Blog / The Business Perspective
Representing L.A. at the Federal Level
March 21, 2019
by Maria S. Salinas
Last week, I had the pleasure of leading more than 150 L.A. area businesses, civic and community leaders to our nation’s capital for ACCESS Washington, D.C. A first for me, this year’s trip was not only an opportunity to represent the Los Angeles region at the federal level, but also continue to build and strengthen relationship with national and global partners.
Our 2019 advocacy agenda is broad and diverse, including issues such as transportation and goods movement, housing and homelessness, health care, education, immigration, trade and the importance of the 2020 Census.
Over the three-day trip, our delegation – which included elected officials from the City of Los Angeles, and representatives from the County of Los Angeles, L.A. County Metro, Los Angeles Unified School District and Metropolitan Water District – met with a host of congressmembers – including Rep. Donna Shalala, Rep. Jimmy Gomez, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Rep. Brad Sherman, Rep. Gil Cisneros, Rep. Katie Hill and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer – to advocate on behalf of the L.A. region.
Some of the specific issues we discussed were our desire to see an infrastructure package, wildfire response, funding to maintain the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Delegates stressed the importance of an accurate count on the 2020 Census. This year we also formed our first advocacy team focused on the issues surrounding the Cannabis industry. (See our full agenda)
Because of our region’s strong international presence, we were welcomed by diplomats in Washington D.C., including the Japanese Ambassador to the U.S., the Canadian Embassy and the Mexican Ambassador to the U.S., who also hosted our entire delegation for a reception at the Mexican Cultural Institute.
On our last day, I was invited to attend and speak at the California Democrat Congressional Caucus Luncheon. Joined by members of the L.A. City Council, I shared with them the importance of our trip to Washington D.C., highlighting our advocacy priorities. This also gave me time to stress the economic impact that the L.A. region has across the country.
I would like to thank all of the members and partners who joined us this year. The fact that we – the private sector and public sector – went hand in hand with a shared set of priorities for Los Angeles made this year’s trip impactful.
And that's The Business Perspective.
Comments
Thanks so much for the informative communiques. They are energizing, interesting, and instructive Am in the process of setting up my LLC and will join the chamber shortly thereafter. So happy you are at the helm.
Posted by: Gwendolyn Williams @ 9:05:21 pm
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