Health care, immigration and border traffic among top policy priorities
The new year promises to bring plenty of public policy challenges for San Diego’s business community, and as always, the Chamber will strive to take a leadership role in ensuring a beneficial outcome for the regional business community.
In its ongoing effort to San Diego’s business climate sunny, the Chamber’s Public Policy staff – with the help of hundreds of volunteers from the local business community -- will monitor and act as a voice for business on regulatory matters in local, state and federal government.
Southern California businesses are facing host of policy issues that could make a difference to their bottom line. Among the major issues the Chamber expects to take up this year in its committees -- and most likely at the board -- are Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s health care initiatives; federal immigration policies; and the push for a third border crossing to ease congestion at the border and facilitate movement of people and goods between Mexico and the United States.
This year, the Chamber also welcomes two new policy committees into the fold. The Education Committee, which will be chaired by Ted Roth of Roth Capital Partners and staffed by Carmen Sandoval, will focus on ways to prepare San Diego’s future workforce for the region’s 21st century jobs.
The Arts, Business and Culture (ABC) Committee, chaired by Susan Mallory of Northern Trust Bank and staffed by Rachel Laing, is charged with helping San Diegans understand the importance of the arts to the regional economy and quality of life, as well as monitoring and weighing in on arts-related policy issues.
While the ABC Committee has existed for several years as a Chamber working group, 2007 marks its first year as part of the Chamber’s public policy structure. The change means the committee will take on more weighty policy issues and, like other policy committees, will report up to the board on endorsements and proposals of arts initiatives.
The 2007 chairs of the Chamber’s policy committees are: Arts, Business & Culture: Susan Ten Eyck Mallory of Northern Trust Bank; Education: Ted Roth of Roth Capitol Partners; Energy: Mike Evans of Shell Trading; Government Interface: Craig Benedetto of Benedetto Communications; Healthcare: Greg Zinser of Team Health; Housing: Steve Doyle of Brookfield Homes; Human Resources: Anne Davis of Sharp Healthcare; Infrastructure: Donna Jones of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton; Legal: Matthew Schenck of Paul, Plevin, Sullivan & Connaughton; Legislative: Roxanna Fox of Hunter International; Military Affairs Advisory Council (MAAC): Neil Zerbe of Lockheed Martin; Public Policy: Ben Haddad of California Strategies; Small Business Advocacy: Margaret Byrne of Law Office of Margaret M. Byrne; Technology: Joe Panetta of BIOCOM; Transportation: Gordon Lutes of Project Design Consultants.
Contact policy assistant Brooke Palmer at bpalmer@sdchamber.org with questions about Chamber committees or to get involved with one of the organization’s policy committees.