Blog / The Business Perspective
Chamber Members Rally For Business Growth In Sacramento
May 22, 2012
by Gary Toebben
More than 100 L.A. Area Chamber members are taking part in ACCESS Sacramento today and tomorrow to advocate for legislation to dramatically improve the statewide business climate and place the highest priority on growing jobs and the economy.The course of California's future is being set right now in Sacramento. Decisions made this year will determine the rate of business growth, the number of new jobs created and the strength of our education system. Every day businesses are being stymied by anti-competitive regulations, residents are losing faith in the State's ability to deliver essential services and California remains in dire need of a long-term strategy for budget stability.
A priority for the advocacy trip will be streamlining business regulations and improving CEQA to enable new business investments and new jobs. The delegation will also voice strong support for Gov. Jerry Brown's pension reform proposal. Knowing the key linkage between education and economic development, Chamber members will also advocate for reform and initiatives in early childhood education, K-12 and higher education.
The trip includes meetings with more than 50 legislators, staff and key government officials including California Secretary for Environmental Protection Matt Rodriguez, California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols and Executive Secretary for Legislation, Appointments, and Policy in the Office of the Governor Nancy McFadden. The delegation will hear from Gov. Jerry Brown, State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, State Controller John Chiang, Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, State Sen. Mark Leno, Chief Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor and California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott.
The overall message of the delegation will be that California is lagging behind the rest of the nation in the economic recovery and it is time to take aggressive action. California still has more than 2 million people who are out of work and a budget deficit of $16 billion dollars. In L.A. County alone, we only have 3,000 more people working than a year ago.
As the vast majority of citizens of California will agree, what is currently happening in Sacramento is not working. It is time for a new focus on jobs and economic growth that goes beyond watching tech companies grow and hoping for a Facebook IPO to bail out the state budget.
And that's The Business Perspective.
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