Meeting colors

OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Ramsey County Board Workshop on 2026 Legislative Platforms – September 23, 2025

Board of Commissioners & Authorities — Tuesday, September 23, 2025

BodyRamsey County, Minnesota

SessionBoard of Commissioners & Authorities

DateTuesday, September 23, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:28:00

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

Um the chair.

0:02

Yeah.

0:03

Hello everyone.

0:04

Welcome to the Ramsey County Board Workshop on the uh development of our 2026 state and federal legislative platform.

0:12

I'm really excited that this is a really important work.

0:15

So I wanted to make sure everyone was was here for it.

0:18

And so um we are a reminder that this board workshop is being recorded and it's live stream on Zoom webinar.

0:27

So there will be other people listening.

0:30

There will be no votes taken during this workshop.

0:32

This is our first of two workshops on our legislative platform.

0:36

And there won't be any votes on this one.

0:38

And we're gonna start with introduction of uh the people in the room.

0:43

So Mary Joe McGuire, Commissioner District 2 and chair of the legislative team, and my uh vice chair is Marina Moran.

0:55

Good afternoon, bringing away and county commissioner, district four.

0:59

Lynn Becker County Manager.

1:01

Hi, Jennifer Rourke, Director of Government Relations.

1:04

Death New Maris Rabia, Chief of Staff.

1:06

Uh Kelly Miller, County Commissioner District 7.

1:09

Garrison McMurchard Commissioner District 3.

1:12

Hi Changshan, Commissioner District 6.

1:14

Ralph Fajon Monteger, District 5.

1:16

Tar Devon Singh, uh County Commissioner, District 1.

1:20

Excellent.

1:20

And then you're saying acts.

1:26

Larry for my policy thought.

1:35

A commissioner.

1:36

Michael Campbell, AT Commissioner.

1:38

Lindsay Gnarard, senior policy analyst.

1:41

Jan Hammer, senior policy analyst.

1:44

Josh Olsen, community and economic development.

1:47

Mary Collins, Deputy County Manager, Economic Brown, Investment.

1:51

Well, Mr.

1:52

George Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at Gothic.

2:06

Amy Watson economics.

2:08

Wonderful.

2:09

Thank you everyone for being here.

2:11

This is, as I said, really important work.

2:14

And this is like I said, the first of a workshop in our platform.

2:17

The second workshop will be scheduled for October 21st.

2:21

So we'll have some time between now and then to do any edit editing and amending of the things that we want to that we want to do in this legislative session.

2:30

So we've all been doing budget hearings these last five days, and we know how how many times have we said we really need resources for the work that we do, the work that we're required to do, the work that we're mandated to do.

2:40

And this is a meeting where we can really come up with those specific platforms where we talk to the legislators and tell them what we what resources we need to do what they require us to do.

2:52

So we will be taking a final vote on this platform on November uh 18th.

2:58

So we have a great team of our government relations here.

3:03

We're got director Jenna Rourke, she's going to lead us off, and then both Amy Wazilwick and Jolie Wood will be here to answer any questions.

3:11

And we've also got Maria Sarabia, who is going to maybe I'm handing it over to you first.

3:18

Okay.

3:18

And so today is about having a good discussion, answering any questions, really um talking about the things that we want to see in our platform.

3:26

So if we don't, you know, if we um don't uh this is the time to talk about all of that.

3:34

So uh with that, um we are gonna turn it off to the director or deputy county manager.

3:41

Wait, what's the staff chief of stab changes over the years?

3:44

Chief of staff.

3:45

Okay.

3:47

Yes, thank you, madam chair.

3:48

Thank you, um board and then the county uh county manager.

3:53

So I'm here today to help uh jump us off with the conversation.

3:57

This has been a work in progress, and I just want to acknowledge the team, Jennifer, Amy, and Jolie putting in a lot of work and a lot of time, as well as the support and leadership of our county directors across departments have put in a lot of work and time to be a little bit more coordinated, to be more organized, to be having more forethought in terms of how we approach this next session.

4:21

Um, this is again as uh madam chair has stated an update and an overview, and we're gonna preview what we think could become the final legislative platform.

4:32

Um, and while I'll say that, I'll just also acknowledge that there's a lot of efforts happening in terms of the platform, but underneath the platform, there is a big need and huge lift across our entire system around that intergovernmental partnerships.

4:46

And so you all have been in all of the budget hearings.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Governance Structure████████████████████████████████32%

Community Engagement███████████████████████████████31%

Public Engagement██████████████14%

Technology and Innovation████████8%

Homelessness████4%

Procedural██2%

Budget Equity Analysis██2%

Public Health██2%

Mental Health Awareness██2%

Summary of Proceedings

Ramsey County Board Workshop on 2026 State and Federal Legislative Platforms – September 23, 2025

The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners held a workshop on September 23, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. in Courthouse Room 220 to discuss the development of the 2026 state and federal legislative platforms. The workshop was the first of two; no votes were taken. The second workshop is scheduled for October 21, 2025, with final approval expected at the November 18, 2025 board meeting. The meeting was recorded and live-streamed via Zoom.

Discussion Items

Process Overview: Director of Government Relations Jennifer Rourke explained that the platform development process started from scratch, using new Legislative Platform Advisory Teams (LPATs) composed of internal staff. Nine LPATs met two to three times each, covering topics such as financial services, community development, health and human services, and public safety.
Commissioner Priorities: Staff summarized themes from one-on-one meetings with commissioners, including the need to address unfunded mandates, protect counties from further cuts, ensure counties are at the table for policy/service delivery changes, and find a financial fix for Ramsey County’s disproportionate burden from the County Program Aid (CPA) formula—possibly using a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) approach.
Community and Partner Engagement: Chief of Staff Maria Sarabia highlighted ongoing engagement with the City of St. Paul, other Ramsey County cities, the Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC), and various advisory councils. A meeting with city administrators is planned for November 2025.
Legislative Delegation Meeting: On September 11, 2025, about 14 of 25 legislators attended a Zoom meeting where Ramsey County presented its proposed budget. Legislators requested more detailed sessions on specific topics (e.g., property tax, CPA/PILT, transportation, housing).
Key Issues Raised by Commissioners:
- Unfunded Mandates: Commissioner Jevins noted the capital security burden on the Sheriff’s Department.
- Modernization of State Systems: Commissioners discussed the need for state funding and policy changes to update aging technology (e.g., SNAP, Medicaid systems). A demonstration of system inefficiencies is planned for October 29, 2025, in partnership with AMC.
- Property Tax Relief: Automatic property tax relief was mentioned as a policy goal.
- Bonding Requests: Commissioner Zhang raised the need to sift through community and departmental bonding requests.
- Federal Earmarks: Director Rourke indicated work is underway with federal lobbying consultants to identify potential Community Project Funding (CPF) earmarks for 2027, focusing on areas like opioid/fentanyl response.
Strategy for 2026 Session: Commissioners emphasized the need for a focused, slim platform given the short session (a policy and bonding year) and the 2026 midterm election environment. They discussed using “lead” vs. “support” designations and assigning commissioners as subject-matter leads for key issues.
Mental Health and Gun Violence: Commissioner Jevins requested that mental health be separated from gun violence in the platform, noting that people with mental illness are more often victims than perpetrators.
Top Issues So Far: The draft list includes CPA/PILT, downtown revitalization, public safety, mental health, gun violence, local control, and bonding requests.

Key Outcomes

Next Workshop: The second workshop on the legislative platform will be held on October 21, 2025, at which a more refined draft will be presented.
Final Approval: The board will vote on the final platform at its November 18, 2025 meeting.
Legislative Engagement: A series of “hot topic” seminars with legislators is planned, likely on Thursdays, covering four to five topics. Commissioners are encouraged to attend and to share their ideas with the Government Relations team.
AMC Priority Setting: Commissioners will vote on AMC’s priorities at the District 10 meeting on November 3, 2025. The board will discuss strategy at its October 21 workshop.
Internal Refinement: Staff will continue to work with deputy county managers and department directors to finalize the list of top issues and ensure alignment with the budget process.

Meeting Transcript

Um the chair. Yeah. Hello everyone. Welcome to the Ramsey County Board Workshop on the uh development of our 2026 state and federal legislative platform. I'm really excited that this is a really important work. So I wanted to make sure everyone was was here for it. And so um we are a reminder that this board workshop is being recorded and it's live stream on Zoom webinar. So there will be other people listening. There will be no votes taken during this workshop. This is our first of two workshops on our legislative platform. And there won't be any votes on this one. And we're gonna start with introduction of uh the people in the room. So Mary Joe McGuire, Commissioner District 2 and chair of the legislative team, and my uh vice chair is Marina Moran. Good afternoon, bringing away and county commissioner, district four. Lynn Becker County Manager. Hi, Jennifer Rourke, Director of Government Relations. Death New Maris Rabia, Chief of Staff. Uh Kelly Miller, County Commissioner District 7. Garrison McMurchard Commissioner District 3. Hi Changshan, Commissioner District 6. Ralph Fajon Monteger, District 5. Tar Devon Singh, uh County Commissioner, District 1. Excellent. And then you're saying acts. Larry for my policy thought. A commissioner. Michael Campbell, AT Commissioner. Lindsay Gnarard, senior policy analyst. Jan Hammer, senior policy analyst. Josh Olsen, community and economic development. Mary Collins, Deputy County Manager, Economic Brown, Investment. Well, Mr. George Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at Gothic. Amy Watson economics. Wonderful. Thank you everyone for being here. This is, as I said, really important work. And this is like I said, the first of a workshop in our platform. The second workshop will be scheduled for October 21st. So we'll have some time between now and then to do any edit editing and amending of the things that we want to that we want to do in this legislative session. So we've all been doing budget hearings these last five days, and we know how how many times have we said we really need resources for the work that we do, the work that we're required to do, the work that we're mandated to do. And this is a meeting where we can really come up with those specific platforms where we talk to the legislators and tell them what we what resources we need to do what they require us to do. So we will be taking a final vote on this platform on November uh 18th. So we have a great team of our government relations here. We're got director Jenna Rourke, she's going to lead us off, and then both Amy Wazilwick and Jolie Wood will be here to answer any questions. And we've also got Maria Sarabia, who is going to maybe I'm handing it over to you first. Okay. And so today is about having a good discussion, answering any questions, really um talking about the things that we want to see in our platform. So if we don't, you know, if we um don't uh this is the time to talk about all of that. So uh with that, um we are gonna turn it off to the director or deputy county manager.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI

TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com