United Valley puts region in line for transportation funding

Partnership officials have praised San Joaquin Valley transportation leaders for presenting a unified front to the California Transportation Commission to put the Valley in line for transportation bond funding.

The California Transportation Commission in November approved a formula for transportation bond funding that would provide benefits to the San Joaquin Valley. The San Joaquin Valley/Sacramento/Bay Area corridor is being targeted with $825 million for trade corridor improvements.

“The Partnership’s efforts are based on the belief that the Valley must work together and stay together on issues that are important to our region,” Partnership Board chair Connie Conway said. “The work of the Valley’s transportation leaders on this issue shows the benefits of that approach. We commend those leaders for showing an unprecedented level of cooperation in identifying important projects and presenting a united front to the Commission.

We’re also extremely pleased that the California Transportation Commission recognized the critical role that the San Joaquin Valley plays in goods movement, not just for our region but for the entire state.”

Kirk Lindsey, a Partnership board member who also serves on the California Transportation Commission, also praised Valley transportation leaders for their vision in working with Bay Area officials on projects affecting both regions.

“The strategy to partner with the Bay Area on this effort worked brilliantly,” Lindsey said. “Since the Commission placed a priority on cross-region projects, it was critical for Valley leaders to collaborate with the Bay Area to make sure that the Valley is in line to receive an equitable share of transportation bond funding.”

The Partnership convened a special session with Valley transportation stakeholders earlier this month. At its November meeting, the Partnership board also offered its support for projects identified by the Directors’ Committee of the San Joaquin Valley Regional Planning Agencies as vital to both the regional and national movement of goods.

Those projects are:

• SR 4 (Crosstown Freeway) extension to Port of Stockton in San Joaquin County
• Altamont Pass Rail Corridor/Central Valley Rail Freight Shuttle Demonstration Project in San Joaquin County
• Crows Landing Intermodal Rail Facility, including rail improvements along an alignment from the Port of Oakland to the Crows Landing Airfield in Stanislaus County
• Shafter Intermodal Rail Facility in Kern County
• Double Track Rail through Tehachapi Pass in Kern County

All of the projects have an identified local match of 50 percent, have an identified delivery date, and are in a trade corridor of national or international significance.

Implementation of the projects would support a number of transportation goals and objectives in the Partnership’s Strategic Action Proposal as approved by the governor, such as “improving goods movement within the region to increase economic vitality, traffic safety, and mobility” and “enhancing goods movement capacity while increasing safety, decreasing congestion, improving air quality and promoting economic development.”

The Partnership previously had worked to secure $1 billion in funding for Highway 99 improvements.

Clean energy, fuels conference a success

More than 270 people on Dec. 3 learned about the current state of the Valley’s clean energy and fuels during a successful San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy & Fuels Conference in Fresno. Participants represented a wide range of sectors from throughout the eight-county region and provided input on steps needed to achieve expanded clean technology

The conference was sponsored by the Sierra Club and the San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization (SJVCEO), which was established by the Partnership to facilitate the growth of clean energy and fuels in the Valley.

Congressman Jerry McNerney provided the keynote address, telling the attendees that the Valley “will begin to prosper when we move into these new energy technologies, because we have the resources to make it happen."

Overall opportunities and recommendations were identified at the conference:

• Time is right and opportunities abound for the San Joaquin Valley to substantially increase its use of clean energy.
• Increased use of clean energy positively addresses national and state economic, environmental, and security issues (peak oil prices, global warming, state renewable energy and air quality standards, and energy security).
• Valley should focus efforts on opportunities for greater environmental stewardship and business growth by supporting development of a clean energy workforce and providing support to efforts to help businesses green their operation and be more sustainable.
• Valley should connect with clean tech venture capital and investment community and leverage the clean tech wave as a driver for economic development in the San Joaquin Valley.
• SJVCEO should give priority to technologies and projects that positively address both air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, rather than focus in a single area.
• SJVCEO should take a fully regional approach to addressing clean energy issues and opportunities.

The conference is the first in what is expected to be a series of conferences and workshops held by the San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization.

A complete wrap-up on the conference, including copies of speaker presentations and other materials related to the conference, can be found at www.valleycleanenergyconference.org.

Partnership provides health-care reform policy recommendations

Using input from the Partnership’s Health and Human Services Work Group, Partnership leaders have provided Valley state legislators with a number of policy recommendations for health-care reforms that address the unique needs of San Joaquin Valley residents.

“Although the primary health-care reform proposals now under consideration offer an invaluable framework for ongoing policy and program development, some of the most important issues for the San Joaquin Valley (affordability, financing, access) remain to be addressed,” Partnership Board chair Connie Conway and co-chair Fritz Grupe wrote in a letter to Valley legislators.

The letter offers a number of reform recommendations that would take the needs of the Valley into consideration, including:

• Incentives for difficult-to-recruit health and medical professions, particularly in underserved rural and urban areas and initiation of pilot projects that demonstrate sustainable economic development strategies for physician specialists and other professional and health business shortages.
• Recognize and address individual county capacities to finance and provide care for medically indigent persons ineligible for state-sponsored programs.
• Avoid categorical funding for public health prevention programs, and enhance flexible capacity of county public health agencies to respond to unique local needs.
• Adequately address the needs of the uninsured and the counties that provide the services. Fund the development of creative models for coverage of temporary and seasonal workers.
• Define minimum coverage to ensure affordability and reduce the need for individuals and families to opt out of the individual mandate. Define minimum coverage to ensure access to cost-effective care including primary/preventative and chronic condition management.
• Improve delivery of health and medical services through the use of information technology, eHealth and telemedicine.

The recommendations are based on the Central Valley Health Policy Institute’s June 2007 brief, Health Reform 2007: Impact on the Valley. See publications at http://www.csufresno.edu/ccchhs.

Governor appoints Rowe to Partnership board

Governor Schwarzenegger has appointed Jeffrey Rowe, 48, of Turlock, director of the Stanislaus County Department of Employment and Training, to the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley Board of Directors.

Rowe has worked at the department since 1994. From 1991 to 1994, Rowe served as eligibility supervisor and worker at the Stanislaus County Community Services Agency.  He co-owned the Creative Landscaping Company from 1986 to 1991. Rowe is a member of the Stanislaus County Economic Development Action Committee.  He will represent the Central California Workforce Collaborative, a regional consortium of eight Workforce Investment Boards.

Partnership to collaborate with City of Fresno on housing symposium

The California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley will collaborate with the City of Fresno on the first-ever San Joaquin Valley Housing Symposium on Thursday, Jan. 10, in Fresno. The event will be held at the Fresno Convention Center, 848 M St., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The symposium will bring together housing professionals from across the Valley and state to discuss and exchange ideas about land use topics that are vital to the Valley’s future. The event will focus on sustainable growth strategies and include educational tracks on regionalism, compact development, and affordable housing.

Lynn Jacobs, director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development, and William Fulton, president and CEO of the Solimar Research Group, will be the featured speakers.

The symposium will be conducted by the City of Fresno’s Housing and Community Development Division in collaboration with the Partnership, the San Joaquin Valley Regional Blueprint, and the Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce.

Registration information is available at www.sjvhousing.com or by calling Leslie Gacad at 559-621-8469.

Energy and Clear Air Business Expo set for Bakersfield

In an effort to show that environmental awareness and business prosperity can co-exist, Valley CAN (Clean Air Now), the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce are among the organizations that will host the inaugural Energy and Clean Air Business Expo in Bakersfield on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008. The Expo will be held at the Holiday Inn Select, Bakersfield Convention Center, 801 Truxtun Ave., from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The Expo will demonstrate how businesses can incorporate energy-efficient methods and clean air values into everyday operations. It will feature exhibits, hybrid test-drive sessions and breakout discussions.

Cindy Tuck, undersecretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, will be the keynote speaker.

The Expo will be presented by the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce, Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, South California Gas Company, and Valley CAN (Clean Air Now).

For more information and to register for the luncheon, visit www.valley-can.org.

Meet the Board:
Luisa Medina

Advancing justice and empowering people

Stories have been written like this before, but it’s a true one for Luisa Medina. She was born and raised in Fowler, the daughter of an immigrant father and youngest of four children in a farm worker family.

Her home is the Central Valley, and she has stayed here to advocate for access to affordable housing, adequate health care and good-paying jobs for people who wouldn’t have it otherwise.

“This can be a thriving, prosperous region; where our children are healthy and receive the quality education they deserve to compete in a global economy,” Medina says about the Valley five to 10 years down the road. “Where we have embraced the cultural diversity that exists in the region and everyone has an equal opportunity to reach their fullest potential.”

Medina is the development director for Central California Legal Services, Inc., an organization that offers advice and help with legal matters for people who have nowhere else to turn. It is the primary provider of free civil legal services in the Central Valley.

She has been an advocate for children and families both professionally and personally for more than 25 years. She was appointed by then-Supervisor Juan Arambula to the Children and Families Commission of Fresno County (First 5). She also was appointed to the Fresno County Foster Care Standards and Oversight Committee.

In January 2007, Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Medina to the board of directors for the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. She serves as co-convener for the Health and Human Services Work Group.

“Serving on the Partnership board has been especially rewarding because of the dedication everyone brings to addressing the many challenges facing our region and its future growth,” Medina says. “We all have the opportunity to weigh in from our own perspective and experiences on important issues, from the quality of our air and water to transportation and energy to health policy and education reforms.”

Medina was elected to the Fresno Unified School District Board of Education and was its first Latina president (2005-2006). She served as chair of the City of Fresno’s Housing and Community Development Commission and on the board of directors for the Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission. She is a member of the Local Health Care Coalition, a Fresno Metro Ministry group.

“The Partnership’s initiatives are all important because each is focused on the quality of life for the region,” Medina says, “but if I had to choose, I would say most important are health and human services and both K-12 education and higher education and workforce development – these are the issues I have focused on throughout my career.”

Legislative Update

AB 575 (Arambula) - Prop 1B AQ Mitigation Criteria/Funding
A bill to require that $1 billion to mitigate air pollution from goods movement, approved by voters under the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006 (Proposition 1B), be appropriated to the highest priority projects according to a set of region-neutral criteria.

• Status: Bill held in Assembly Appropriations Committee. However, the allocation of Proposition 1B “Goods Movement Emission Reduction” (AQ Mitigation) Program funding has been determined by criteria passed as part of the 2007-08 Budget, through trailer bill SB 88.
• On September 19, ARB released its draft concepts for implementation of the Prop. 1B Goods Movement Emission Reduction Program. Corresponding deadlines are as follows:
  
  Dec. 21, 2007: ARB staff is developing proposed Guidelines, along with a staff report recommending funding targets and early grant projects. They plan to release these documents on Dec. 21, 2007, followed by public workshops the week of Jan. 7, 2008.
  
  Jan. 7, 2008: Public workshops on the proposed Guidelines will be held.
  
  Jan. 24, 2008: The Board is scheduled to hold a public hearing to consider adoption of the Guidelines and approval of the targets and early grant projects in Sacramento.
  
  February 2008: Following adoption of the Guidelines and grant projects by the Board, ARB will solicit applications in February from local agencies to fund projects that directly reduce air pollution through the use of cleaner equipment.
  
  Spring 2008: ARB will hold a public hearing and allocate the first $250 million in bond monies to local agencies.
  
  Summer 2008: ARB expects that those agencies receiving bond monies will begin announcing the availability of incentives for equipment owners.

AB 1223 (Arambula) - Net Energy Metering
A bill to permit an agricultural customer who uses solar or wind generation to offset the customer's own electrical needs to aggregate the electricity use of properties adjacent or contiguous to the generator that are under the same ownership to its full electricity usage over a 12-month cycle at the retail rate.

The Partnership Board and Executive Committee have sent letters in support of the bill.

• Status: Assemblymember Arambula says the bill will now be two-year bill. The Assembly will take it back up in January.

AB 1129 (Arambula) - Housing Trust Fund
A bill to establish the San Joaquin Valley Rural Regional Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

• Status: Held in Assembly Housing Committee as a two-year bill.
• Related, SB 586 (Dutton) was signed by the governor on Saturday, Oct. 13. This bill allocates the $100 million Affordable Housing Innovation Fund created by the Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2006 (Proposition 1C) by:
  
  Committing $35 million of Prop 1C funding for matching housing trust funds such as we are trying to create through our SJV Housing Trust.
  
  Committing 50% of these funds to new housing trust funds like the SJV Housing Trust and the funds it will assist in creating jurisdictions.
  
  Giving priority and setting aside for counties under 425,000 residents to allow them time to meet match requirements. The four Valley counties to receive assistance are: Tulare (420,619), Merced (246,751), Kings (147,729), and Madera (144,396).

AB 1403 (Arambula) – Education
A bill to establish an innovative, five-year Central Valley School District Improvement Pilot Program. This legislation is consistent with the goals and objectives of the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley toward the implementation of “a school and school district support system through the County Offices of Education.” Specifically, this bill would allow two County Superintendents (Fresno and Tulare) to opt to assume additional responsibility for ensuring the academic success of those struggling school districts within their jurisdiction that are both identified for program improvement or corrective action under the federal No Child Left Behind and have 50% or more of their schools ranked in deciles 1 and 2 of the state Academic Performance Index.

Partnership Board and Executive Committee have sent letters in support of the bill.

• Status: Placed on the Suspense File in Senate Appropriations, and did not pass out of committee.

AB 1455 (Arambula, Villines) – Air Quality Zones
The bill as most recently amended would authorize the State Air Resources Board to designate “California Air Quality Zones” for the purpose of providing incentives for owners of mobile and stationary sources of air pollution to invest in air pollution control equipment that produce surplus emission reductions, and for owners of stationary sources of air pollution to invest in the production and utilization of renewable energy technologies. Areas eligible include those that: 1) have been in nonattainment for PM 2.5 and in serious, severe, or extreme nonattainment for ozone using the 8-hour rule, and 2) have countywide unemployment rate at least 50 % higher than the statewide average for at least two of the last three years.

The bill’s goal is to improve air quality in the state’s dirtiest air basins and generate jobs in the most disadvantaged communities.

• Status: Placed on the Suspense File in Senate Appropriations, and did not pass out of committee.

AB 27 (Parra) -- Sustainability of the Partnership
AB 27 is a bill to authorize the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley through 2019.

• Status: AB 27 is held in Assembly Jobs Committee as a two-year bill.
• Timeline:
  
  Dec. 20, 2007: Deadline for submitting letters of support and opposition
  
  Jobs will prepare a Supplemental List of Support and Opposition which will include any letters received past the Dec. 20 deadline and on Jan. 7 before 5 p.m.
  
  Jan. 7, 2008: Analyses of the bill will be delivered to Assemblymember Parra’s office by 9 a.m.
  
  Jan. 8, 2008: First Hearing in Assembly Jobs Committee (Assemblymember Arambula, Chair)

Dates to Know

January 10

San Joaquin Valley Housing Symposium
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fresno Convention Center
848 M St.
Fresno

January 10-11

Kern County Minority Contractor Association Regional Conference
January 10 • 3 to 9 p.m.
January 11 • 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Bakersfield Convention Center
Holiday Inn Select
801 Truxtun Ave.
Bakersfield
For more information, visit www.minoritycontractors.info or call (661) 324-7535.

January 31

Bakersfield Energy and Clean Air Expo
11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Bakersfield Convention Center
Holiday Inn Select
801 Truxtun Ave.
Bakersfield
For more information, visit www.valley-can.org.

February 8

California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley Board of Directors meeting
Time and location to be determined
Fresno County