REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 01/19/2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: City Manager’s Office
SUBJECT:
Title
2022 Legislative Platform and Financial Priorities.
End
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
A Legislative Platform provides a streamlined process for responding to legislative proposals that may impact the City. The proposed Legislative Platform identifies the fundamental legislative issues deemed important to the City, and upon Council approval, will continue to allow Staff to respond to the rapidly changing nature of legislative items efficiently, and more importantly, without delay. The Financial Priorities document provides a comprehensive look at Corona’s funding needs. The proposed action adopts the 2022 Legislative Platform and approves the financial advocacy priorities.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council adopt the 2022 Legislative Platform and Financial Priorities.
Body
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The Legislative Platform has been used as a guideline for urgent requests to support, oppose, or take neutral positions on various legislative proposals throughout the year. Resolutions, major and/or unique issues, and substantial items not directly addressed in the Platform will continue to be taken to Council for formal consideration and adoption. The 2021 Legislative Platform and Financial Priorities were adopted on April 7, 2021. At the end of each year, the City of Corona identifies policy priorities and legislative initiatives that it would like the State and Federal Legislature to address. The City Council reviewed and provided feedback on the Legislative Platform during the 2021 Fall Council Workshop.
ANALYSIS:
The attached documents include the 2022 Legislative Platform and Financial Priorities. These documents contain legislative priorities that Staff and consultants will use to actively support or oppose various articles of legislation during the year, as well as provide testimony, and/or actively pursue legislative action around the items listed therein. The proposed legislative priorities include a number of topic areas, including transportation, municipal finance, unfunded mandates, home rule, public safety, housing reform, homelessness, tort reform, public utilities, community services, and economic development. The Legislative Platform and Financial Priorities are designed to be strategic, impactful, align with the priorities of the City of Corona, preserve the authority of those elected to represent them to make decisions that are in the best interests of their constituents, protect the ability to generate the revenue necessary to provide critical public safety, infrastructure, and other essential services and/or promote efficient governance and delivery of services.
The Legislative Platform reflects the adopted, standing position of the City Council until superseded. The priorities are stated in general terms so they can be applied broadly to various legislative proposals. Advocacy efforts on behalf of the City by staff or Councilmembers are expected to reflect the adopted position of the Legislative Platform. However, this is not intended to limit the prerogative of individual Councilmembers from expressing their individual support for or opposition to any local measure, or State proposition, State or Federal legislation, or grassroots advocacy actions. However, in doing so, the member should clearly state that they are speaking for themselves, not on behalf of the Council or the City.
Letters of support or opposition that are consistent with the adopted position in the Legislative Platform may be prepared by Staff for signature by the Mayor on behalf of the City without taking the letter to the full Council. Should the Mayor choose not to authorize their signature on a position letter, the Vice Mayor may sign in his or her stead. Where neither the Mayor nor Vice Mayor chooses to sign a position letter, the item will be placed on a meeting agenda for review and consideration by the full Council. In cases where a pending legislative proposal falls outside of the scope of the approved legislative platform, that item will be placed on a future council agenda for review and consideration by the full Council.
The Council has the option of adopting any one of 6 positions on proposed legislation:
• Support - A support position indicates to the legislature, regulatory agencies, and other stakeholders that the City is in favor of the legislation in question.
• Support if Amended - A support if amended position indicates to the corresponding legislature, regulatory agencies, and other stakeholders that the City is in favor of the legislation in question if the requested changes are adopted.
• Oppose - An oppose position indicates to the legislature, regulatory agency, and other stakeholders that the City is against the legislation in question.
• Oppose Unless Amended - An oppose unless amended position indicates to the legislature, regulatory agencies, and other stakeholders that the City is against the legislation in question unless the requested changes are adopted.
• Neutral - A neutral position indicates to the corresponding legislature, regulatory agencies, and other stakeholders that the City is impartial on the legislation in question and does not wish to take a position or has formally removed their prior adopted position due to changes being made to the legislation or proposal (e.g., a bill that the City had an “oppose unless amended” position on was amended to address concerns, therefore the City is formally withdrawing its opposition and moving to a “Neutral” position).
• Watch - A watch is traditionally an internal position that indicates the City is monitoring the legislation. Should the bill be amended, the City reserves its right to adopt a position as indicated above.
The Legislative Platform is divided into 11 sections dealing with the following topics:
1. Community Services
2. Economic Development
3. Home Rule
4. Housing Reform
5. Homelessness
6. Municipal Finance
7. Public Safety
8. Public Utilities
9. Tort Reform
10. Transportation
11. Unfunded Mandates
Major edits to the legislative platform and financial priorities based on feedback from City Council during the 2021 Fall Council Workshop and recommendations from City Staff are listed below.
Items added to the Legislative Platform for 2022:
Economic Development
• Support efforts to grow the manufacturing industry.
• Support efforts to retrain displaced/low-income workers.
• Support efforts to embrace living and working locally, particularly legislation that impacts housing costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• Support efforts to embrace innovation by seeding new businesses and linking new workers with new jobs and career pathways created as a result of the pandemic.
• Support the creation of business incubators such as the Corona Innovation Center in partnership with local and regional partners that can lend expertise, resources, education, and access to capital.
• Support efforts to embrace entrepreneurship by growing existing entrepreneurship tracks in the City of Corona.
• Support local Business Grants and California Dream Fund for those that are underrepresented and/or were impacted by the pandemic, creating accessibility to capital and improving opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Homelessness
• Support legislation and funding opportunities for mental health and drug abuse treatment to address chronic homelessness in Riverside County.
• Support legislation and funding opportunities to improve discharge planning from jails and prisons and to expand re-entry housing programs to prevent and address homelessness among inmates, parolees and probationers in Riverside County.
Public Safety
• Support wildland fire fighting enhancements, as well as wildland fire prevention and mitigation endeavors.
Public Utilities
• Support COVID-19 related legislation, regulation and other orders monitoring for the Utilities and in general City business practices.
• Support monitoring Army Corps of Engineering projects under the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA).
• Support monitoring Electric Utility grid reliability and resiliency requirements mandates.
Items added to the Financial Priorities for 2022:
Homeless Solutions
• Santa Ana River Bottom Encampment Response Plan (SARB)
Public Utilities
• GAC Treatment Facility
Transportation
• Ontario Avenue Widening at I-15 Improvements between Compton Avenue and State Street
• Interstate 15 Express Lane Southern Extension from Cajalco Road to Route 74/Central Avenue
• Magnolia Avenue Widening at Temescal Wash
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
No financial impact.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the common sense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. This action is merely authorizing the Council to approve an amendment, and there is no possibility that adopting this resolution will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: DENZEL MAXWELL, ASSISTANT TO THE CITY MANAGER
REVIEWED BY: ROGER BRADLEY, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Legislative Platform
2. Exhibit 2 - Federal Financial Priorities