Striking Attorneys, IHSS Wage Crisis Frame Solano's Deepening Fiscal Reckoning

Solano County's Board of Supervisors ratified union contracts, accepted a mid-year budget report riddled with warnings, and heard from a parade of workers demanding better — all on a day when public defenders and prosecutors were picketing outside the building. The March 24 meeting laid bare a county squeezed between shrinking revenues, federal funding threats, and a workforce stretched to the breaking point.

• Public defenders and district attorneys strike over pay, warning that Solano is 14–20% behind Bay Area competitors and losing experienced lawyers to neighboring counties
• Mid-year budget flags $10M+ in revenue losses from Valero and Anheuser-Busch closures, expiring state backfills, and looming federal cuts that could strip 30,000 residents of Medi-Cal coverage
• IHSS workers deliver 430-signature petition demanding higher wages, citing that 82% hold multiple jobs and nearly half face food insecurity
• Mid-manager union president files unfair labor practice, accusing the county of withholding health premiums and using a "me too" clause to undermine negotiating units
• Senior mental health advocates warn the only non-means-tested older adult program was eliminated in Prop 1's behavioral health transition
• Board approves all items 4-0 with Supervisor Vasquez absent, including SEIU 1021 contracts, consent calendar, and budget recommendations