BOARD MEETING DATE: December 1, 2006
AGENDA NO. 27

Legislative Committee

SYNOPSIS:

The Legislative Committee held its regular meeting on Thursday, November 9, 2006 and conducted interviews and recommended the execution of contracts for legislative representation in Sacramento, California.  In addition, the committee refined AQMD’s Legislative Priorities for CY 2007.  The next Legislative Committee meeting is scheduled for Friday, December 8 at 8:00 a.m. in Conference Room CC8.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Approve the refined legislative priorities for Calendar Year 2007.

Jane Carney, Chair,
Legislative Committee

Attendance [Attachment 1]

The Legislative Committee met on November 9, 2006.  Present was Committee Chair Jane Carney and Tonia Reyes Uranga.  Present, by videoconference, were Committee Members Roy Wilson, Michael Antonovich, Jan Perry, and AQMD Governing Board Chair Dr. William Burke.

Interview and Recommend Execution of Contract(s) for Legislative Representation in Sacramento, California

Committee members interviewed five firms: California Strategies & Advocacy, LLC; Dunlap, Van Vleck & Brown, LLC; Gonzales Public Affairs and Isenberg/O’Haren; Noteware Government Relations; and Tres Es, LLC.

The Legislative Committee voted and recommended that the Governing Board award a contract for legislative representation in Sacramento, California to Tres Es, LLC. The committee also directed the Executive Officer to negotiate with Tres Es the composition of the legislative consulting team, which it will lead, to ensure full-time representation in Sacramento with the most effective outcome.  Finally, staff was directed to confirm the final team composition with the Chair of the Legislative Committee, the Chair of the Governing Board, and Board Member Antonovich.   [Please refer to the December 1, 2006 Board Agenda Item #9 for additional information on this item.]

Refine SCAQMD Legislative Priorities for CY 2007

Dr. Barry Wallerstein provided a brief presentation on the recommendation to refine AQMD’s legislative priorities for the upcoming legislation session to include the following: 

• Sponsor a state resolution which will be directed at federal sources and tailored to contain components from the 2007 AQMP, once the latter is approved by the Governing Board. 
• Work jointly with the San Joaquin Valley Air Quality Management District to introduce a bill that would provide tax credits for companies who make early transition to less polluting equipment.  This would be a two-year effort with on-going meetings with stakeholders. 
• Regarding the recently approved bond measures, CARB will receive money to fund mitigation related to goods movement and transportation projects.  Dr. Wallerstein suggested that AQMD should either introduce a bill or be actively involved in the budget process to ensure that the recipients of these funds are required to take actions in the interest of clean air, to qualify for the funding.  Dr. Wallerstein added that this would be similar to the Carl Moyer funding program.
• Introduce a placeholder bill to be able to respond to any unknown contingencies, including the ongoing railroad litigation, and/or administrative issues such as eliminating obsolete or duplicative reporting requirements. 

The Legislative Committee approved the refined priorities as presented by staff.

Other Business:      None

Public Comments:  None

Attachment (DOC 31 kb)
Attendance Roster

///