.

And of course, the more the state's revenues, whether it's through stock withholdings or capital gains is buoyed by the stock market, the more volatile those overall revenues have become.

And so again, we're just seeing a high concentration in that particular sector, which I think has some budget watchers a little bit nervous, given that it's not a diversity of revenue sources and it's highly concentrated in stock market activity, which we all know can be quite volatile.

With that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Questions, comments?

Thanks for the update, Amy.

Um I also saw the um announcement from the governor and the AG about the online portal.

So it's good to be collecting that information.

Um it's good to make sure that the federal government knows that our community is watching them.

So we'll see how that um all unfolds.

Um I don't think I have any specific questions.

I know that there are deadlines coming up, I believe in January and February for the next round of legislation.

Is it too early to tell what might be of interest to the county, or are there any two-year bills that are worth us taking a closer look at?

So in our PAL report, we will have a list of all of the two-year bills in which the county already has taken a position through this committee and through the full board.

Uh, you're right, those will be some of our first deadlines when the legislature reconvenes.

Um, and the big deadline is that any of those two-year bills must pass their house of origin by January 31st.

Um, and so that'll be the first tranche of bills that are heard.

Um, and so we have a full list in our PAL reports of those.

Um, and the majority of them that the county has a support position.

There's only two in which the county has an opposed position.

One uh dealing with law enforcement immigration enforcement uh by Senator Jones, and another dealing with needle and syringe exchange services uh in the assembly.

Uh, all the rest are support positions.

Thank you for that.

Um, and Chair Tam, I did watch the health or I listened and watched the health committee meeting this morning, and I am supportive of the action that you and Supervisor Miley discussed in terms of a potential bill in the future.

Amy Costa, do you know what we're talking about?

I do.

I'm just waiting formal uh direction to go ahead and do that, but I am aware of that discussion and uh because what we're contemplating would be a new bill, we have a little bit more time to get that into legislative council, find an author, etc.

Okay, thank you.

Appreciate that.

The only question I had um is more broader.

Uh so the county often gets asked uh through the public rights project to sign on to Amika's briefs, and I know during the Trump administration the first time around, uh, there were a number of lawsuits that were filed as well, and I think uh the state was successful in a majority of this.

Are you seeing uh similar trends with the amount of lawsuits that we filed against the Trump administration or on some of these issues that have been forthcoming?

And what's do we have a sense of our success rate so far?

I don't have a percentage basis.

I don't know if Emily or John do.

I mean, I will say what is interesting to me is I often note that we're joining 22 other attorney generals.

So it's as in 22 states that are really moving kind of as a group in many of these lawsuits.

And I do think, you know, certainly both the governor and our attorney general feel like in some pretty significant cases.

We have seen success.

That's fair.

I appreciate it.

So I have no other questions or comments.

Are there questions or speakers on the state legislative update?

There are no speakers on this item.

Thank you.

Do we have any public comment on items that are not on today's agenda, but within the jurisdiction of PAO?

There are no speakers for public comment either.

Okay, and will our large audience online.

Please identify yourself so we can appreciate your participation.

Valerie.

Yes, good afternoon, Valerie Yarkin, Supervisor Minley's office.

Jessica.

Good afternoon, Jessica Blake, more Alameda County Health.

Diana.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

This is Deanna Garcia with the first five Alameda County.

Elvia.

Elvia Quiroga, Alameda County Treasurer Tax Collector's Office.

Jessica Montes.

Good afternoon, Jessica Montes with Alameda County Community Food Bank.

Thank you.

Serena.

Serena Chen with Supervisor Tam's office.

And lastly, Hanna.

But that was Hannah Almaden with Social Services Agency.

And that's all.

Thank you very much for your participation.

This meeting is adjourned.

Happy holidays, everyone.

Thank you, you too.