Almy County Board of Supervisors Personnel Administration and Legislation Committee Meeting - March 9, 2026
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Almy County Board of Supervisors Personnel Administration and Legislation Committee Meeting - March 9, 2026\n\nThe Personnel Administration and Legislation (PAL) Committee met on Monday, March 9, 2026, to receive updates on federal and state legislative developments. The meeting included a federal update from CJ Lake and a state update from Full Moon Strategies, followed by questions from supervisors. No public comments were made on agendized items. The committee voted to recommend a request from AC Health to the full Board of Supervisors.\n\n### Federal Legislative Update\n- John Asini of CJ Lake reported on the current congressional landscape. The Senate is in session; the House is out for a Republican policy retreat at Trump National Doral in Miami, focused on midterm election strategy amid the ongoing U.S. war with Iran. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) remains unfunded in its third government shutdown, and former DHS Secretary Christy Noem was ousted.\n- House leadership projects confidence in retaining its slim 218-to-214 majority but faces challenges passing partisan legislation, including a potential second reconciliation bill on housing and health care. No clear direction from the White House on reconciliation exists.\n- The White House is expected to request tens of billions in supplemental Pentagon funding for the Iran conflict, which may dominate the retreat agenda. Some Republicans want to add farm aid and disaster relief, risking tension with fiscal conservatives.\n- On the Senate side, President Trump is pressuring passage of the Save America Act (requiring photo ID and proof of citizenship to vote), but Senate Republicans are unwilling to change filibuster rules to pass it. No support exists within the Senate Republican conference for such a rule change.\n- Senator Mark Wayne Mullin is expected to be confirmed as DHS Secretary soon; confirmation hearings have not yet been scheduled.\n- The Senate continues work on the Road to Housing Act, a bipartisan housing package. Senators Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren released a substitute amendment (21st Century Road to Housing Act) on March 2. The Senate voted 84-6 to limit debate on the motion to proceed, then 90-8 to advance the measure. House Financial Services Chair French Hill warned the House is not ready to back the Senate version, raising the prospect of a conference committee.\n- The House Agriculture Committee passed the 2026 Farm Bill by a 37-17 bipartisan vote after a 20-hour markup with over 100 amendments. Several adopted amendments affect SNAP and county governments. However, the bill faces a difficult path due to narrow margins, disputes over reconciliation, and election-year politics. No action is anticipated from the Senate.\n- Q&A: Supervisor Portunova Bath asked about DHS funding scenarios. Asini noted no clear path forward; TSA sickouts are increasing wait times as unpaid status enters week three. The firing of Noem and nomination of Mullin may provide an off-ramp, but no breakthroughs yet. Supervisor Bath also asked about war powers resolutions and the Iran supplemental. Both war powers resolutions failed; an AUMF vote is not scheduled. The White House is requesting $50 billion in additional defense aid for Iran, which will be a major point of contention. Asini agreed to provide a list of farm bill SNAP amendments.\n\n### State Legislative Update\n- Amy Costa of Full Moon Strategies provided the state update. Policy committee hearings have begun for bills meeting the 30-day in-print requirement. Departments should review the weekly bill report for county impacts.\n- Attorney General Rob Bonta joined a 22-state coalition filing an amicus brief supporting Pennsylvania and New Jersey lawsuits against Trump administration regulations that expanded religious and moral exemptions to no-cost contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The coalition argues the regulations harm access to birth control, especially for women of color and low-income individuals.\n- The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) released a report on county administration impacts of HR1, focusing on Medi-Cal and CalFresh. The report highlights that new work requirements (community engagement) are expected to lower enrollment. Counties are responsible for eligibility determination and redetermination, and the LAO recommends directing counties to report on error rate drivers and strategies. The LAO also suggests automating some processes to reduce disenrollment and proposes temporary additional funding for administrative burdens until the full impact of HR1 is known. The LAO calls for a revision to the Medi-Cal budgeting process to link funding more directly to county workload.\n- The LAO also released a Medi-Cal analysis noting the program serves roughly 14.5 million Californians. Growth in managed care, pharmacy costs, and Medicare-related payments, along with shifts toward seniors and people with disabilities, are the main cost drivers.\n- Political update: State Senator Calderon declined to run for Insurance Commissioner, citing timing, finances, and family. His announcement followed California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks urging consolidation. Election data expert Paul Mitchell estimates a 25% chance that two Republican candidates could advance to the general election.\n- Full Moon Strategies released a 2026 ballot initiative tracker. Signatures for initiatives must be submitted by June 25, 2026, to qualify for the November ballot. Amy Costa will report back on the certification deadline.\n- Q&A: Supervisor Bath asked about state relief for public hospitals. Costa noted that CSAC and county affiliates will put forward a proposal on HR1 impacts within two weeks. Two revenue measures gaining traction: a tax on employers with many employees in safety net services (the "Walmart tax," possibly carried by Assemblymember Mia Bonta) and a "Water’s Edge" corporate tax. A coalition led by SEIU and labor partners will launch on Wednesday March 11. Costa will provide more details. Supervisor Bath also asked for clarification on LAO recommendations for administrative funding. Costa explained the LAO identified counties’ key role but noted the governor's budget does not include additional funding for the HR1 administrative burden, and the current Medi-Cal administrative cost determination method may be insufficient.\n\n### Key Outcomes\n- No public comments were received on either the federal or state legislative updates.\n- Supervisor Portunova Bath moved to recommend "this request from AC Health to the full board of supervisors." The committee approved and adjourned. No further details on the AC Health request were provided in the transcript.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon and welcome to the Almy County Board of Supervisors Personnel Administration and Legislation Committee meeting for Monday, March the 9th, 2026. May you have a roll call, please. Supervisor Portonona Bath. Supervisor Cam. Present. Thank you, Mark Oran. Do you need to go through instructions on participation with this new system? 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 the supervisor TAM calls for public input on non-agendized items only matters within the committee's jurisdiction may be addressed. Do you 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 for doubt and participants. Please dial star five to raise and 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'll start with the federal legislation update from CJ Lake. Thank you, Supervisor. You have John Asini from CJ Lake, and I believe Emily is also on the line listening in. To start off us on the schedule, the Senate's in session this week and the House is out of session. Both chambers will return to DC next week. Republicans are out at Durrale this week for their policy retreat. They are gathering at Trump National Durrale in Miami for their three-day retreat to plan the midterm election strategy. And essentially hoping to mirror Donald Trump's 2024 success. But of course, the context has shifted dramatically as the U.S. is currently embroidered in a war with Iran. The Department of Home and Security remains unfunded amid a third government shutdown and former DHS Secretary Christy Gnome was recently ousted after some uh major controversies last week. Despite the turmoil, House leadership is outwardly projecting confidence to its members about retaining their slim majority and discussions will center largely on refining their campaign messaging and exploring a second reconciliation bill that will be focused on housing and health care, but with only a two eighteen to two fourteen majority. Speaker Johnson faces a very steep challenge in passing partisan legislation. And there isn't really any uh direction from the White House on what they would want to see on a reconciliation bill, nor is there really any policy push coming directly from House committees on what could be included in another partisan package. This has only been further complicated by the shortening legislative calendar uh over the course of the year uh and the lack of support in the Senate. Um, the White House is expected to request tens of billions of dollars in supplemental Pentagon funding, um, which will likely dominate the retreat agenda. And many Republicans want to expand that package to include other items, including additional farm aid and disaster relief funding, which could spark tension with fiscal conservatives that would like to see that attained to just defense spending. The retreat also serves as a chance for the party to confront internal divisions and balance election year strategy, legislative ambition, and competing spending priorities. And we do anticipate um some sort of clarity coming out of the retreat, but sometimes they don't often uh are able to reach some sort of consensus. Uh on the Senate side, um, the Senate is continuing to feel pressure from President Trump uh over the Save America Act. In a truth social post on Sunday, Trump declared that he would not sign any legislation until the Save America Act was passed by the Senate. Um, this bill was passed by the House several months ago. Um, Trump also demanded that several addition provisions additional provisions be added to the measure beyond requiring photo ID and proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, including uh significant curbs on mail-in ballots and a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Um, of course, the Senate would have to change the filibuster rules in order to pass the House measure. And so far, Senator Thune and uh a good number of his members have been unwilling to do that. Uh, there currently is not support within the Senate Republican conference to change filibuster rules, and they don't see this as really the opportunity to make such a rule change, especially considering the slid majority in the House and the real lack of legislative agreement in the Senate. And generally goes against the general ethos of the Republican Party when it comes down to states' abilities to carry on their own elections. Outside of the Save America Act, the Senate will likely be taking moves to confirm Senator Mark Wayne Mullen to serve as the Homeland Security Secretary. Though that is not being happening this week, it will happen sometime in the near future. But they do anticipate a quick confirmation for the Senator as he has been able to get the uh support of many of his Republican colleagues and at least one Democrat John Fetterman who have already voiced support for him. Of course, last week, um Department of Homeland Security Secretary Christy Gnome was fired from her job alongside uh Corey Lewendowski for uh a series of controversies over the past couple of months as her tenure and a lackluster performance before um the Senate uh and the House committees on judiciary and Homeland Security, respectively.
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