By Lookout Staff

July 22, 2015 -- Santa Monica's wish-list to Uncle Sam is a long one. The City's 2015 Federal Agenda, the first of what will be regular reports delivered annually to the City Council, is up for approval as part of the consent calendar at Tuesday’s City  Council meeting.

The list includes federal assistance for renewable energy programs and environmental cleanup, grants to create affordable housing, additional resources for homeless services, continued funding for parks and recreation, and several other of the City's “historic and emerging legislative priorities,” according to the staff report.

Eight major categories emerged which staff is recommending the City pursue through it lobbyist in Washington, D.C., over the next fiscal year. The categories are energy/environment, housing/homelessness/economic development, parks and recreation, public safety, taxes, transportation, water/water infrastructure, and jobs.

Charged with pursuing the City's interest in Washington, The Ferguson Group, Santa Monica's federal lobbyist since 1984, prepared the list with input from senior City staff, the report said.

While many of the Federal Agenda's goals are general in nature – under energy/environment, for example, the City seeks federal support for “energy efficiency and conservation strategies” – some of the “action” items shed light on how federal policy has on occasion hurt Santa Monica.

Under “affordable housing,” the report notes that declining federal support for Section 8 rent vouchers “are compromising Santa Monica's ability to adequately serve families and individuals who need housing.”

“Compounded with the state of California's elimination of redevelopment funding for affordable housing, these changes leave our most vulnerable populations with fewer options,” said the document.

City officials want continued federal support for programs with local benefits, such as federal reimbursements for taking gasoline-burning buses off the road, staff wrote. In 2013-14, the City received more than $1.3 million back from the U.S. Government through clean-fuel tax credits. 

Local officials also want the lobbyist to continue pushing for federal grants for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program and for full funding for the Urban Area Security Initiative, created in 2014 to help local agencies increase security at areas at high risk of terrorist attack.

Santa Monica also supports any federal legislation “that would allow brick-and-mortar retailers to compete more effectively against Internet sellers,” but the City would oppose any federal law exempting “online tourism companies,” such as Airbnb, from paying state and local sales taxes, according to the report.

In addition, official are asking the lobbyist to keep a watchful eye on pending new federal environmental regulations that could have a trickle down impact on future projects to clean up storm water runoff. Officials fear the federal government could change the rules and water safety standards after projects have been built.

“EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is set to propose new compliance requirements for wastewater and storm water infrastructure that may impact the City's planning and permitting, and propose new storm water runoff performance standards for residential and other developments after they have been constructed,” the document said.