The week of February 16, the RCRC Officers, including Mariposa County Supervisor Miles Menetrey; RCRC 1st Vice Chair, Santa Barbara County Supervisor Bob Nelson; RCRC 2nd Vice Chair, Napa County Supervisor Anne Cottrell; and RCRC Immediate Past Chair, Modoc County...
RCRC, in coalition with the California Association of County Treasurers and Tax Collectors, is co-sponsoring Senate Bill 1005 authored by Senator Anna Caballero (D-Merced). This measure seeks to provide clear authority for public agencies to round when receiving cash...
On February 23, the California Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW) announced the availability of grant funding to help prevent the spread of quagga and zebra mussels that threaten California’s waterways and cause negative impacts to recreational...
On March 3, the House Agriculture Committee will begin consideration of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, (H.R. 7567), a comprehensive Farm Bill package intended to address policy areas not included in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The...
On February 20, Representative Jim Costa (D-Tulare) introduced the Rural Development Modernization Act (H.R. 7609), which would update and standardize how “rural” is defined across U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs. The bill would establish a uniform...
A monthly update regarding the important work of RCRC’s affiliate entities, providing innovative services for the benefit of rural communities. Funds Still Available – ReCoverCA Homebuyer Assistance (HBA) GSFA is pleased to remind our business partners that...
Announcements regarding key staffing changes of importance to California’s rural counties. Christine Ciccotti, of Davis, has been appointed Chief Counsel at the California High Speed Rail Authority. Ciccotti has been Chief Counsel at the California Department of...
RCRC press releases and related news clips about RCRC and our member counties. Please note that a subscription may be required to read some external publications. Federal Cuts Exacerbate Rural California Doctor Shortage — State Affairs Pro At a hearing of the Assembly...
The Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) announced that they have released $125 million in grant funding to support local governments in their efforts to address the public health and safety impacts associated with the legalization of cannabis, as provided...
RCRC is proud to join the League of California Cities in co-sponsoring Senate Bill 922 (Laird, D-Monterey). This measure seeks to reaffirm long-standing local authority related to the recovery of street maintenance and repair costs associated with providing essential...
On Wednesday February 25th at 1 p.m. the Environmental Services Joint Powers Authority (ESJPA), an affiliate of RCRC, is hosting a special technical webinar via Zoom to guide members through the process of submitting reporting requirements for Household Hazardous...
RCRC press releases and related news clips about RCRC and our member counties. Please note that a subscription may be required to read some external publications. A California county’s only hospital cleared a federal hurdle, but it still needs millions to...
On January 30, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) released recommendations on wildfire mitigation and victim compensation. The document makes sweeping and transformative recommendations and is intended to inform the California Earthquake...
RCRC supports Assembly Bill 442, authored by Assemblymember Heather Hadwick (R-Alturas). This measure would allow management of private timberlands across multiple watersheds. Specifically, the Forest Practice Act mandates that a forest management plan must be...
Announcements regarding key staffing changes of importance to California’s rural counties. Julie Lee, of Auburn, has been reappointed to the Delta Stewardship Council, where she has served since 2022. Lee was a Consultant at CPS Human Resources Consulting from...
RCRC press releases and related news clips about RCRC and our member counties. Please note that a subscription may be required to read some external publications. Central Valley farmers push Trump on Shasta Dam raise – Sacramento Bee A coalition of farmers in Central...
H.R. 1 will have significant fiscal impacts on counties and the California communities we serve. Counties will incur new costs to provide indigent health care to individuals who lose Medi-Cal coverage, and additional workforce costs to implement the eligibility...
RCRC, along with the National Stewardship Action Council and Orange County, is co-sponsoring Senate Bill 936, authored by Senators Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas) and Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana). This measure bans the sale of nitrous oxide as commonly used for illicit...
On January 30, by a vote of 71-29, the Senate passed a $1.2 trillion spending package that separated the Homeland Security appropriations bill from the five other bills included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act. The five appropriations bills (Defense;...
On February 4, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) introduced a pair of bills to help address growing water supply challenges in California and the American West. As severe droughts, warming temperatures, limitations on groundwater pumping, and outdated infrastructure...
On February 2, the Department of the Interior announced that up to $20 million is available to strengthen local governments’ wildfire response capacity. The Slip-on Tanker Pilot Program (established under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) equips small, remote...
California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW) QZ Grant Program has the following announcement: The application period for the 2025 cycle will open on March 9, 2026, and will close on April 17, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. Up to $2M is expected to be awarded,...
Announcements regarding key staffing changes of importance to California’s rural counties. Ryan Birss, of Siskiyou County, has been appointed to serve as a Judge at the Shasta County Superior Court. Birss has been the Owner of Ryan H. Birss, Attorney at Law...
RCRC press releases and related news clips about RCRC and our member counties. Please note that a subscription may be required to read some external publications. California’s long-awaited water plan sparks new battle over delta – San Francisco Chronicle...
The U.S. Senate reached a late-day agreement on Thursday, which would avert a broad shutdown of the federal government, by splitting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding measure away from the remaining five full-year appropriations bills. Under the deal,...
RCRC is a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 899, authored by Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield). This measure seeks to require the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force to create a wildfire smoke health assessment, intended to provide important data that...
Thursday, January 29, was a key deadline by which bills introduced in 2025 must advance out of their house of origin in order to continue through the legislative process. Several RCRC sponsored and supported legislative proposals have moved forward. Among them...
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is soliciting feedback on dairy and livestock sector methane emissions to inform their work toward reaching short-lived climate pollutant reduction targets set by Senate Bill 1383 in 2016. SB 1383 established reduction targets...
On Friday January 23, the federal government approved the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Sites Reservoir Project in Colusa and Glenn Counties, unlocking a funding source that could cover up to a quarter of the estimated $6.2 to $6.8 billion total cost of the...
On January 27, California Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, along with Nevada Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen introduced the Santini-Burton Modernization Act, which would deliver more funding to protect the Lake Tahoe Basin with no new costs to...
Sarah Dukett
Senior Policy Advocate
Leigh Kammerich
Senior Policy Advocate
John Kennedy
Senior Policy Advocate
Staci Heaton
Senior Policy Advocate
Tracy Rhine
Senior Policy Advocate
Eric Will
Policy Advocate
Mary-Ann Warmerdam
Senior Vice President Governmental Affairs