www.sdchamber.org

Phil Blair, 2008 Chairman of the

Board

The Chamber's Board of Directors met on Thursday, May 22, 2008 and took official positions on several legislative bills:

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES (ADA) 

Support

SB 1608 (Corbett) – Disabled Persons: equal access rights: civil actions

EMPLOYMENT AND HUMAN RESOURCES

Oppose

SB 1661 (Kuehl)  - Unemployment compensation: family leave: good cause.

SB 1717 (Perata) – Permanent Disability Workers Comp

INFRASTRUCTURE

Support

AB 642 (Wolk) – Design-build: counties, cities and special districts.

AB 2219 (Parra) – Subdivisions: water supply.

AB 2723 (De la Torre) – Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control.

SB 1473 (Calderon) – Building standards: green buildings

Oppose

AB 2046 (Jones) – Water supply assessments: groundwater.

SB 375 (Steinberg) – Transportation planning: travel demand models: sustainable communities strategy: environmental review.

SB 1165 (Kuehl) – Environment: environmental impact report.

SB 1550 (Florez) – Corporations: climate change disclosure.

LAND USE/CONSTRUCTION

Support:

SB 1185 (Lowenthal) – Subdivision Map Act: tentative map extension.

LAND USE/MILITARY

Oppose:

AB 1832 (Saldaña) – Tidelands and submerged lands: City of San Diego

RESTAURANT INDUSTRY

Support

AB 2572 (Parra) Menu Labeling.

Oppose

AB 1420 (Padilla) – Menu Labeling.

SALES AND USE TAXES

Oppose

AB 1840 (Calderon) – Sales and use taxes: retailers

TECHNOLOGY

Oppose

AB 2505  (Brownley) – Hazardous Waste: Polyvinyl chloride packaging containers.

The new Superintendent for the San Diego Unified School District, Dr. Terry B. Grier, spoke to the Board.  The discussion focused on the need for accountability, leadership and a results oriented approach in schools.  He favors providing students with relevant classes that will ensure they are employable when they graduate.  Dr. Grier seeks to build partnership with the business community and is an advocate for career technical education.

Sharlene Beltran and Mark Rierson, Regional Sales Executives with Blue Shield of California, provided an update on the health insurance program offered to Chamber members through the Benefits Corporation.

Ryan Merrill, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at UCSD, provided an overview of the Chamber's recently released study on the Otay Mesa Third Border Crossing.   The study provides detailed information on the positive economic impact of a third crossing.  The industries most likely to be impacted are electronics, mechanical and precision instruments.  The study is available for download on the Chamber's website.