Valley Voice is an advocacy coalition of elected officials and regional planning staff from throughout the San Joaquin Valley who travel to Sacramento and Washington, D.C., annually to present issues of regional significance to federal and state legislators. The San Joaquin Valley Regional Policy Council coordinates the effort.

Valley Voice Sacramento 2023

Stockton City Councilmember Dan Wright and Manteca Mayor Gary Singh, both San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG) Board members, and SJCOG Executive Director Diane Nguyen met with state lawmakers and their staff on March 29, 2023.

Valley Voice Washington D.C. 2023

The Valley Voice delegation traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with federal lawmakers and government officials on Sept. 12-13, 2023. 

The San Joaquin Valley Regional Policy Council provides a forum for the San Joaquin Valley to communicate easily and effectively on regional issues that affect us all such as transportation, air quality and advocacy efforts. Working regionally to identify actions items that--when implemented by individual Regional Planning Agencies--result in a single vision for the entire valley.

SJCOG Board members Wright and Singh represent the agency on the Policy Council and SJCOG Board Chair Rickman serves as an alternate.

San Joaquin Valley Policy Conference

The annual San Joaquin Valley Regional Policy Conference is a forum for elected officials, regional planning staff and other stakeholders to discuss regional issues that affect the entire San Joaquin Valley region including transportation, air quality, and state and federal advocacy for community priorities. 

The 2023 conference, presented by the San Joaquin Valley Policy Council and was hosted by SJCOG on April 24-26, highlighted best practices and innovations in housing, transportation, social equity, air quality and San Joaquin Valley infrastructure priorities. View the San Joaquin Valley Policy Conference page to learn more.