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Board adopts 2025–26 federal and state legislative priorities; staff presents focus-group findings to guide 2025–26 budget
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Summary
The board approved Sacramento County's 2025–26 federal and state legislative priorities and accepted findings from focus groups and recommended budget priorities that emphasize homelessness, behavioral health and road maintenance. Staff reported recent federal earmark wins and urged continued advocacy on water, homelessness and infrastructure.
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 7 approved the county’s federal and state legislative priorities for 2025–26 and received results from focus groups and recommended budget priorities for FY 2025–26.
Alicia Debord, the county’s governmental relations and legislative officer, presented the proposed federal and state priorities, said the county contracts with outside lobbying firms, and outlined recent results and trends: the county monitored roughly 100 bills in 2023–24, worked to remove last-minute language that would have advanced a state Delta conveyance project, and preserved state funding for county park and delta levy work. Debord highlighted federal wins and pending requests, noting community funded project requests (earmarks) that yielded funds for the American River Parkway, the Walnut Grove Water Project and the sheriff’s training facility. She also noted HR 9076 (America’s Children and Families Act) was recently signed into law.
The board voted unanimously to adopt the legislative platform.
Separately, staff presented findings from November 2024 focus groups conducted by FM3 Research and the county’s recommended budget priorities for 2025–26. FM3 consultant Dave Metz summarized four moderated in-person focus groups (about 40 participants total) and said participants showed low awareness of the county’s role and budget but voiced strong concern about homelessness, cost of living and roads. Metz said participants prioritized prevention-oriented homelessness strategies — supportive services addressing health and substance use, connecting at-risk residents with resources, and affordable housing — and placed continued value on parks while highlighting neighborhood impacts from encampments.
Amanda Thomas, the county’s chief fiscal officer, said the recommended budget priorities are unchanged from 2024–25: (1) comply with legal, financial and policy obligations; (2) optimize county resources and improve effectiveness; and (3) fund new or enhanced programs that address critical needs — countywide emphasis on homelessness, behavioral health and contributing factors, and unincorporated-area emphasis on road condition improvements. The board approved the budget priorities unanimously.
Staff highlighted that the county will continue advocacy and monitoring at state and federal levels, and departments will use the priorities to guide budget requests.
