REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
November 17, 2020
FROM
LEONARD X. HERNANDEZ, Chief Executive Officer, County Administrative Office
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment No. 2 to State Legislative Advocacy Contract with Platinum Advisors, LLC
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No. 2 to Contract No. 16-947 with Platinum Advisors, LLC to continue to provide state legislative advocacy services from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021, with no change to the current annual cost of $224,952.
(Presenter: Josh Candelaria, Governmental and Legislative Director, 387-4821)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Create, Maintain and Grow Jobs and Economic Value in the County.
Improve County Government Operations.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies.
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item does not require the use of additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). Sufficient appropriation to fund the recommended contract extension is included in the County Administrative Office 2020-21 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The County utilizes advocacy services at both the state and federal level to advance the County’s legislative agenda for the benefit of County residents. On December 6, 2016 (Item No. 29), the County entered into an agreement with Platinum Advisors, LLC (Platinum Advisors) for state advocacy services for a three-year period January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2019, with an option to extend the contract for one year. On December 10, 2019 (Item No. 14), the County approved the option to extend the contract from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020. The recommendation will amend the contract to extend the term of the contract by one year, with no change to the current scope of the contract or annual cost.
Founded in 1998, Platinum Advisors is a full service government affairs firm that has experience in lobbying the State of California Legislature (State Legislature) and executive branch. New and persisting issues before the State Legislature this year, including housing, homelessness, and equitable funding for the region remain a high priority for the County. Dedicated and effective representation with State administration, agencies and departments is critical to ensure the County’s legislative and budget priorities are advanced.
Platinum Advisors has extensive knowledge of the County's programs and policies, which enhances its ability to advance the County’s legislative priorities in Sacramento. The following are a few examples of County Administrative Office and Platinum Advisors successes based on both coordinated and individual efforts for the County during the 2019-20 State Legislative Session.
Significant Budget and Legislation Actions
Homelessness Funding - Advocates lobbied for additional homelessness funding in both 2019 and 2020 on behalf of the County. In 2019, $650 million was included in the budget for homeless emergency aid; $14.6 million in 2019-20 and $27.6 million ongoing for the CalWORKs Temporary Homeless Assistance Program; $100 million for the Whole Person Care (WPC) Program to help provide housing options, including rental assistance for WPC participants with mental illness; and $25 million to continue and expand the Bringing Families Home Program, which provides critical housing-related supports to child-welfare involved families and those at risk of homelessness. In 2020, $350 million in State General Fund was provided for local homelessness programs and $600 million for Project Roomkey which provides motel rooms for vulnerable homeless individuals (San Bernardino County received $13.1 million for Project Roomkey).
Realignment Backfill Funding - Counties were granted $750 million in the Budget Act to help backfill revenue losses due to the pandemic for programs realigned from the State to counties in 1991 and 2011. These are safety net programs providing services to some of our most vulnerable residents, including public health, human services, behavioral health, and public safety programs. San Bernardino County received $39.7 million of the total budget allocation.
Child Support Funding - County advocates began lobbying for additional child support funding for San Bernardino County in 2018. The governor’s January 2019 budget proposal included funding and ultimately, the final budget included $19.1 million General Fund in 2019-20, growing to $57.2 million General Fund beginning in 2021-22, to implement a Local Child Support Agency funding methodology. These resources created more equitable funding across all local agencies, reducing geographic disparities in funding for child support case management.
CARES Act Funding - As part of the 2020-2021 Budget Act, the State allocated $1.289 billion in state federal CARES Act funding to counties for homelessness, public health, public safety, and other services to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. San Bernardino County received $50.18 million of that appropriation.
Western Joshua Tree - County advocates have been active in finding solutions that balance the needs of the County, local governments, conservation groups and industry while taking into consideration the diversity of the region.
Homeless Multidisciplinary Personnel Teams, AB 728 (Santiago D) - Establishes, until January 1, 2025, a pilot program in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Clara, and Ventura that allows homeless adult and family multidisciplinary teams established in these counties to have the goal of facilitating expedited identification, assessment, and linkage of individuals at risk of homelessness to housing and supportive services, and the goal of facilitating the expedited prevention of homelessness for those individuals. The bill was signed by the Governor.
Medi-Cal: Emergency Medical Transportation Services, AB 1705 (Bonta) - Requires a new Medi-Cal Public Provider Intergovernmental Transfer Program for public ground emergency medical transportation providers (public ambulance providers) that would provide additional payments to these providers in fee-for-service Medi-Cal and Medi-Cal managed care plans. The bill was signed by the Governor.
Land Use: Permitting: Wireless Communications: Emergency Standby Generators, AB 2421 (Quirk) - AB 2421 requires expedited permitting of emergency standby generators for macro cell towers. The bill was signed by the Governor.
Climate Change: Transformative Climate Communities Program, SB 351 (Hurtado) - Requires the Strategic Growth Council to consider applicants for projects undertaken in unincorporated areas for the Transformative Climate Communities Program. The bill was signed by the Governor.
PROCUREMENT
Under the original Contract No. 16-947, Platinum Advisors was selected to provide state legislative advocacy services as a result of a competitive procurement. The recommended amendment for the period January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021 is the result of a procurement based on a prior agreement and on the satisfactory performance of Platinum Advisors in delivering its services and meeting the County’s needs for state legislative advocacy services. The recommended amendment for the one-year term will allow the continuation of services to deal with a number of unprecedented items, however, a Request for Proposal for these services is anticipated to be sent out during the extension term, in consideration of the transition of newly elected Supervisors. Per County Policy 11-04, competitive and non-competitive purchases of services in excess of $200,000 during a single annual period must be approved by the Board. County Purchasing recognizes the specialized credentials of the prior agreement and supports the non-competitive procurement for services with Platinum Advisors.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Penny Alexander-Kelley, Chief Assistant County Counsel, 387-5455) on November 5, 2020; Purchasing (Michelle Churchill, Buyer III, 387-2070) on November 5, 2020; Finance (Stephenie Shea, Administrative Analyst, 387-4919) on November 5, 2020; and County Finance and Administration (Matthew Erickson, County Chief Financial Officer, 387-5423) on November 5, 2020.