The Business Perspective

Last week, the State Water Resources Control Board began a series of hearings on the California WaterFix, the plan to update the state’s aging water infrastructure. Our Southern California region is highly dependent on this infrastructure, with one-third of our fresh water flowing from the Sierra Nevada Mountains through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

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In 2008, Los Angeles County residents took a leap of faith and voted to raise our county-wide sales taxes to fund the construction and maintenance of our transportation infrastructure. Seven years later, Metro conducted a quality of life report to study the impact of that decision on the region. The results are impressive. New rail and bus rapid transit now provides access to more than 300,000 jobs in the region. Nearly 500,000 residents now live within a half mile of projects that opened after passage of Measure R. What’s impressive is that this data was tallied prior to the 2016 openings of the Gold Line extension and Expo Phase II.

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Yesterday, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges (CCC) announced the appointment of Eloy Ortiz Oakley as the next Chancellor of the 113-college system.

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Last week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles County Supervisors Hilda Solis and Don Knabe kicked off this summer’s HIRE-LA’s Youth campaign by thanking Los Angeles County businesses for the summer youth employment and internship opportunities they provide. The Chamber has been a partner with the City and County of L.A. for a decade in championing youth employment and internships opportunities because we recognize the powerful economic impact on individual families and the prosperity of our region.   

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Last week Governor Brown signed a $171 billion California budget for the fiscal year that began on July 1 and the legislature adjourned for summer recess. The budget included major wins for the Chamber's cradle-to-career education priorities to prepare California's 21st century workforce. 

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Last week, President Obama and the U.S. Department of Energy announced a $70 million grant for a Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Institute (CESMII) to be headquartered in Los Angeles. More than 200 partners from academia, industry and non-profits, including the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, formed the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition (SMLC) and worked with UCLA and LA n Sync to successfully bring the headquarters of this project to Southern Californi

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Investing in housing is critical to California's long-term quality of life and economic competitiveness. That's why the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce strongly supports the proposal Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled last month to streamline affordable housing and help ease the housing crunch that is devastating the state.

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Area graduation ceremonies for 2016 have been completed and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce applauds the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) for its progress preparing youth for success. High school graduation rates have increased sharply over the past five years to a record 72 percent (from 62 percent), and dropouts declined by one-third (from 25 percent to 17 percent). While unacceptable disparities still exist, LAUSD has made significant progress in closing the gap for lower income and minority students.

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This June marks the 75th anniversary of water flowing 240 miles west from the Colorado River to Southern California through a system of tunnels, pumps and aqueducts that remains an engineering marvel. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which the state Legislature created in 1928 to advance this mission, is celebrating this milestone with a series of events that will pay testament to the visionary leaders whose investments in a modern water system now benefits 19 million Southern Californians.

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This election season marks a historic change on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Due to term limits, two long-time Supervisors will be stepping down this December, ushering in a major shake-up on the non-partisan five member board. With a $28-billion budget and management of the country's largest jail and foster care system and second-largest public health system, it is vital that those seats go to individuals with a clear vision for the County, the ideas to make that vision a reality, and the fiscal restraint to keep County services stable no matter our economic future. The L.A. Jobs PAC interviewed the candidates for both Supervisorial Districts 4 and 5 and strongly endorsed Steve Napolitano and L.A. City Councilman Mitch Englander.

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