Blogs of the LA Area Chamber

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a dream” speech and the March on Washington, there is one bit of information that many forget. The actual name for that historic event was the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.”  The theme for the 25th anniversary commemoration was “March for Jobs, Peace and Freedom.”

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With three weeks left in the 2013 legislative session, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reform is waiting on the sidelines while the list of public and private projects being stalled under the allegation of CEQA violations continues to grow. The most recent ruse is a CEQA challenge to a new downtown high-rise housing project in San Jose by a construction union official objecting that some workers on the project would be non-union from Sacramento. The appeal may not be successful in the long term, but it is one more example of interest groups using CEQA to stop or delay projects for reasons that have nothing to do with the environment. 

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In September of last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed an important bipartisan pension reform bill designed to increase the retirement age for new employees, cap the annual payout, eliminate numerous abuses of the system and require workers who are not contributing half of their retirement costs to pay more. The Public Employee Pension Reform Act affects all state public workers hired after Jan. 1, 2013, as well as local governments that participate in the State's pension funds. It was an important first step towards reducing the hundreds of billions of dollars in underfunded pension liability.

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Professional sports are part of the excitement Los Angeles offers to residents and visitors. We have the privilege of cheering for some of the world's best teams and finest athletes.

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