Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Federal Legislation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County lobbyists warn OMB proposed grants rule would create political review bottleneck; two Lake County earmarks are tentatively intact
Summary
Paragon and Nielsen Merksemer briefed supervisors on federal timing, two Lake County earmarks (roughly $750,000 for water/wastewater and $500,000 for workforce housing/reentry) and raised alarm about an OMB proposed rule that would add new discretionary political review to federal grants; Paragon said the public comment record and litigation are likely next steps.
Matthew Rothstein, Chief Deputy CAO, introduced the county's federal and state advocacy contractors and the board heard a two‑part briefing: Jeff Neal (state) and the Paragon team (federal).
Hassan Sarsour of Paragon summarized the congressional calendar and earmark prospects and flagged two Lake County projects likely in federal bills: a nearly $750,000 earmark for water/wastewater repairs tied to earlier sewage spills and a $500,000 earmark for a workforce‑housing/reentry program. "Those should stick as long as we get a budget in place," he said.
Rachel Mackey and Hassan outlined a separate regulatory threat: an OMB proposed rule that would overhaul federal financial assistance by adding political and reputational review criteria for grants, creating what they called a potential "political review bottleneck." Mackey said the 45‑day comment period generated more than 500,000 comments and that litigation is expected if a final rule is issued. She characterized the rule as "existential" for some subrecipients because it would give broad discretion to political appointees to pause or terminate discretionary grants.
Supervisors thanked regional and federal partners for advocacy and asked staff to continue outreach to congressional offices. The county asked staff to monitor both appropriations timing (deadline Oct. 1) and litigation/regulatory developments on the OMB rule. The board also heard state updates from Nielsen Merksemer on AB 2494 (forest demo program changes) and AB 2216 (Delta Conservancy expansion), where Neal said he is advocating to protect wildfire resilience priorities and expand grant opportunities for Lake County.
