Blogs of the LA Area Chamber

In 2013, the Los Angeles City Council approved the Specific Plan Amendment Study (SPAS), which charted a path for the $14 billion in improvements that are underway today at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The passage of SPAS was a major step forward for LAX and the L.A. regional economy as it laid out plans for projects that would kick-start desperately needed modernization investments by LAWA and the airlines that serve LAX.  The new plan was supported by a broad coalition of community groups headed up by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and the LA/Orange County Building & Construction Trades Council.

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Last week, Gov. Jerry Brown released his May budget revision that affirmed the State’s commitment to college affordability and student success.

Earlier this year, the Chamber and our members championed a robust higher education agenda during our annual Access Sacramento advocacy trip. We called for investments to improve community college pathways, spur innovation in higher education, protect our state’s most vulnerable students--including foster and undocumented youth--and repeal an 11.3 percent cut to Cal Grants for students attending private, non-profit institutions.

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Two weeks ago, this Business Perspective alerted readers that the County of L.A. was considering using Measure H revenue to back-fill an October 2015 commitment to increase its general fund allocation for housing and services for the homeless by $100 million over several years. This motion in October 2015 was heralded as strong leadership by the County in addressing the growing homelessness crisis.  

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This Friday is the deadline to register for ACCESS Washington, D.C., the region's largest annual trip to our nation's capital. With a new Presidential Administration and Congress focusing on a broad range of major issues, your voice is more important than ever in sharing the impact that new policies would have on your business, your customers and Southern California as a whole.

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Apple. Mattel. The Walt Disney Company. Huge, successful companies that have something in common -- they all started as small businesses. Like these companies, today's small businesses have the power to transform industries, communities and the world as we know it. Small businesses drive innovations and power our economy. They are responsible for the majority of our job growth.

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In November and March, the voters of the City and County of Los Angeles stepped up in an unprecedented way to invest in infrastructure. None of those investments were more critical than the new tax dollars Angelenos agreed to provide to build the infrastructure of compassion, creating needed housing and funding services to meet the challenge of homelessnes

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