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Monterey County board adopts 2026 legislative program, schedules March workshop
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Summary
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a 2026 legislative program and workshop agenda on Feb. 3, directing staff to pursue federal and state funding for priority projects including San Lucas water and dam safety and to pursue earmark and budget requests.
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the county’s 2026 legislative program and workshop agenda on Feb. 3, giving staff authority to develop state and federal budget requests and to seek grant funding for priority projects.
The package presented by Nicole Hollingsworth, the county’s legislative program manager, centers on four carryover priorities: the San Lucas clean‑drinking‑water project, dam‑safety projects, water sustainability efforts and other public‑safety infrastructure. The board also approved the county’s strategic grants program, which targets “shelf‑ready” projects for competitive funding support.
Hollingsworth said the program is intended to let the county respond quickly to state and federal opportunities and noted the board’s engagement in the process. “We’re gonna speed through this,” she told supervisors as she reviewed the recommendations and next steps.
Federal advocate Maria Tripler briefed the board on recent wins and the federal outlook, saying congressional work on appropriations has been slow but that the county has secured nearly $1.1 million for the San Lucas water project through congressional earmarks and that additional transportation and housing funding is pending. State lobbyist Ashley Walker summarized the department’s 2025 work and said the county has prioritized access to Proposition 4 wildfire and dam‑safety funding.
Supervisor Alejo praised the program as a sustained, coordinated effort to advocate for county needs in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. On a motion by Alejo and a second from Supervisor Church, the board approved the staff recommendations and received the reports from the county’s lobbying team.
What’s next: the board directed staff to proceed with the workshop scheduled for March 6 to present county priorities to state and federal delegation members and to continue to develop budget and grant requests on the board’s behalf.
