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 2026

SJCOG Executive Director Diane Nguyen and Deputy Director Ryan Niblock was in Sacramento on March 4, 2026. They met with Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom to advocate for funding for the next phase of the State Route 99/120 Connector project and for goods movement and safety, access to transit funding, and enhancing passenger rail service.

Valley Voice Washington D.C. 2025

The Valley Voice delegation traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with federal lawmakers and government officials Sept. 8-10, 2025. 

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 Boardmembers Robert Rickman and Gary Singh represent the agency on the Policy Council.

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 2025 San Joaquin Valley Policy Conference was hosted by the Merced County Association of Governments on April 9-11, 2025. View the 2025 San Joaquin Valley Policy Conference webpage to learn more about the conference.