TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Ryan J. Alsop, Chief Executive Officer
REPORT BY: Andrew M. Mize, Legislative & Policy Analyst
SUBJECT: 2026 Legislative & Regulatory Platform
RECOMMENDATION
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Receive an annual report of the County’s legislative and regulatory program for 2025 and approve and adopt the proposed 2026 Legislative & Regulatory Platform, subject to any modifications by the Board. (No Fiscal Impact)
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BACKGROUND
The County Executive Office leads the County’s legislative and regulatory program and advances the Board’s priorities by monitoring state and federal policy developments, developing position recommendations for the Board, and coordinating advocacy efforts across the state and federal legislatures and regulatory bodies.
In support of this program, the County Executive Office annually develops a legislative and regulatory platform that (1) outlines the Board’s federal and state policy priorities and (2) provides County staff with the authority to transmit position letters and conduct direct advocacy on behalf of the Board on legislative and regulatory matters enumerated within the adopted platform that arise throughout the year.
The attached 2025 Legislative & Regulatory Program Report highlights key state and federal updates and engagement points and provides forecasted key issues for 2026.
The attached 2026 Legislative & Regulatory Platform differs from the 2025 Platform in several notable structural and substantive ways. The 2025 document groups priorities into broad categories that encompass multiple county functions. The 2026 document instead lays out themes that are applicable across the organization and then applies those themes to particular priority issues.
I. Social Services Programs
The federal government’s broad mandatory spending measure from 2025, H.R. 1, enacted sweeping changes to the tax code and statutory social services programs, including Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) and SNAP (CalFresh). In addition to new eligibility requirements and immigrant coverage restrictions, H.R. 1 imposes new state financing restrictions and shifts significant administrative costs to the states. Staff expect California’s 2026 budget to take significant steps toward planning for implementation of H.R. 1, and a significant portion of the Platform is spent outlining priorities in mitigating downstream effects of that implementation.
California’s FY26 budget also eliminates eligibility for Medi-Cal for prospective new enrollees with unsatisfactory immigration status, a program that was previously funded in its entirety by the state. The California budget also substantially reduces the scope of preventative services available to all Medi-Cal enrollees. As a result of these state and federal changes, counties will face the return of obligations under state indigent care laws that have not been a substantial outlay since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. State code requires counties to provide lifesaving indigent care: Napa is part of a 35-county organization, the County Medical Services Program, that provided hundreds of millions of dollars
FISCAL IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
No |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Discretionary |
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Discretionary Justification: |
Adoption of the proposed 2026 Platform will allow staff to conduct advocacy on the Board’s behalf on enumerated priorities without further formal action by your Board. |
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Consequences if not approved: |
Instead of adopting the proposed 2026 Legislative & Regulatory Platform, your Board could not approve the Platform, and/or direct staff to revise the proposed 2026 Platform. |
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Additional Information |
This Platform may be amended in the future to recognize new priorities by vote of the Board. |
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.