L.A. Blankets the Halls of Congress

by Gary Toebben

Southern California delivered 168 leaders from business, government and nonprofits to the steps of the Capitol today for ACCESS Washington, D.C. 2014. The annual lobbying pilgrimage, sponsored by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and 12 other business organizations is cutting a wide swath across the halls of government.

New Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx was the first keynote speaker at breakfast this morning. Secretary Foxx applauded the major transportation projects underway In Los Angeles County as a result of Measure R funding and asked the delegation for support in moving a $302 billion, 4-year surface transportation bill through Congress this year. He also announced his goal of reducing the time required for federal approvals for transportation projects by 50 percent.

A White House briefing followed Secretary Foxx and featured representatives of the Treasury Department and the National Economic Council. They discussed President Obama's policies to grow jobs through manufacturing and tourism, rebuild America's infrastructure and use immigration reform to bolster the economy.

This afternoon the delegation will meet with Sen. Barbara Boxer to discuss transportation, water, international trade and immigration reform. Metro officials will present Sen. Boxer with a special tribute for her leadership on authoring and passing the two-year federal surface transportation bill in 2012 and for her strong support for the funding of L.A. County projects. A similar thank you presentation will be made to Sen. Dianne Feinstein Wednesday morning.

During the three-day visit, teams of delegates will blanket the Capitol to advocate for Congressional action on issues that are important to L.A. County like immigration reform, the European Union and Pacific trade agreements, intellectual property rights, housing for homeless veterans, renewable energy and clean technology, health care reliability and capacity, transportation reauthorization, the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, early childhood education and reauthorization of the federal acts supporting elementary, secondary and higher education.

I personally want to thank all 168 delegates for investing their time and financial resources in ACCESS Washington, D.C. Your voices are strong and passionate, and everyone in L.A. County will benefit from your leadership and representation.

And that's The Business Perspective.