Government Affairs - Orange County Transportation Authority

Lance Larson is the Orange County Transportation Authority’s (OCTA) Executive Director for Government Relations, where he is responsible for the overall programs and activities of the authority’s Legislative and Intergovernmental programs. Larson comes to OCTA with over 20 years of public and private sector service, in California and Washington, D.C. During his tenure in Washington, Larson attained valuable experience on Capitol Hill and gained comprehensive knowledge on a wide variety of federal issues. As a former long-standing senior aide of the California Congressional delegation and a key advisor to the Chairman of the House Policy Committee, Larson is intimately familiar with Congressional leadership staff, policies and agendas, as well as the many diverse issues that affect California and the Western States. A fourth generation native Californian, Larson served U.S. Representative Christopher Cox (R-CA) for nearly a decade in a variety of public and legislative affairs positions, most recently as the Legislative Coordinator for the Policy Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition, Larson has managed a Congressional reelection campaign and a trade association’s political action committee. His work with Southern California’s Congressional Districts has enabled him to forge strong relationships with local businesses, as well as with philanthropic and political leaders throughout the region.

Immediately prior to accepting the position as the Executive Director for Government Relations, Larson served as the Director of Legislative Affairs for the County of San Bernardino. In this role, he worked directly with the County of San Bernardino's Board of Supervisors and Chief Executive Officer and functioned as the legislative liaison and chief spokesperson for the County to the California State Legislature and United States Congress. He developed and implemented annual state and federal Legislative Platforms as well as directed management and oversight of the County's Grants Program that seeks and obtains federal, state, and local grant funds for countywide operations.
Larson has extensive experience in government relations, spending six years with a California-focused bipartisan government relations firm located in Washington, D.C. that represented local, regional, national and international clients. In this capacity, he specialized in the federal appropriations process as well as aviation, financial services, military base reuse, transportation, telecommunications, environmental policy, local government, housing and welfare reform policy issues.
Larson has a bachelor's degree in public administration from University of Southern California and a California County Senior Executive Credential from the California Association of Counties Institute for Excellence in County Government. He lives in North Tustin with his wife, Margaret Timberlake Larson.

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