Chamber Action

Key Vote Scorecard by Committee

The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce maintains a key vote scorecard to keep track of how San Diego’s elected federal, state, and city officials voted on crucial issues that affect the business community.  

TRANSPORTATION, LAND USE & HOUSING

The Land Use and Housing Committee’s vote on housing impact fees (linkage fees).

This was the City Council’s vote on housing impact fees (linkage fees), after the Land Use and Housing Committee voted to bring the issue to the full Council. The Chamber testified to the detriment of linkage fee increases, and the Honorable Tony Young voted No on the item. He also told the business community to present alternatives to the fee increase, or the issue will be re-docketed. The Chamber is expecting the issue to come up again in late October and will present alternatives to a linkage fee increase.

This vote opened the operations of the Miramar Landfill to a competitive bid process, allowing private firms to compete against city workers to provide services. The move was projected to save the city money, as it is facing a $40 million deficit. Opponents to this initiative included labor unions and environmental coalitions, which stated that private firms cannot be as efficient and effective as city workers in operating a landfill. The Chamber supports managed competition, which allows for the most qualified and least expensive private firm to provide city services, and supported opening up the Miramar Landfill to a competitive bid.

This bill, part of the California state budget 2011, dissolved redevelopment agencies effective October 1, 2011; in order to continue their activities, these agencies need to allocate a certain amount of property taxes to the Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund ($70 million for San Diego). The Chamber opposed this bill, which is currently suspended, pending a California Supreme Court lawsuit.

SB 833 was a bill that would oppose the creation of a much-needed landfill in North County. Two ballot measures, in 1994 and 2004, were approved by voters in support of the landfill. Gregory Canyon, LLC has stated that their project is state-of-the-art and exceeds environmental regulations. Another negative aspect of the bill was that it involved the Legislature in making decision on local land use matters after the county and board of supervisors voted to support Gregory Canyon, LLC. The Chamber opposed the bill and had supported the Gregory Canyon Landfill in 2004.

PUBLIC POLICY

The initiative, supported by a number of San Diego organizations including the San Diego Taxpayers Association and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, was a campaign to put Comprehensive Pension Reform on the 2012 ballot. The ballot measure would save San Diego taxpayers up to $2.1 billion as the city is facing staggering pension costs. The campaign met with intense pushback from labor organizations, but submitted a record-breaking 145,027 signatures to the City Clerk for approval. The initiative is now up for City Council to decide when to place the measure on the ballot.

The Land Use and Housing Committee’s vote on housing impact fees (linkage fees).

This was the City Council’s vote on housing impact fees (linkage fees), after the Land Use and Housing Committee voted to bring the issue to the full Council. The Chamber testified to the detriment of linkage fee increases, and the Honorable Tony Young voted No on the item. He also told the business community to present alternatives to the fee increase, or the issue will be re-docketed. The Chamber is expecting the issue to come up again in late October and will present alternatives to a linkage fee increase.

This vote opened the operations of the Miramar Landfill to a competitive bid process, allowing private firms to compete against city workers to provide services. The move was projected to save the city money, as it is facing a $40 million deficit. Opponents to this initiative included labor unions and environmental coalitions, which stated that private firms cannot be as efficient and effective as city workers in operating a landfill. The Chamber supports managed competition, which allows for the most qualified and least expensive private firm to provide city services, and supported opening up the Miramar Landfill to a competitive bid.

This bill, part of the California state budget 2011, dissolved redevelopment agencies effective October 1, 2011; in order to continue their activities, these agencies need to allocate a certain amount of property taxes to the Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund ($70 million for San Diego). The Chamber opposed this bill, which is currently suspended, pending a California Supreme Court lawsuit.

SB 833 was a bill that would oppose the creation of a much-needed landfill in North County. Two ballot measures, in 1994 and 2004, were approved by voters in support of the landfill. Gregory Canyon, LLC has stated that their project is state-of-the-art and exceeds environmental regulations. Another negative aspect of the bill was that it involved the Legislature in making decision on local land use matters after the county and board of supervisors voted to support Gregory Canyon, LLC. The Chamber opposed the bill and had supported the Gregory Canyon Landfill in 2004.

This bill, also known as the “Wal-Mart bill,” would require retailers to prove how their stores will affect California businesses before opening a new store. These superstores, primarily Wal Mart and Target, would be required to conduct economic impact reports on their effects on jobs, businesses, schools, traffic, and more before they could open new stores. The Chamber actively called for Governor Brown to veto the bill, as the bill would be detrimental to job creation. On October 10, 2011, Governor Brown returned the bill without his signature, stating that “this bill would add another layer of review to an already cumbersome process.”

SB 922 is a bill that authorizes public entities from entering into project labor agreements (PLAs), but also includes a controversial provision that states if a city prohibits the consideration of PLAs, then state funding and assistance will not be given to the project. SB 922 is controversial for San Diego because the county had passed a PLA-ban, and the City of San Diego had just received enough signatures to put an anti-PLA initiative on the 2012 ballot. Governor Brown signed SB 922 into law, and the City Attorney’s office is now reading both languages to determine the outcome of the contradictory laws

SB 922 is a bill that authorizes public entities from entering into project labor agreements (PLAs), but also includes a controversial provision that states if a city prohibits the consideration of PLAs, then state funding and assistance will not be given to the project. SB 922 is controversial for San Diego because the county had passed a PLA-ban, and the City of San Diego had just received enough signatures to put an anti-PLA initiative on the 2012 ballot. Governor Brown signed SB 922 into law, and the City Attorney’s office is now reading both languages to determine the outcome of the contradictory laws.

HR 3080 was a free trade agreement between the U.S. and Korea, Colombia and Panama, ending the U.S.’s four-year drought in new free trade partnerships. The administration stated that the act would boost exports by $13 billion and support thousands of American jobs. Opposition to this act included labor groups and critics of free trade agreements. The act is important to American businesses as the free trade agreements will help company expansion, job creation, and an increase in America-made exports.

TECHNOLOGY

The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act is an important bill that would provide much-needed reform to the patent system and the United States Patent Trade Office. Several key provisions, such as the first-to-file, helped reform the outdated patent process. Though there were other provisions that were left out of the bill, this was an important first step to reforming the USPTO. The Chamber supported the bill, partnering with CONNECT and BIOCOM, because of the benefits to the technology businesses in the San Diego region.

ENERGY & WATER

State Senator Vargas’s bill, SJR 13, opposed Sempra’s Energia Sierra Juarez wind project in Baja. The project will create a wind farm that would generate a substantial supply of clean energy for 64,000 homes in San Diego; it would also create hundreds of construction jobs in the San Diego region. Senator Vargas’ bill inaccurately argued that the wind farm would cost jobs in Imperial County and discouraged the federal government from issuing a presidential permit. The Chamber opposed the bill in support of Sempra’s project.

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