Agenda 04-05-22; 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 1 2022 Orange County Legislative Interests. It includes issues the Board has submitted in past 2 years to the county's legislative delegation, with some updates as necessary. 3 4 The Board will need to discuss and consider Attachments 1 and 2 as provided by the LIWG. 5 6 The work of the Legislative Issues Work Group to this point is based on the current information 7 available for the 2022 General Assembly Session. The issues addressed by the Group may 8 evolve and change over the session and require additional attention by the Group and Board of 9 Commissioners. New issues may also arise necessitating additional review. 10 11 Greg Wilder, Assistant to the County Manager for Legislative Affairs, reviewed the 12 background information for the item. He noted that the March 21, 2022 Legislative Breakfast is 13 planned to take place via Zoom. 14 Chair Price asked Greg Wilder to explain what happens at the Legislative Breakfast. 15 Greg Wilder stated that the Board members and three members of the legislative 16 delegation join with staff to meet and discuss the five legislative priorities identified by the 17 Commissioners. He said that they also discuss other topics the delegation wants to share with 18 the commissioners and vice versa. He said the meeting typically lasts 1.5 hours. He said that 19 the delegation sometimes gives feedback on items they think will move forward and they can 20 ask for additional information as needed. 21 Commissioner Hamilton thanked Chair Price and Commissioner Richards for working on 22 the legislative issues list. She said the list is excellent. She said she would like to add a priority 23 focused on capital needs of the schools, given the level of need. 24 Chair Price said that has been in the document in the past. 25 Greg Wilder noted that the issue is part of item number 17 on Attachment 2. 26 Commissioner Hamilton said she thinks there should be a separate highlighted issue. 27 Chair Price clarified that Commissioner Hamilton is proposing to move 17b to its own 28 separate item. 29 Commissioner Hamilton said she would like the infrastructure capital part of 17 to be a 30 new item. 31 Greg Wilder suggested a new item to read "support legislation to provide additional 32 capital funding to support school infrastructure, renovations, and improvements". 33 Commissioner Greene suggested making that 17b. 34 Commissioner Hamilton said she would prefer the item be its own as number 18. 35 Commissioner Fowler suggested making it 17a since it is priority and agreed that it 36 should be more prominent on the list. 37 Chair Price said the Board will discuss these issues with the delegation and that it would 38 be fine to make it a separate item. 39 Commissioner Fowler shared appreciation for highlighting mental health on the list. She 40 said that is a priority that the state is failing on. She said that there is a deficit to take care of 41 folks with mental health issues. She said the state is currently serving 13,500 and there are over 42 15,000 on registry of unmet need. She said there is another list called community alternative 43 services for folks with chronic disabilities and there are 2,500 on the list with zero on the waitlist. 44 She said that the state's recommendation to address those needs is increasing the cap to 5,000 45 with 1,000 this year and 1,000 next year. She said that this is merely a drop in the bucket that 46 they need to continue pressure on the General Assembly to increase those slots. She said this 47 is an equity issue where mental health needs are being treated differently than other health 48 needs. 49 Commissioner Bedford said there has been talk for years about another state bond for 50 school capital, and whether that is written or spoken at the Legislative Breakfast, she thinks it 51 should be highlighted to the delegation.