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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 01172006 - C.61 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra FROM: JOHN SWEETEN, Costa COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR o` _ I iK ae e =, .ko DATE: January 17, 2006 �OSrq COONCI may` County SUBJECT: CONTRACT FOR FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATION I SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the County Administrator, or designee, to execute a contract amendment with Alcalde & Fay to in,crease the payment amount by $113,000 to a new payment limit of $319,000 and to extend the terra from December 31, 2006 to December 31, 2007 for continuing federal representation services. FISCAL IMPACT: Budgeted: 100% County. New annual payment limit is $105,000, plus allowable expenses not to exceed $3,000 per year. Former annual payment limit was $100,000, plus allowable expenses not to exceed $3,000 per year. Difference is $5,000 per year. BACKGROUND: A minority-controlled/employee-owned firm, Alcalde & Fay has been the County's federal representative for the past four years. Over that time, Paul Schlesinger, the County's point person at Alcalde & Fay, has establishetl the County's presence in Washington, D.C. and developed excellent relationships with staff of our congressional delegation. The result has been a very positive "return on investment" for the County for its appropriation and authorization requests. These include: APPROPRIATION REQUESTS 2003 2004 2005 TOTAL AIRES — Countywide Integrated Justice $ 250,000 $625,000 $450,000 $1.325 Information System million Contra Costa Reads! NA $ 72,000 NA $ 72,000 Library for New Juvenile Hall NA NA Pending pending Delta Long-term Management Strategy NA $500,00 $225,000 $725,000 San Francisco to Stockton (J F Baldwin) Ship $ 750,000 $250,000 $200,000 $1.2 Channel Deepening Study million Maintenance Dredging of Channels $5.572 $5.559 $7.607 $18.738 million million million Million Walnut Creek Flood Control Basin Studies NA $450,000 $288,000 $738,000 TOTAL $6.572 $7.456 $8.77 $22.040 million millionj million million CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR _RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE Ir ,--APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): qtz,� Al��1 ACTION OF BO N / APPROVE AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN NANIMOUS(ABSENT ' �. ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE AYES: NOES: SHOWN. ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTESTED MEDIA CONTACT:Sara Hoffman,335-1090 JOHN SWEETEN,CLERK qP T E BOAT OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRAXOR ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT:CAO. CC: BY 110,�o )---e DEPUTY BACKGROUND (cont'd): In addition, Contra Costa County did very well in reauthorization of the Transportation Bill, TEA 21. The bill was enacted as SAFETEA-LU with a 5 year authorization, effective 2005. The County was allocated demonstration project funding for the Brentwood Expressway project and the Carquinez Bay Trail Segment. In addition a-BART was authorized as a rail "new start." ➢ Brentwood-Tracy Expressway - $14 million for planning for development of new State route 239, including route definition, alignment studies, commun9ity outreach and environmental review. ➢ Carquinez Bay Trail Segment - $1 million for construction of a bicycle and pedestrian trail between Port Costa and Martinez as part of the San Francisco Bay Trail. ➢ eBART— authorization of eBART as a rail "new start" which positi9ons it as eligible for future funding. Future appropriation requests may be forthcoming after BART has completed the environmental process and preliminary engineering for the project (separately funded through Measure C, Toll Bridge and federal formula funds). In addition, Alcalde & Fay has been successful in ensuring that the Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA) has included language important to the County regarding local match credits for expenditures on flood (control projects prior to execution of the Project Cooperative Agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers. Language has been included in the draft bill every year for the past three years, although WRDA has still not been enacted by Congress. Over the past year the County has requested substantial increases in advocacy on its behalf from Alcalde & Fay, particularly with regard to Indian Gaming. Paul Schlesinger and Charlotte Hrncir have worked closely with Senatorl Feinstein's office in support of S113 which would require the casino in San Pablo to undergo the same two-part determination process as required of other casinos in West County. As anticipated, this issue will continue not only in 2006 but beyond, as the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is receiving increasing scrutiny in Congress. In addition to increased advocacy on Indian Gaming issues, the County will be asking Alcalde & Fay to direct considerable more attention to the Medicaid Waiver which provides funding for public hospitals. Other health issues include proposed restrictions on federal reimbursement of targeted case management services to Medicaid beneficiaries. I Congressional action that would be disadvantageous to the County is also under consideration in the areas of federal financial participation rates for child support; use of federal Title VI-E-funds for child welfare for abused/neglected children; new federal mandates on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Block Grant (TANF), and reauthorization of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Based on this increased scope of work, staff is recommending a modest increase in the contract from an annual amount of $100,000 to $105,000 per year. This is the first increase since the contract was initiated in 2001. No further increases are provided for in the second year of the contract extension (total 3 year contact to December 31, 2007).