There’s No Such Thing As A Summer Vacation: Chamber Heats Up Legislative Agenda During Summer Months

For most of us, summertime in San Diego means going to the beach, enjoying outdoor concerts, and sampling junk food at the Del Mar Fair.  For the kids, it’s a vacation from school and a respite from homework.

At the Chamber, summer means the legislative season is reaching its apex, and it’s time to plan our strategy for the next round of advocacy, from City Hall to the marble hallways of Sacramento and Washington, D.C.  Our advocacy is focused on local concerns that are making an indelible mark on the region, and legislation that has a direct impact on the overall regulatory environment that shapes how we do business.

A task force of Chamber members and stakeholders has held a series of meetings since November 2006 reviewing the various elements of the City of San Diego’s General Plan Update.   The elements include economic prosperity, mobility, land use, public facilities, conservation, recreation, noise, urban design and historic preservation.

Our agenda also includes keeping a close eye on the SDSU master planning process, Working Waterfront and co-location issues, and the proposal for a citywide Tourism Marketing District. Meanwhile, the board of directors has also taken a unanimous position in support of the expansion of the Salk Institute.

The Chamber believes in the free enterprise system, and that businesses should be driven by the marketplace and not partisan municipal edicts.  Discriminating against one entity in an industry, such as retail, is not good economic policy. 

We are opposed the city’s Big Box ordinance, which targets Wal-Mart. We anticipate that it will be vetted publicly as a ballot initiative that will be costly and disruptive to the city.  It is the product of undue political influence in city hall, and we feel that it is ill conceived and an affront to consumers interested in choices in the marketplace.

We also strongly believe that the Living Wage ordinance (which was scheduled for final implementation July 1) is out of line and will hurt business.  We are calling for the Mayor to form a citizen’s advisory committee, as called for in the original ordinance, to make specific recommendations to the Mayor and City Council on a number of unresolved issues.  They should conduct an assessment of the many arbitrary points in the ordinance, a reflection on its financial viability and impact on the competitive marketplace, and a clear delineation of which businesses and locations will be included in the ordinance.

The Chamber’s Public Policy team and committee system have been monitoring nearly 100 bills throughout this legislative session.  We have taken formal positions on bills dealing with health care, energy, water, workers compensation, infrastructure funding, transportation, technology and career technical education. 

Paying attention to detail is what our public policy team does best. In order to effectively advocate for our members and for this region, we will continue to keep a keen eye on issues that are important to you.