The Business Perspective

Filling a $222 million budget deficit is a daunting task and there are many objectors to the 2012-13 budget proposal that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa presented to the L.A. City Council last Friday. Immediately after the budget was presented, members of the public objected to more cuts in city services and additional fee increases. City employees said they had already sacrificed enough and responded with a “no” to reopening negotiations on wages, benefits and pensions. And regular City Hall budget critics said that once again the mayor was kicking the can down the road to the new mayor and City Council that will be elected in 2013 and 2015.  

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Last week, the California Supreme Court made a common sense decision that will be good for California employers and employees. The ruling eliminates a major complaint that businesses and business organizations, like the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, have been urging the California Legislature to address for years. 

In a unanimous ruling, the court stated that employers must make duty-free meal and rest breaks available to employees, but cannot be held liable if employees decide to work instead of rest. "We conclude an employer's obligation is to relieve its employee of all duty, with the employee thereafter at liberty to use the meal period for whatever purpose he or she desires, but the employer need not ensure that no work is done,” Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar wrote for the court. 

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When the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for the City of Los Angeles begins a 50-page report on budget options with an introduction titled "A cautionary Tale: The City of Stockton, California," it is clear that a serious fiscal challenge faces the second largest city in the nation. On Feb. 28, 2012, the Stockton City Council adopted a resolution to pursue a state mandated process in an attempt to prevent insolvency and bankruptcy.


 

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Hollywood. The name alone is iconic; conjuring up images of fame, fortune and glamour. The Hollywood Sign sitting atop Mount Lee constantly reminds us that our past, present and future is inextricably linked to that image — the movies.

But Hollywood is more than an image and it is more than the film industry. It is a real community with geographical boundaries where people live and work. Hollywood is not just a destination for the world’s tourists; it is also an important economic driver as a location for creative start-ups, professional services and urban housing.

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President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, "We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future." The L.A. Area Chamber understands that a good education and early work experience are key elements in preparing our youth. That is why HIRE LA’s Youth is so important to the future of our economy.

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All over the City of Los Angeles vacant buildings sit waiting for a new tenant. In some neighborhoods, residents are waiting patiently for a retail grocery store that provides healthy and affordable food. So it is a double coupon event when a grocery store wants to open in a building that has been vacant for more than 20 years, in a neighborhood that does not have close access to a major retail grocery store.

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Last week, Senate and Assembly Republicans introduced Gov. Jerry Brown's pension reform legislation and called upon all members of the Legislature to work across party lines to enact Gov. Brown's 12-point reform plan. The Chamber applauds this action and leadership.

The growing liability of our current public employee pension system is out of control and cannot be sustained. Gov. Brown’s plan is a blueprint for addressing billions in unfunded state pension obligations and moving our State forward toward full economic recovery. The outcome of Democrats and Republicans working together on this crisis has the potential to benefit all Californians and reduce the fiscal anxiety that citizens and every department of state government currently experiences each year.

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Imagine as the CEO of a business or the head of a household, that you limited your long-term planning to six months. That’s how Congress has been managing transportation and infrastructure since 2009, when the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Act- A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) expired. Eight short-term extensions have only served as a Band-Aid. Repeated delays have hurt our economy, stymied job creation and allowed for the continued deterioration of our nation's roads, highways, bridges and transit.

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