the personal administration and legislation committee, shall come to order. Suivisor. the meeting of the personnel administration and legislation committee shall come to order. So, advisor, fortunate, the best present. So, advisor, Tam, excused. Okay. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us. Let's go to our first item. Good afternoon. You've got Emily and John with CJA Lake here to report on what's happening at the federal level. As far as the schedule for this week, both chambers are in session and President Trump will give an address to the nation at a joint session of Congress tomorrow night. This is in lieu of a state of the union. Every president does this when they first take office because they haven't been in long enough to give an actual state of the union. So they give an address to a joint session. So that will occur tomorrow. I know we've been talking a lot about reconciliation and the budget resolution and what's next. And so last week when we reported to you all, the house was, we were anticipating the house to take up their budget resolution. I believe it was on Tuesday. Ultimately, the budget resolution did pass the house. It looks very different than what the Senate passed. And again, we've talked about kind of the skinnier package for lack of a better term that the Senate passed. Now the House and Senate leadership need to reach an agreement on which track they plan to take because they will need to pass a compromised budget resolution through both chambers before they can move to budget reconciliation. And again, the budget resolution, what they will ultimately pass will give instructions to the various committees. for instance, for instance, with ways and means and finance, it will be to pass or extend the tax cuts from 2017. There will also be attempts to how do you pay for those? And so I know we've talked a lot about instructions to the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid. It won't say the budget resolutions that passed didn't say specifically any cuts to Medicaid, but it talked about amount of cuts that Energy and Commerce would need to find. And when you are looking for that amount of cuts close to a trillion dollars, it's thought that unless there are cuts to Medicaid, you just can't get there. Again, we're waiting to see what the negotiations, kind of the path that they take only because a number of Senate Republicans have said that they don't want to go as deep in cut. So again, it's going to be a back and forth. It's going to take quite a bit of time. Even though they haven't reached a deal yet on a budget resolution, House Ways and Means Committee, Republicans have said they will start to hold some meetings in the next couple of weeks as they kind of plan out how they want the tax section to look. At the same time, we keep talking about appropriations and of course we've been talking about the March 14th deadline. That's when the current FY25 continuing resolution expires, which is next Friday. At this point, it's inevitable that there will be some sort of continuing resolution. I think the question is what that length will be. Speaker Mike Johnson, has said he wants a queen continuing resolution through the end of the fiscal year, so that would run through September 30th. We've also heard rumors that if they can't reach an agreement on on six-month extension to the end of the year, there could just be a one-month to avoid a government shutdown and then they would work on a deal to get us to the end of the year. But I think the big takeaway from all of this is that the FY25 spending bills as previously written, They will not be finalized and we will be looking at some sort of continuing resolution at FY24 levels. John, I don't know if you have anything to add on reconciliation or a preps, but I'll turn it over to you. I think on a probe, just a big question for the purposes of the county is the future of earmarks. Of course, FY25 earmarks are likely to not be included in any continuing resolution. It's very unusual to have, well, first it's unusual to have a year-long CR. That has never happened before, and it's even more unusual for any sort of congratulate direct spending to be attached to a continuing resolution because it's not a full FY25 or a corporations bill writ large. A group of Raiders are generally opposed to attaching earmarks to continuing resolutions because it will essentially take the place of the appropriations committee bills for seating their entire process. And then there's still a question about the future of FY26 appropriations. So far, Republican leadership has indicated their intention to have an appropriation, a CPF or CDS cycle in the next appropriations bill but under the current conditions from the administration the overall cost-cutting prerogative done by the Trump administration it still kind of remains to be seen whether they will go through with that process or the budget reconciliation piece. I think I'll just reiterate kind of the overall difficulty that congressional Republicans have on drafting a reconciliation bill, considering they still not have agreed to a budget resolution. But when the row room meets the road, like I've said in previous calls, they will have some difficult decisions to make on the tax side and of course on the spending side. I'll just transition very quickly to tariffs. President Trump announced about a half an hour ago that sweeping tariffs on Mexico and Canada would go into effect on Tuesday morning, adding that there is no chance for an 11th hour deal, similar to how that broke down in early February to avoid tariffs. Just as a reminder, the new tariffs will add a 25% levy on all the Mexican and Canadian imports and increase the levy on all Chinese imports from 10 to 20%. The President Trump said that these levy are being added to pressure, particularly Mexico and Canada to stop migrant flows from entering into the United States and also stop the flow of illegal drugs from crossing the border in response. Both both Mexico and Canada are expected to impose retaliatory tariffs, which basically takes off at trade war on the North American continent. In response to all of this, the markets have responded and it has not been positive. And then on the Senate side, the Senate will vote to confirm Linda McMahon as the Secretary of the Department of Education later this afternoon. Once her nomination is approved, President Trump will have 20 of the 22 cabinet members confirmed. The final two cabinet level officials to be confirmed by the Senate are Lori Shev is Doreemer who will likely serve as the next Department of Labor Secretary and at least to FONIC who will likely serve as the next ambassador to the United Nations. Of course, the Senate has largely delayed at least to FONIC's nomination because she as a member of the House of Representatives and Mr. Johnson is working with a very nice slim majority. So pulling her out of the House will only further reduce Speaker Johnson's majority. There's also been conversations in New York about potentially delaying the special election for at least to phonics open seat if she were to be confirmed by the Senate, which would be intended to, of course, consider open. election for at least the phonics open scene if she were to be confirmed by the Senate, which would be intended to of course open that scene for an extended period of time and make it more difficult for Speaker Johnson to hold votes and pass bills. So as soon as the House is able to dispense with its big pieces of legislation, we anticipate that the Senate will move on the UN Secretary's nomination. But we will pause there in case there are any questions. Thank you for the very comprehensive update as always and for your ongoing work. Obviously, we care very deeply about potential cuts to Medicaid, which you touched upon. I am curious to hear if you have been hearing any concerns from Republican legislators about that. Just trying to get a sense of the impact for our constituencies and whether their potentially could be some interesting dynamics. Yeah, so there has been some communication from congressional Republicans on both the House and Senate side about the potential impacts of Medicaid cuts to their districts. There are, I mean, David Valadeo who represents this part of of the Central Valley in California, has been very vocal about the impacts to Medicaid into beneficiaries as as young Kim. Also from California, Speaker Johnson has indicated that he does not want to impose cuts to beneficiaries on Medicaid and that he wants to go after waste,, and abuse. What's interesting about Speaker Johnson and David Valadeo is that they are, their districts represent the number four and number five districts in the United States with populations reliant on Medicaid. Now, what that means is that what you can potentially see are reductions in reimbursements to providers, which could have an impact on some hospitals being able to operate, but that could have a potential effect on rural providers and rural facilities. Last week there was an interview with Mr. Johnson where he said that he would rule out per capita caps on Medicaid, which is really the number one pay for that they were exploring. There are some potential other options that they're looking at, but it is a very active conversation on the Republican side because the fact of the matter is a lot of Republican districts in the country have populations that substantially outweigh Democratic districts that are reliant on Medicaid. And that has also been echoed by a number of Republican-led states in the Senate with populations that also have significant numbers of Medicaid roles. I know that you're a little bit closer to the action on all things Louisiana, so if there's anything else you want to add, feel free. But... No, I mean, you hit it. Supervisor, it's interesting because I think Louisiana in New Mexico are the two states that have the most Medicaid in release. And of course, the speaker and the majority leader in the House are both from Louisiana. I think they have been hearing from the governor. And as John said, the speaker after the House passed the budget resolution went on CNN and did an interview, I believe it was last Wednesday night, where he ruled out the per capita caps. And again, I think a lot of us are wondering, well, how do you get to the amount of cuts you need to make? Because I think it's estimated that the per capita caps would would garner up to like $900 billion. So again, it's just a question of how do you get there if the instructions have that amount of cuts. So the so right now, again, as the House and Senate start negotiating, maybe that amount of cuts, those instructions to those committees comes down. And then House Energy Affairs Chair of Brett Guthrie and Speaker Johnson also ruled out making amendments to the FMAP, which determines the reimbursement to states. They actually increased the FMAP during COVID and that returned down to normal levels after the public health emergency was declared ended. But that was really the number two pay for that they were looking at beyond block granting Medicaid, which was never really taken seriously, though it's been kind of out there for a couple years on their Republican side. But those two per capita capital capital policy proposal and any changes to the FMAT really the number one, number two biggest proposals that were included in the larger budget menu that I think we circulated about a month and a half ago. And with those off the table, it really starts to come down to work requirements, sort of operating out on the boundaries, potential changes to the Medicaid provider tax, safe harbor, which is currently at 6% they are looking at a proposal to cut that down to three, which would have an impact on state ability to to have their own kind of spend be protected, which means that the states would have to cough up more money on the Medicaid program, the Medicaid program. But they really, like I said, they do have their work cut out for them and they will be hearing from their constituents more as it becomes more real over the next couple of months. That I think to answer your question, they are hearing from Republican members with concerns. Thank you. Really appreciate all of that information. It's very helpful. Do we have any public comments? There are no speakers. Okay. Let's go to our next. Thank you so much to both of you and we'll go to our next item, which is our state legislative update. Good afternoon, Amy Costa with Full Moon Strategies. We are fully in our budget subcommittee hearing season with many of the subcommittees convening to meet and discuss several provisions of the governor's proposed budget. We are beginning to see policy committees meet as bills are becoming eligible to be heard. We sent out more extensive notes Friday, but last week some of the hearings of note were a joint hearing with the Senate committee on public safety and the budget said number five on Proposition 36. Committee members largely recognized that Prop 36 was passed by in voters overwhelmingly and that the legislature understands that it needs to be funded in order for it to be successful. There's a lot of discussion about the governor's proposed budget, not including funding for implementation of Proposition 36. And panelists highlighted the partnership between state and local governments is critical to ensuring its success and that the legislature is committed to ensuring a fair share of costs between state and local governments for implementation. The range of topics that the hearing included cost implications, lack of consistency across counties and workforce needs. Additionally, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee number two on human services met last week to discuss a variety of issues related to human services, including CalFresh, a guaranteed and compilate program, emergency food bank funding, CalWORPs, Immigration Services, Federal threats to human services, disaster response, and housing and homelessness complaint resolution that was a proposal in the Governor's budget. Lastly, the Senate budget subcommittee on number three on Health and Human Services also met. And they discussed several budget provisions related to the California Department of Healthcare Services, including the total budget provided for the department, including medical, local assistance estimates, the implementation of Prop 35 related to the Managed Care Organization Tax, and implementation of various chapter pieces of legislation. Our hearings continue this week and we have a full list and the report that will send out after our hearing today and with that I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you. I think I may just have one question. In terms of the recent passage of SBX1-2, which is in Supervisor Tam's advocacy letter, do we know yet how some of the funding might be distributed? Is it relates to immigrant rights? We don't yet. This actually came up because in addition to this special session legislation, this is a standing program. And so there was some discussion in the Budget Subcommittee. One of the items that came up is largely the grant funds are provided to community-based organizations to help with legal assistance. And one of the issues that the department raised at the subcommittee hearing is there's a requirement that these community-based organizations have been providing service for at least three years. And they did know that that limits some of the individuals that they can, or some of the community-based organizations they can contract with. We certainly have information about how funds were allocated previously, and we'd be happy to share that with you. They generally provided breakdown by region of the state. Thank you. And that three-year requirement is providing funds for at least three years through a grant with the state. It's that the community-based organizations have to have been offering legal assistance for immigrants for three years to be eligible to be grantees in the program. I see. Thank you. Okay. Do we have any public comments on our state legislative update? There are no speakers. Okay. Thank you so much, Amy. We'll go to our next item. And that's a state budget request for medically supportive food and nutrition advisory work group in relation to a assembly member, Bonta's budget request. I'm not sure if we have here today is a request for the County to sign on a coalition letter in support of Assemblymember Mia Bonta's budget request for $250,000 from the California General Fund for DACS to launch and facilitate a medically supportive food and nutrition advisory work group. So, for health is a covered medical service through the CalAIM community supports. And the CalAIM waiver is expiring on December of 2026, and then DHCS I shared that they have intent to transition community support from a waiver-based service to a medical benefit. So we're supportive that a workgroup could be established to ensure that the implementation of this benefit meets all of the provider and patient needs. Thank you so much. This is actually very exciting and great to have Assemblymember Bonta working to champion this. Are there any public comments? There are no speakers. Okay, so this item is going to go on to the next agenda of the full board. I believe that is March 11th. And we'll go to our next item. This is an informational item. It's the state budget advocacy letter from Vice President Tam. And there is a copy in the meeting packet. Is there anyone from Vice President, Vice President Tam's office who wishes to speak? Or any public comments. Okay. So there is a letter which is informational from Vice President Tam regarding the governor's proposed budget addressed to the budget chair of the State Senate and State Assembly. So this covers the important issues of homelessness, behavioral health, immigrant legal assistance in Prop 36. Thank you, Amy Costa for partnering with us to advocate for us in Sacramento. Is there anything that would be helpful for you to share as the board and the public have this letter? Just that obviously it's the beginning of budget season and we've looked across some of our trade associations including CSAC and theies Caucus to kind of identify some of the big issues, more to come as our revenues get refined between now and May revise. But at the very least, I think there is, and it was certainly evident in the subcommittee hearings and shared by Emily and John's updates, a lot of uncertainty around the human services portfolio, the federal funding. I think one of the most pertinent parts was in the assembly subcommittee, the chair, Assemblymember Jackson asked, you know, kind of, well, what do we do? Yeah, the Department of Finance made it really clear. We do not have the fiscal resources as a state to cover any sort of significant loss in federal funding. So more to come, but clearly top of mind for most in Sacramento. Thank you. Okay, so that covers our four items today. We can move on to public comment for items not on the agenda, as well as if anyone who is with us today on Zoom wishes to identify yourself please feel free to raise your hand and do so. We'll go to the first speaker. Monobar Gibson, Alameda County assessors office. Valerie, please unmute yourself. Go ahead, Valerie, Arkin. you I'm going to go to the next slide. I'm going to go to the next slide. I'm going to go to the next slide. I'm going to go to the next slide. I'm going to go to the next slide. I'm going to go to the next slide. I'm going to go to the next slide. I'm going to go to the next slide. I'm going to go to the next slide. I'm going to go to the next slide. Hi, good afternoon. This is Hana Hamilton with Alameda County Social Services Agency, Policy Director here. Thanks. Hello, Alison Monroe here from FASME. I wonder whether there's any talk about a way to replace funding for Medi-Cal, something creative. Maybe something impractical, but something to talk about. Is there any, I wonder if there's any talk about withholding federal taxes from the state or seizing the assets of people in the state. I don't know. That's what I would be thinking about if I had to think about it. Thank you very much. Thank you, Alice. Thank you. Good afternoon. This is the Annagarcio at first five element of county. There are no more speakers. Okay, thank you everyone for joining us. It's 156. The meeting's adjourned. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Recording stopped. you