Federal Advocacy Services

The Stanislaus Council of Governments (StanCOG) is soliciting proposals from individuals/firms with a proven track record in advocacy/lobbying at the Federal level to assist in developing and successfully pursuing its legislative priorities. To fulfill the requirements outlined in this RFP, StanCOG requires a well-managed and financially sound Consultant with demonstrated skills and technical ability, high levels of customer service, responsiveness, and satisfaction.

The primary focus of the Federal Legislative Advocate is to assist StanCOG to influence legislation, advance StanCOG’s interests before Congress, federal representatives, federal agencies, related stakeholder groups, identify and help secure funding and apply for competitive grants, earmarks, and other discretionary funding. The successful consultant will also provide monthly reports and provide legislative and regulatory updates to the Policy Board and staff.

Background

StanCOG has been designated and functions as: (i) the Local Transportation Authority as designated by the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors; (ii) the Area-wide Planning Organization as designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; (iii) the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) as designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation; (iv) the Regional Transportation Planning Agency (RTPA) as designated by the Secretary of Business and Transportation Agency of the State of California; (v) the Congestion Management Agency (CMA) as designated by the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors; (vi) the Abandoned Vehicle Authority (AVA) as designated by the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors, amongst other state, local and federal designations.

StanCOG is a California joint powers agency created pursuant to California Government Code section 6500 et seq.  StanCOG’s member agencies are the Cities of Ceres, Hughson, Modesto, Newman, Oakdale, Patterson, Riverbank, Turlock and Waterford, all municipal corporations, and the County of Stanislaus, a political subdivision of the State of California.  StanCOG is a public entity separate and distinct from its member entities.

StanCOG is tasked to prepare countywide transportation and housing planning, including preparation of a Federal and Regional Transportation Improvement Program, Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS), and Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA).  The Agency is responsible for programming federal and state transportation funding for all transportation modes and administers the Measure L ½ sales tax for transportation improvements in the Stanislaus Region. 

Project Details

• Reference ID: RFP No. 25-R07
• Department: Financial Services
• Department Head: Jean Foletta (Deputy Director of Operations)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-06-10T22:00:00.000Z
• Answers Posted By: 2026-06-16T00:00:00.000Z

Evaluation Criteria

• Qualifications and Team Experience (20 pts) —

  Written Response to Request for Proposal and experience of the consultant's overall team assigned to complete the work.

• Project Understanding and Strategic Approach (20 pts) —

  Proposed understanding of and identified approaches to addressing the services outlined in the RFP scope.

• Relevant Project Experience and Public Agency Advocacy (30 pts) —

  Experience with similar projects, specifically providing lobbying services for municipal agencies, including Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), Transportation and Air Quality agencies.

• Regional Legislative Knowledge and Central Valley Expertise (15 pts) —

  Familiarity and knowledge of the San Joaquin Central Valley legislative efforts.

• Cost Proposal and Fee Structure (15 pts) —

  Provides a clear and detailed breakdown of proposed costs, billing structure, reimbursable expenses, and overall pricing methodology associated with delivering the requested lobbying and consulting services.

Submission Requirements

• Cover Letter (required) —

  The submittal should include a letter describing the firm and/or team’s interest in providing the scope of services for the project. The person authorized by the firm and/or team to negotiate a contract with StanCOG shall sign the cover letter. Include the name, phone number, and e‐mail address of a contact person for the proposal process.

• Section I: Project Understanding and Qualifications (required) —

  In Section I, the submittal should include a description of the firm and/or team's understanding of the project and information on the firmeam’s qualifications and ability to perform the work described in the Scope of Work. This section shall address the following topics:
  

  1. Brief history of the firm and/or team, including key personnel.
     
  2. Names and resumes of project manager and personnel that will be assigned to this project.
     
  3. Organization chart of project personnel, including project manager and principal in charge.
     
  4. Description of experience (firm and/or team and project personnel) on the topic of this solicitation.
     
  5. Description of knowledge of State and Federal requirements and how firm and/or team intends to ensure compliance with these requirements.
     
  6. Description of project management system to track project tasks, deliverables, and expenditures.
     
  7. Statement of project understanding.
     
  8. Work Program Tentative Project Schedule expressed in terms of days from execution of the Consultant Services Agreement. This should include an estimate of the work hours of the various personnel involved.
     
  9. Client references from recent similar projects identifying the project name, your budget, year, name of proposed personnel who participated in the project and their role, and the name, address, and phone number of person to contact (client PM/representative).
     
  10. Indicate the primary contacts (and management hierarchy) that will be available for all aspects of the work.
• Section II. Project Approach (required) —

  This section should present the Consultant’s technical and project management approach, including but not limited to the proposed approach for establishing a long term count program, for obtaining and analyzing data and development of the CMP Plan.

• Section III: Cost Estimate / Schedule (required) —

  The Cost Estimate/Schedule section identifies the total cost to the Stanislaus Council of Governments for the proposal being submitted. The proposal must divide the project into separate functional work tasks, corresponding with the proposed Project Schedule, and provide the associated fees for the work to be done. This should include an estimate of the work hours of the various personnel involved. Personnel shall be identified by title and labor rate (raw and loaded are to be provided). And, each work task should be accompanied with deliverables by work task.

  The consultant should also provide an estimate of the percentage of time that each of the proposed team members will be dedicated to the project.

  All costs incurred and billed to StanCOG, including labor, equipment, materials, overhead, and profit shall be included within the firm and/or team’s RFP pricing element. The cost for any insurance and bonding shall be separately identified.