Dec 2020 Annual Meeting

The 2020 SBRPA Annual meeting was held via Zoom and featured:
• Looking Back: 2020 by SBRPA President Betty Jeppesen 
• Looking Ahead: 2021 by Capitol Advocacy's Kate Bell
• Board Member & New Bylaws Vote by SBRPA Director Chuck Eckert

December Annual Meeting Video  

State Budget & Public Policy Update Presentation

Guest Speaker Bio, Kate Bell

Kate Bell, a partner with Capitol Advocacy, has been with the firm since 2007 and lobbied in California for nearly two decades. Kate is widely respected by the Capitol community for her ability to frame issues effectively and knowledgeably. Her efficient, no nonsense style is appreciated by both clients and government officials alike. Her hard work ethic, key relationships within Sacramento’s political structure, and ability to navigate the complex dynamics between the two have proven invaluable for clients

Kate is well-recognized as one of Sacramento’s most effective lobbyists before the Legislature and Administration, representing clients in industries such as aviation, cybersecurity, education, general business, health, housing, procurement, restaurant, retail, tax, and technology. In addition to her lobbying portfolio, Kate leads the firm’s tax and procurement practices.

In the tax space, Kate has won several multi-million-dollar tax refund claims, negotiated settlements, developed effective policies and new business incentives, and represents clients before the Board of Equalization, California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, Franchise Tax Board, Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, and the Office of Tax Appeals. Kate also works on taxability issues, tax regulations, and tax reform before the Legislature.

The firm’s procurement practice is thriving, as Kate has helped the firm’s clients receive many largescale contracts dozens of State Agencies and Departments. Kate assists clients in developing bid opportunities, ensuring funding in the State Budget, identifying partnership opportunities, protesting anti-competitive outcomes, all while maintaining strong ethics.

Examples of her track record of procurement successes include breaking up a decades long monopoly in California by ensuring that an opportunity went to bid, provided fair qualifications and, ultimately, allowed for two vendors to provide service on a multimillion dollar contract; securing sole source contract approvals through agency, Governor’s Office and the Department of General Services within a constrained deadline; finalizing approvals of large IT projects with state government leaders; taking pilots to full-scale projects within various departments in California; activating large scale statewide contract offerings, and finding partners for the state during the recent COVID-19 emergency response, to name a few. Her strong relationships with executives at the California Department of Technology, Department of General Services, and the Government Operations Agency, amongst others have helped clients navigate and drive the procurement process in California.

Please click the image below to download a copy of Kate's powerpoint Presentation.