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<br />2019 State Legislative Summary Page 3 of 3 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Support with grant writing and advocacy <br />In 2018, California voters approved Prop. 68, the $4 billion Parks and Water Bond Act. Statewide <br />Park Program (SPP) competitive grants will create new parks and new recreation opportunities in <br />critically underserved communities, including cities, counties, districts, joint powers authorities, and <br />non-profits across California. Proposition 68 funding includes $650,275,000, which will be distributed <br />throughout multiple rounds of grants. On August 5, 2019, the City of San Leandro applied for funding <br />to comprehensively renovate Memorial Park and make it into an all-inclusive park for all abilities. It <br />is currently anticipated that Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) will anno unce the funding <br />awards for this program in Spring 2020. Based on our informal conversations with DPR, over 431 <br />applications for funding were submitted for this round of the Statewide Parks Program. <br /> <br />TPA, in partnership with the City Manager’s Office and Recreation and Human Services department, <br />took the lead drafting, assembling, and submitting the application while working in close partnership <br />with the City. <br /> <br />As soon as the grant was submitted, TPA created an advocacy plan for the application that laid out <br />next steps, timelines, strategy, and key objectives. State Department of Parks and Recreation <br />informed the City that the application would receive a site visit. TPA took the lead on preparing the <br />City for the site visit which included what to expect, background on the project officer, what goes on <br />at site visits, helped draft a script for the day, and participated in additional strategy meetings, and <br />attended the site visit. TPA also worked with the East Bay delegation to submit support letters and <br />will be executing additional advocacy efforts on behalf of the application. <br /> <br />Cannabis Regulations and Legislation <br />2019 was another very active legislative year relating to cannabis, especially with a new Governor, <br />new Administration, and new policy staff. TPA made sure the City was up to date with the latest <br />information on legislation, news from the Capitol, and aware of every proposal. More importantly, <br />TPA made sure that, whether it was a legislative proposal or draft regulation, that the City’s existing <br />cannabis program would be unharmed and remain intact. <br /> <br />Department of Finance/Redevelopment Dissolution item <br />The City informed TPA of an outstanding item with the Department of Finance relating to the <br />dissolution of the City’s redevelopment agency. TPA worked with the Deputy Director of the State <br />Department of Finance on the City’s behalf to further discuss the outstanding items, identify potential <br />options and next steps, and present to the City possible next steps. <br /> <br />Weekly Updates <br />In addition to the work mentioned above, TPA provided the City with ongoing, weekly legislative <br />updates on bills, relevant statewide policy topics, and other matters of interest to ensure the City <br />has up to date information and is directly involved in the decision-making process. These updates <br />included specific bills we were working on for the City, along with bills we suggested the City consider <br />monitoring, supporting or opposing. <br /> <br />TPA looks forward to continuing its efforts to ensure that the City is kept up to date on state <br />legislation, matters relating to the State’s Administration, and funding opportunities in future <br />updates that include our efforts on the City’s behalf, status of priority legislation, and other time- <br />sensitive matters. <br />45