Roseville council hears proposed updates to city legislative platform; staff to return final draft in March

Roseville held a special City Council workshop on Jan. 15 to review proposed revisions to the city's legislative advocacy platform and receive briefings from the city's government relations team and outside lobbyists. Staff described changes across administrative services, parks and libraries, environmental utilities, electric services, housing and public safety policy and said they will return a final platform for council consideration at a March meeting.

The workshop, led by Deputy City Manager Megan Shai and Government Relations Administrator Mark Walinski, featured federal and state overviews from outside lobbyists Mike Miller of The Ferguson Group and Jason Gonzales of the Gonzales Group, and department presentations from Environmental Utilities and Roseville Electric. "The policy direction that council sets today is what allows us to effectively advocate on city-related issues throughout the year," Megan Shai said.

Council members were briefed on a range of topics staff proposes to add or clarify in the platform. Key items presented included: changes to administrative services language about labor and collective bargaining; new positions to restore or expand state library facilities funding; support for added ADA accessibility investments in parks; advocacy for first-responder health and wellness programs; and reaffirming support for housing programs such as the Housing Choice Voucher program, HOME and Community Development Block Grants to address homelessness.

Environmental Utilities staff outlined technical and regulatory items they want reflected in the platform. Noelle Maddock, Utility Government Relations Administrator, said Roseville is tracking proposed changes to Phase 2 stormwater permits under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System and is seeking flexibility and funding avenues for an energy-recovery project at the Pleasant Grove Wastewater Treatment Plant. Maddock also asked the council to add a platform line about municipal water systems performance and wildfires, citing Southern California fire incidents and a gubernatorial call for an independent investigation into lost water supply during intense fires.

On lead service-line rules, Maddock said federal revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule now require validation of inventories and that the resulting validation process could be costly for ratepayers. "Roseville did about 800 tests in the oldest parts of the city and found zero privately owned lead service lines," Maddock said, urging an "appropriate off-ramp" for agencies with reliable inventories and no detected private lead service lines.

Roseville Electric proposed additions to address Renewable Portfolio Standard cost-containment, flexibility on state mandates, continued collaboration with state agencies (noting recent distributed backup assets partnerships), continued outreach using the Utility Exploration Center, and preparing for anticipated legislation on regional energy markets including EDAM and continued participation in the Western Energy Imbalance Market.

At the federal level, lobbyist Mike Miller summarized FY2025 budget uncertainty (Congress must act by March 14 under a continuing resolution) and flagged the Supreme Court decision overturning Chevron deference (Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo) as a development that may require more detailed statutory language from Congress or explicit statutory delegation to agencies. Jason Gonzales summarized last year's state legislative session and highlighted anticipated focus areas for Sacramento in 2025, including housing, homelessness and affordability, and a recently proposed state-level housing and homelessness agency.

Staff also asked the council to retain a critical concerns section addressing the stability of the National Flood Insurance Program and Community Rating System; staff noted Roseville's FEMA CRS Class 1 rating (held since February 2006) and explained that termination or substantive changes to NFIP/CRS could affect residents' flood insurance costs.

Council members asked clarifying questions about the scope of proposed platform language (for example, whether references to "legislation" would include non-legislative initiatives affecting disaster mitigation funding and whether insurance issues are covered). Staff said proposed edits will be broadened to cover both state and federal initiatives where appropriate. Council feedback given during the workshop will be incorporated into the draft platform that staff will return to the council for formal consideration and action in March.

The workshop concluded without a formal vote on the platform; staff recorded council input and committed to bringing a revised, final legislative platform back for council consideration in March.