Mon, Jan 5, 2026·Alameda County, California·Board of Supervisors

Alameda County PAL Committee Meeting — January 5, 2026

Discussion Breakdown

Healthcare Services55%
Fiscal Sustainability29%
Procedural8%
Personnel Matters6%
Water And Wastewater Management2%

Summary

Alameda County PAL Committee Meeting — January 5, 2026

The Personnel Administration and Legislation (PAL) Committee convened to receive federal and state legislative updates (with an emphasis on looming federal appropriations deadlines and health care financing impacts), and to take action on proposed state legislation amending the Health & Safety Code related to Alameda Health System (AHS) governance.

Discussion Items

  • Federal legislative update (CJ Lake)

    • Staff reported Congress returned for the second session of the 119th Congress, with the continuing resolution expiring January 30 and several FY26 appropriations bills still outstanding.
    • Staff noted a bipartisan bicameral minibus including Interior/Environment, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Energy/Water; the House was expected to vote later in the week.
    • Project description: Congressman Swalwell included $1 million for the County’s Livermore Sewer Extension Project.
    • Staff discussed the expiration of enhanced ACA premium tax credits (expired January 1), the House’s anticipated action on an extension via discharge petition, and uncertainty about Senate action.
    • Project description: Staff reported the HRSA 340B pilot rebate program was paused after a federal judge found insufficient consideration of impacts on safety-net hospitals.
    • Supervisor positions/questions:
      • Supervisor Fortunato Bass asked for updates and requested staff keep on their radar the reported freeze/pausing of federal child care funds tied to alleged abuse in Minnesota, due to potential impacts on California and Alameda County.
      • Supervisor Fortunato Bass expressed concern about near-term premium impacts from uncertainty around ACA subsidy extension.
  • State legislative update (Full Moon Strategies)

    • Staff reported the Legislature reconvened and summarized Senate leadership/committee assignments, including Budget Chair John Laird, Appropriations Chair Cervantes, and Alameda County delegation roles (e.g., Senator Wahab chairing Business/Professions/Economic Development; Senator Arreguín chairing Housing and Public Safety).
    • Staff stated health care policy and financing would dominate California’s 2026 agenda in response to HR 1 and projected program impacts; multiple revenue ballot initiatives were noted (including extension of Prop 30/55-related revenues and proposals for new revenue).
    • Project description: Staff summarized a Dec. 29 federal court ruling permitting Medicaid data sharing (basic personal information) regarding undocumented immigrants with ICE starting January 6, while barring more sensitive health records.
    • Supervisor positions/questions:
      • Supervisor Fortunato Bass asked for early insight into how the Governor’s forthcoming budget might address health care funding challenges.
      • Supervisor Fortunato Bass asked about the Governor’s stated concerns/opposition to a proposed billionaire tax, and staff relayed reporting that he cited potential competitive disadvantage and questioned labor alignment.
      • Supervisor Fortunato Bass asked whether labor concerns (including Prop 98 treatment/allocation structure) could be addressed in initiative language; staff said it could potentially be resolved in text.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • On proposed AHS governance/Health & Safety Code amendments
    • John Lizzie Pulland (public commenter) raised concerns that the proposal materials did not explain intent or operational impacts, especially in the context of announced AHS layoffs of more than 300 staff, and asked for more clarity on how reforms would address short- and long-term problems.
    • Casey (AHS employee) expressed concern and opposition to the current layoff process, stating layoffs appear preemptive and could severely reduce outpatient services and degrade access (including therapy services). The speaker urged delaying layoffs and suggested Board of Supervisors involvement could potentially spare jobs.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved: Sponsor/advance proposed state legislation amending the Health & Safety Code related to AHS governance (action item)
    • AHS position: Jeanette Dong (AHS Chief Public Affairs Officer) requested that AHS co-sponsor the legislation with the County to complete ad hoc governance committee recommendations.
    • Committee discussion clarified the proposal was intended to enable governance reforms associated with two previously discussed options:
      • Option A (hybrid governance): Board of Supervisors authority over AHS budget and CEO hiring/firing; Board of Trustees authority over operations.
      • Option B: allowing the Board of Supervisors to appoint a supervisor (or representative) to the Board of Trustees.
    • Clarifications (County Counsel/AHS):
      • Language allowing operation through corporations/joint ventures/partnerships was described as supporting affiliations such as St. Rose, maintaining “private character” for stated financial/IGT-related advantages.
      • County Counsel stated the Board had selected Option A to proceed with, and that legislation would provide discretion regarding the governing body structure.
      • Staff noted legislative drafting would be finalized through Legislative Counsel and subject to public review timelines (including the bill-in-print period).
    • Vote: Motion to forward to the full Board passed (2–0) (Supervisor Tam: Aye; Supervisor Fortunato Bass: Aye).
    • Next step: Item to be heard by the full Board of Supervisors at its next meeting.

Public Comment on Non-Agendized Items

  • None.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon and happy new year. Welcome to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors Personnel Administration and Legislation Committee meeting for Monday, January the 5th, 2026. Aborrow call, please. Supervisor Fortnite. Present. Present. We have a quorum. Thank you. You need to go through instructions on participation with MS teams. Sure. And for all participants, please state your name for the record prior to your comment. If you wish to speak on a matter not on the agenda, please wait until Supervisor Lena Tam calls for public input on non-agendized items. Only matters within the committee's jurisdiction may be addressed. To notify the clerk that you wish to speak, please listen closely to the following for in-person participants. Please fill out a speaker card at the front of the room and hand it to the clerk. The clerk will call your name to allow you to speak at the podium. For online participants, please use the raise hand function at the bottom of the screen during the item of which you would like to speak. The clerk will call your name and allow you to unmute when it is your turn. For dialed in participants, please dial star five. That's star five to raise and or lower your hand. The clerk will allow you to unmute when it is your turn. If you no longer wish to speak, lower your hand on Microsoft Teams or simply notify the clerk that you no longer wish to speak when it is your turn. Thank you. Thank you very much. We will start with the federal legislation update from CJ Lake. Uh thank you, Supervisor. And I think uh Emily is waiting to get her uh presentation like certification or designation so that she can unmute and be on camera. Sorry about that, Emily. Go ahead. There we go. Emily, do you want me to kick it off or do you want to take the lead? Okay, sounds good. Uh so welcome back. Uh and welcome to 2026. Uh Congress is back in session this week after a lengthy uh holiday recess. Um the Senate came back today and the house will gavel in tomorrow uh as the second session in the 119th Congress starts. Um as we typically start off with, there are a number of deadlines uh that are approaching early in the year that Congress will have to meet, the first of which is of course the FY26 uh appropriations process and the expiration of the continuing resolution uh which expires on January 30th, um, leaving Congress only three and a half weeks to address the remaining FY26 appropriations bills or pass uh an additional continuing resolution. Um just as a reminder in late 2025 when the government reopened, Congress enacted a funding minibus uh that provided uh federal funding through the end of the fiscal year for the ag milcon VA and ledge branch appropriations bills, uh but the remaining nine appropriations bills remained under continuing resolution. Uh and then just this morning, uh three additional appropriations bills uh were released on a bicameral bipartisan basis. This is for the interior environment, the commerce, justice, and science, and the energy and water bills. Um, they have been released today, and the house will likely vote on the measure Thursday, uh and then the Senate will pick it up shortly thereafter, uh, most likely next week, but it's not uh yet sure. Of course, that remains uh six additional uh appropriations bills uh that need to get passed, which include the labor age and defense and tea bills. Um, the defense bill uh was previously close to getting an agreement, um, but of course, the operations in Venezuela uh last weekend are going to most likely complicate uh passage of that bill quickly, and that bill is often tied with the labor age bill. Um, and it basically accounts for about 85% of the total federal budget. Um, outside of that, uh, once the appropriations process takes place uh for FY26, Congress will then start to address the FY27 appropriations process. Okay, we were already going through that, where members and senators from on both sides are going to start opening up their portals for programmatic and congressionally directed spending requests. Emily, I'll pause there in case there's anything that I miss on the apprope side before we move on to our next two topics. Sure. That was released this morning, and it seems like this minibus will pass with bipartisan support. I don't want to jinx it, but it seems like it'll, as you said, pass the House later this week and then move over to the Senate.