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Corona Chamber Legislative Action Committee (LAC)
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Cynthia
Schneider
2007 LAC Chair
American Security
Bank
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The mission of the Corona Chamber of Commerce Legislative Action
Committee (LAC) is to provide a basis for the Corona Chamber to
act on local, state and federal government issues and have a
good working relationship with its elected officials thus
creating a favorable and profitable business climate.
The LAC consists of 15 voting members and composition shall be
representative of the general Corona Chamber membership.
LAC membership is open to all Corona Chamber members in good
standing.
LAC meetings are open to all members of the Corona Chamber.
Beginning in October of each year, the LAC shall develop a
Policy Platform consistent with the LAC’s mission statement that
shall serve as the public policy priorities for following year.
The Policy Platform shall be recommended to the Board of
Directors no later than its January meeting for discussion and
approval.
LAC Meeting Information
Next LAC Meeting:
Third Tuesday of
each month
8:00am
Corona Chamber of
Commerce
Conference Room
904 East Sixth
Street
Corona, CA 92879
(951) 737-3350
LAC Meeting Agendas
November 1, 2007
2007 Year In Review: Corona Chamber of Commerce Represents the
Interests of Business with Government
During 2007, the Corona Chamber of Commerce used its Legislative
Action Committee (LAC) to keep a finger on the pulse of
legislation with the probability to impact businesses and
business owners in our City. Our singular focus – to protect the
economic vitality of the region in which our members do
business. 2007 was an active year legislatively. Numerous pieces
of legislation were reviewed, considered, tracked and, when
necessary, acted upon by mobilizing members in letter writing
campaigns. Results of campaigns support the fact that it was
also a very successful year. We tackled some tough legislative
issues that could have significantly impacted the business
community and we made sure your voice was heard in Sacramento.
Following is a chronological review of issues the Chamber has
dealt with on your behalf:
Listening to the voice of business
To increase our understanding of the issues facing our
members, the Chamber’s Legislative Action Committee conducted
two focus groups. The groups, comprised of local business owners
and managers, engaged in discussions covering issues including
the Chamber’s role in meeting member expectations as political
advocates. We discussed lobbying in the State Capitol supporting
pro-business legislation, opposing a mandated healthcare tax on
business, fighting against increasing workers compensation
costs, supporting federal legislation on preventative health
impacts on the public from smoking, and supporting election
reform.
Excerpts from member communiqués and press releases,
highlighting actions taken on behalf of local business during
2007:
Corona Chamber Continues to Oppose Healthcare Reform
Proposals
"As you may or may not know, the Corona Chamber of Commerce
Legislative Action Committee (LAC) provides a basis for the
Corona Chamber to act on local, state and federal government
issues and to have a good working relationship with its elected
officials thus creating a favorable and profitable business
climate.
Our legislators have less than two weeks remaining before the
scheduled end of the legislative year in Sacramento. This is a
critical time for us to act on legislation that will impact the
business community.
I want to share some information regarding a particular
legislative bill, AB 8 (Nunez), which the Corona Chamber is
opposing. AB 8 creates a government-run healthcare system for
employees who don’t receive healthcare from their employers.
Under AB 8, the new healthcare system will be financed almost
exclusively by a 7.5% payroll tax on all employers who don’t
spend a certain level of funding on employee health care.
Furthermore, AB 8 will also allow an unelected volunteer board
of bureaucrats the new right to increase the health care payroll
tax as needed for costs. It is believed the payroll tax will
have to be increased substantially, well beyond what most
employers pay in health care costs today, without having a check
and balance in place.
Please stand with us in opposing AB 8. On our website you can
find a letter of opposition, along with the other various
legislative bills we oppose. Together, we can make sure our
voices are heard at the Capitol."
Corona Chamber Fights Effort to Increase Workers Compensation
Costs
The Corona Chamber of Commerce continues to fight proposed
legislation that would allow for workers’ compensation
increases. A pending job killer in the State Legislature, SB
942, would create new requirements for employers when an injured
employee returns to work. This would add to the costs of workers
compensation, which California saw spiral out of control three
years ago.
Current law protects employees from discrimination based on
their workers’ compensation claims. SB 942 would create an
assumption that an employer has discriminated against the
employee if the employee was not returned to work with full pay
and benefits within one day of the employee being released to
full duty.
SB 942 also changes the timeframe of which supplemental job
displacement vouchers are distributed. SB 942 will revert the
workers’ compensation system back to the days of high premiums
and will ultimately have businesses pay for the out of control
costs it mandates. This is the wrong direction for Corona
businesses and employees.
Corona Chamber Supports Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco
Control Act
The Corona Chamber supports H.R. 1108, a bill in the United
States Congress that will help protect public health by allowing
the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to
regulate tobacco products and advertisements.
“This bill will set new procedures for the tobacco industry
which will increase consumer health. The Chamber views this bill
as beneficial to all because it will require the tobacco
industry to test its products, establish quality manufacturing
practices, and inform consumers of product contents,” stated
Cynthia Schneider, Chair of the Chamber’s
Legislative Action Committee.
Specifically, H.R. 1108 will allow the FDA to more effectively
prevent advertising targeted at children. It will also assist in
the prevention of tobacco sales to minors, and helping current
smokers quit. Additionally, this bill is directed toward
identifying and reducing the toxic constituents of cigarettes,
regulating the tobacco industry’s claim about their “reduced
risk” products, and preventing the tobacco industry from further
misleading the public about the dangers of smoking.
“The support of H.R. 1108 by our congressional representatives
is important and the Chamber will continue to educate them on
impact this law will have on our community,” Schneider
continued.
Corona Chamber Opposes Government Energy Regulation
The Corona Chamber opposes SB 412 (Simitian) which would not
allow for a diversity of gas supply sources leading to higher
cost of natural gas. The Chamber’s opposition to the potential
law sends a message to the legislature that businesses
throughout the Corona region will not stand for such regulation.
“Many of us in our region rely on natural gas. Southern
California, in fact, leads the nation in the percentage of
homes, businesses and electric power plants fueled by natural
gas,” stated Cynthia Schneider, Chair of the Chamber’s
Legislative Action Committee.
“We believe natural gas is important to Southern California and
believe more supply sources are needed and would benefit the
region as a whole,” continued Schneider.
New supply sources will increase a gas on gas competition and
would allow for lower prices for all customers. This will also
enhance new supply resources and reduce the risk of a supply
shortfall if something were to happen to an existing pipeline or
supply basin. SB 412 would set up an unnecessarily long and
laborious process during which the state’s residents and
businesses would be deprived of access to the much needed
natural gas supplies.
Corona Chamber Educates Business Community on Healthcare
Reform Proposals
The Corona Chamber and the Corona Taxpayers Association
co-hosted a regional Health Care Summit at California Baptist
University educating the regional business community on the
current healthcare reform proposals. Panelists also informed
participants on how the growing healthcare burden will force new
taxes on small businesses.
“We want our business community to know all the facts,” stated
Cynthia Schneider, Chair of the Corona Chamber’s Legislative
Action Committee. “Most of the current healthcare reform
proposals place much of the financial burden on employers with
10 or
more employees.”
Most healthcare reform proposals impact less than 20% of
businesses in the state. However, the Corona Chamber is
concerned that elected officials in Sacramento are not doing
enough to look at other options before they tax businesses to
pay for healthcare reform.
“The Corona Chamber is taking action to ask our elected
officials and the Governor to streamline the healthcare
bureaucracy to cut costs instead of taking more money from our
wallets,” stated Bobby Spiegel, President and CEO of the
Chamber. “We want our elected officials to know where we stand
on this serious issue.”
Corona Chamber Fights Effort to Increase Workers Compensation
Costs
Corona Chamber-opposed SB 936 (Perata) increases employer
costs by doubling permanent disability benefits in the
California workers’ compensation system.
“The Corona Chamber believes that there is no statistically
valid and objective evidence that warrants an increase in
benefits,” stated Cynthia Schneider, Chair of the Corona
Chamber’s Legislative Action Committee (LAC).
The drop in overall amounts spent on permanent disability
benefits is due to the application of objective medical
evaluations using American Medical Association guidelines, the
appropriate use of apportionment, the reduction of benefit weeks
for low ratings, and return-to-work adjustments.
Prior to the reforms of 2004, the workers compensation system
was out of control. It harmed employees by creating an
adversarial system focused on litigation and disability instead
of reasonable and appropriate medical treatment and return-to
work, and it did so at incredible cost to employers. Workers'
compensation premiums and system costs tripled from 1999 to
2003. Outside of the high cost of operating in California,
skyrocketing workers’ compensation premiums had a negative
impact on businesses and local governments to the point where
expansion of the workforce came at a high price and public
services suffered.
According to the Public Policy Institute of California, one of
the major reasons for skyrocketing costs was the increasing
number of permanent disability claims. Before the implementation
of SB 899 (Poochigian), permanent disability claims were filed
at a rate of three times the national average, and California
was 20 percent higher than the next highest state. A subjective
system of work preclusions led to injured workers getting higher
permanent disability rates, and litigation that preyed on this
subjectivity compounded the situation.
Although there has been evidence of a drop in benefits, the
Corona Chamber believes that California should take a
data-driven approach to reviewing the available information
before considering a permanent disability increase, let alone
doubling benefits. Measuring the adequacy of permanent
disability ratings under the current system by comparing them
against the old system is irrational.
Premiums have come down, objectivity has been established, and a
sense of balance has been returned to the California workers’
compensation system. California’s private and public employers
stand ready to resolve any inequities that have resulted from
recent reforms; however, the Corona Chamber believes that
California cannot proceed on a path that will lead the state
back to the days of skyrocketing premiums, adversarial
litigation, and an unbalanced system.
Corona Chamber Leads Regional Effort to Reduce Health Care
Costs
The Corona Chamber is working with Assembly member Todd
Spitzer and a regional business advocacy coalition of the
Temecula Valley, Murrieta and Lake Elsinore Valley Chambers of
Commerce to offer solutions to our state’s health care crisis.
The rising cost of health care in California is making it
difficult for businesses, especially small business, to afford
to offer health care benefits to employees and their dependents.
It is estimated that one out of every five Californians are
without health insurance...
“We are committed to offering reasonable solutions to the health
care crisis,” stated Cynthia Schneider, Chair of the Corona
Chamber Legislative Action Committee. “Mandating new taxes on
business is not the best solution. There are other ways we can
cut health care costs,” Schneider continued.
The Corona Chamber is seeking the support of the Office of
Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) to review
their guidelines and practices concerning plans and construction
applications for health care facilities in California. When a
hospital construction project is submitted to OSHPD for
approval, the plans and construction application is reviewed by
OSHPD staff to ensure that both are complete. If it is
determined that the plans and the construction application is
complete, both enter into a queue for a subsequent array of
reviews. After the reviews are complete, OSHPD will usually
return the plans to the hospital architect, often requesting
corrections.
The corrected plans are then sent back into OSHPD for a
“back-check.” If the plans are then deemed acceptable by OSHPD,
the process is complete. If there are still problems with the
plans, they are again sent back to the hospital’s architect for
further corrections until OSHPD agrees that the plans meet the
building code requirements.
The Corona Chamber is concerned that the fees associated with
the review process are enormous and review times are protracted
and prolonged. Both the fees and the inordinately excessive
review times drive up project costs, ultimately impacting a rise
in health care costs for employees and employers, and ultimately
the patient. Furthermore, consumers are impacted by delays in
hospital services caused by the excessive review times.
Corona Chamber Focuses on Three Strategic Public Policy
Initiatives
The Corona Chamber of Commerce is communicating its advocacy
priorities with the business community to make sure businesses
know that the Chamber represents businesses interests with
government.
“We want to make sure the business community in Corona knows the
Chamber is their voice at city hall and in the state capitol,”
stated Cynthia Schneider, Chair of the Chamber’s Legislative
Action Committee (LAC). “We have a focused effort in 2007 and
our business community will benefit from our work,” continued
Schneider.
The Chamber is increasing its efforts by committing to three
strategic initiatives in 2007:
1. Improve Communication with the Business Community;
2. Increase Knowledge, Understanding, and Involvement with the
Legislative Process;
and,
3. Seek Opportunities to Form Coalitions with Community and
Regional Organizations.
Improve Communication with the Business Community. The
Corona Chamber launched its advocacy-based Web site in early
2006, www.CoronaAdvocacy.biz. The Chamber will add more
web-based services in the coming months to increase the
connection between the Chamber’s advocacy work and the business
community. The Chamber will also host focus groups which will
bring business leaders together to talk about issues and form
action plans on public policy.
Increase Knowledge, Understanding, and Involvement with the
Legislative Process. The Chamber is planning a lobbying trip
to Sacramento to communicate to the legislature the public
policy priorities of the Corona business community. The Chamber
also meets with legislators and their staff regularly on
important public policy issues.
Seek Opportunities to Form Coalitions with Community and
Regional Organizations. The Chamber is working with the
Riverside County Transportation Commission and a regional
coalition of the Temecula Valley, Murrieta and Lake Elsinore
Valley Chambers of Commerce to secure funding for transportation
projects throughout Riverside County. This unprecedented effort
to form a coalition with other business organizations will
strengthen the grassroots effort by the Corona Chamber to bring
positive changes to the regions transportation needs.
“Our team of dedicated volunteer business leaders will continue
to effectively impact change at the local and state levels,”
stated Bobby Spiegel, Corona Chamber President and CEO. “The
Corona Chamber board of directors is committed to this effort
and looks forward to highlighting our results by years end.”
Corona Chamber Supports Election Reform
The Corona Chamber of Commerce supports efforts to make
California elections more competitive by reforming the highly
politicized process of drawing legislative and congressional
districts.
“This will help to ensure that the business community can remain
involved in the election process and support pro-business
candidates,” stated Cynthia Schneider, Chair of the Corona
Chamber’s Legislative Action Committee.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger introduced his plan earlier this
year. The plan details include the following:
- Create a Citizens
Redistricting Commission composed of 11 independent members,
four from each of the state's two major political parties, with
the three others being decline-to-state voters or voters with
other political affiliations.
- Any redistricting
plan must have at least one vote from each of the two major
political parties and one from an independent or minor party.
- The commission
would be selected by random drawing by the Fair Political
Practices Commission from a pool of 55 candidates, nominated by
a panel of 10 current or retired county registrars of voters or
city election clerks.
- Anyone who has
served as an elected official within the past five years,
lobbyists or those with family ties to elected officials are not
eligible to serve on the panel.
- If the
constitutional amendment to create the redistricting commission
is approved by a two-thirds majority of the Legislature, it
would go before voters.
The Corona Chamber will work with the Governor’s office and the
state legislature to ensure that the Corona business community
is engaged in policy discussions in the coming months regarding
redistricting reform proposals.
Corona Chamber Works to Secure $195 Million in Transportation
Funding
The Corona Chamber of Commerce, partnering with the
Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) and other
regional business organizations called upon the Corona business
community this week to urge state officials to help secure
transportation funding for the region.
The California Transportation Commission (CTC), awarded $195
million dollars of Proposition 1B funding to Riverside County.
Specifically, Riverside County was awarded $157 million to cover
the cost of five miles of carpool lanes on Highway 91 and $38
million to widen Interstate 215 between I-15 and Scott Road. The
CTC is responsible for the allocation of funds from Proposition
1B.
Corona businesses wrote letters to the CTC urging them to follow
their staff recommendations that included funding for a portion
of State Route 91 and to consider the possibility of allocating
additional funding for more projects within Riverside County.
“The Corona Chamber of Commerce is being proactive on an issue
that impacts all businesses within this region,” stated Bobby
Spiegel, President and CEO of the Corona Chamber. “It is
important that the city of Corona and surrounding communities
get their fare share of funds to improve our transportation
nightmare.” Spiegel continued.
The Corona Chamber collected letters via its advocacy website,
www.CoronaAdvocacy.biz over a 24 hour period and hand delivered
the letters to the California Transportation Commission board
members.
“This extremely successful letter writing campaign, in such a
short amount of time, proves our business community is serious
about the Chamber’s role representing their interests with
government,” stated Cynthia Schneider, Chair of the Corona
Chamber’s Legislative Action Committee.
September
17, 2007
The
Chamber Meets With Businesses to Determine Legislative
Priorities
The Corona Chamber of Commerce is committed to being the
proactive “voice of business” in Corona. The challenge involved
in that commitment is one of being able to regularly speak with
a sufficient number of businesses, about vital topics, to know
what message we need to carry. To that end, the Chamber
developed a discussion outline for, and hosted two separate
Focus Groups in August. These two groups consisted of ten or
more representatives of Corona businesses and their focus was to
gain feedback on the Chamber’s legislative efforts. During a
free flow discussion, moderated by a professional facilitator,
participating business people identified strengths and
weaknesses in the Chamber’s government affairs services.
Feedback from Focus Group discussions will be used to develop
the Chamber’s 2008 legislative priorities during a Strategic
Planning session scheduled for September 25, 2007.
Perhaps the most significant result of the sessions; most of the
participants in both groups were aware that the Chamber is
active in government affairs at the state level, but unanimously
voiced a desire for the Chamber to increase the level of
involvement in and representation of their interests with City
Hall.
We found the Focus Groups a unique way to garner input from our
members about specific topics. We also benefited from the free
flow of conversation that highlighted additional issues that
would have remained undiscovered in a more structured method of
obtaining information, such as a questionnaire. Members freely
shared concerns over the problems that homelessness represents
for business owners in downtown areas and about the constant
attention and financial burden presented by a growing graffiti
problem.
Pinpointing areas of concern in these representative groups will
enable the LAC to more effectively meet member needs by
balancing actions on wide scale issues; such as opposing current
healthcare initiatives, with efforts with more local impact. The
most important goal of the LAC is to understand our members and
how we can effectively assist them.
Focus Group participants highlighted the need for more frequent
communication on LAC initiatives. They requested frequent and
simple messages relating to legislative issues with a negative
impact or with potential for positive affects on local business.
In response, the LAC has already developed a forum to meet that
need, it is call E-Alert (see inset). E-Alert is an e-mail
program that highlights the business critical elements of
pending legislation and provides a “one-click” method for
business owners to send a letter, to be added to hundreds of
letters from other local business owners, where action is
necessary. Many voices will be heard, where singularly it is
difficult to measure any real impact.
Corona businesses will be happy to know that their Chamber is
doing everything it can to meet its commitment to representing
the interests of business with local, regional and state
government. We want to know if our efforts are successful and to
take action where necessary to be more accessible, responsive
and proactive in representing the interests of business with
government. The LAC committee meets the third Thursday of each
month, at 8:00 a.m.
Those
interested are welcome to visit the committee meetings or to
contact LAC Chairperson, Cynthia Schneider to suggest topics for
consideration. Cynthia can be reached at American Security Bank,
(951) 372 8930 or by e-mail at
cschneider@amsecbank.com
October 11,
2006
Corona Chamber Continues Year of Action in 2007
Business leaders meet to plan continuing effort to
represent the interests of Corona business with
government.
In late 2005, the Corona Chamber of Commerce Board of
Directors voted to expand benefits that the chamber
provides to its members. This expansion of services is
an ambitious government affairs program that effectively
represents the interests of Corona businesses with
government.
“We are giving the business community what they want…a
voice,” stated Bobby Spiegel, President/CEO of the
Corona Chamber. “Elected officials want to know where
the business community stands on issues that impact the
short-term and long-term economic vitality of our
region. It is the responsibility of the Corona Chamber
to tell elected officials what the business community
needs. If the Corona Chamber does not represent the
business community, no one else will,” continued
Spiegel.
The purpose of the government affairs program is to
provide a basis for the Corona Chamber to act on local,
state and federal government issues and have a good
working relationship with its elected officials thus
creating a favorable and profitable business climate.
The Chamber created a new Legislative Action Committee
(LAC) to serve as the grassroots leadership to implement
to the new government affairs program. The LAC is a
chamber member-only committee that meets once per month
to serve as an action team for educating elected
officials, making decisions on important business
related public policy issues, and setting goals and
priorities on a yearly basis. The Chamber developed
aggressive policy priorities and created the following
four specific membership benefits to assist Corona
businesses in the effort to protect their interests with
government:
1. The Corona Chamber tracks legislation and issues at
the local, state and federal level;
2.
The Corona Chamber serves as a public policy resource
for the business community on issues impacting their
ability to do business;
3.
The Corona Chamber involves businesses in developing
priorities and advancing those priorities, and;
4.
The Corona Chamber uses cutting edge communication
strategies to engage the business community.
The LAC took positions on over 35 potential statewide
laws plus three major local issues and played a vital
role in the discussions. The Chamber took a stand on
local redevelopment issues, statewide minimum wage
increases and efforts to rollback the workers
compensation reforms of 2004. The Chamber also took a
stand on each of the propositions on the November 2006
ballot.
The Chamber created www.CoronaAdvocacy.biz delivering
value-added benefits by acting as a two-way
communication tool for the local business community. The
site informs the business community about critical
local, state, and national issues that can affect
businesses.
In late-September 2006, the LAC began a strategic
planning process to determine the Chamber’s 2007 public
policy priorities. The LAC decided that the Chamber will
continue to be committed to taking action for its
members, communicating the business point of view with
local elected officials, and lead efforts to ensure that
the business community is not
over-regulated by government.
The LAC also developed its specific public policy
priorities for 2007. The LAC decided that the Chamber
will increase its communication with the business
community to seek feedback and find ways to actively
engage businesses on public policy impacting their
interests. The Chamber will develop local and regional
coalitions with community organizations to advance the
effort to represent the interests of business with
government. Specifically, the Chamber will engage
policy discussions on local issues such as: downtown
redevelopment, local and regional transportation
infrastructure, issues that impact the attraction and
retention of businesses and annexation.
January 2006
Corona Chamber Expands Membership Benefits with New Advocacy
Program
The Corona
Chamber of Commerce expands its membership benefits with the
addition of an ambitious government affairs program that will
represent the interests of businesses. The Corona Chamber is
implementing a government affairs program complete with mission
and vision statements, goals, and long term strategies. Efforts
will be made to nurture relationships with local and state
elected officials and their staff to ensure that our member
businesses are represented on issues that might have an impact
to our city and state.
In order to cultivate the vital agenda, the Corona Chamber is
creating a Legislative Action Council (LAC). The Chamber’s LAC
will be comprised of a chamber member- only board that will meet
once per month. The LAC will serve as an action team for
contacting legislators, building the advocacy program, and
setting goals and priorities on a yearly basis.
The LAC will track legislation and issue vote records on local
elected officials. By following legislation impacting the
Chamber’s membership, the Chamber can respond directly to their
officials and their staff on pertinent issues. At the conclusion
of each legislative session, the GAC will assist in the
production of the vote records for the Chamber’s local
legislators and how they voted on the top anti-business and
pro-business legislation of that year.
The Chamber has also created this Web site dedicated to the
advocacy program. The objective of the Web site will be to
interconnect all of the facets of the advocacy program. The Web
site will be updated at least once a week or when necessary.
A second feature of the program is a legislative eALERT. The
Legislative eALERT is an e-mail update on important advocacy
related issues sent directly to the Corona Chamber’s membership.
Together, these Web-based services will play a crucial role in
connecting all lines of communication for the Corona Chamber and
its members.
The benefits of the Chamber’s new government affairs program
will also create a strong grassroots base. A database will be
conceived of those members who will serve as a resource for
business related public policy issues and will be readily
available for public policy events and action alerts. |
