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Priorities
 December
15,
2010
Southwest
California Business Community Sets Its 2011 Legislative
Priorities
Each year, the Southwest California Legislative Council
(SWCLC) develops its legislative priorities. Each of the
policy goals serve as the foundation for the Southwest
California Legislative Council's continuing effort to
improve the regional business climate.
SWCLC’s mission is to provide a basis for the Temecula
Valley, Murrieta, Lake Elsinore Valley, and Wildomar chambers of
commerce to act on local, state and federal government
issues to secure a favorable and profitable business climate
for the region.
2011 Policy Platform
Infrastructure Improvements
1. Review and evaluate policies that ensure the
Southwest California region maintains a reputation as an
attractive prosperous location for business; to balance
employment and housing needs with natural resource
preservation; and to plan and construct the community
infrastructure necessary to support current and future
business needs.
2. Monitor land use, planning, housing and zoning issues
that affect the Southwest California regional business
community.
3. Review and evaluate development projects within the
Southwest California region.
4. Encourage an adequate supply of appropriate housing
to meet the needs of the Southwest California region.
5. Review and evaluate reliable, stable, and
competitively priced energy supplies for California’s
businesses and consumers.
6. Review and evaluate policies that improve water
quality as the result of comprehensive approaches that
will reduce contaminants from water sources in a cost
effective manner.
7. Review and evaluate policies that promote safe,
clean, high quality, adequate and reliable water
supplies supporting the needs of economic growth and
quality of life in the Southwest California region.
8. Review and evaluate policies that promote the
Southwest California region as the frontrunner of
technological advances in any infrastructure
improvements throughout the region.
Taxation and Government Reform
1. Review and evaluate reform measures that solve the
state budget’s continuing structural deficit that
promotes real economic growth and job creation.
2. Encourage cooperation among government agencies, and
work to streamline and reduce unnecessary or conflicting
requirements of regulatory agencies.
3. Review and evaluate cost effective ways to privatize
government services and public contracts while
maintaining or improving standards.
4. Review and evaluate state and local fee & tax
increases and new fee & tax categories affecting the
regional business community.
5. Support and promote when appropriate the preparation
of cost/benefit analysis ensuring economic impacts are
weighed before the imposition of regulatory statutes.
6. Ensure that regulations on business are kept to a
minimum and do not put regional businesses at a
competitive disadvantage.
7. Encourage the protection of private property rights.
8. Support state programs that secure tax credits for
targeted work training programs.
9. Consider and review policies that promote the
outsourcing of essential public services by government
agencies.
10. Support practical business accounting procedures at
the state level when trying to balance the State Budget.
11. Review and evaluate social welfare policies that are
expansive and unregulated throughout all levels of
government.
Pro-business Leadership
1. Continue to monitor the process of redistricting
reform in California elections to ensure competitiveness
of the highly politicized process of drawing legislative
and congressional districts.
2. Review and evaluate local, statewide, and when
appropriate, federal legislation as it pertains to the
SWCLC’s policy priorities and communicate the
information to all chambers’ membership.
3. Continue to enhance working relationships with local,
state and federal representatives and their staffs.
4. Consider and review legislation that promotes
standards of corporate governance that guide boards of
directors and corporate officers in managing their
corporations in a competent, ethical manner.
Labor and Employment
1. Review and evaluate measures that reform the
extraordinary costs of the state’s public pension system
for the sake of the state’s overall fiscal health.
2. Monitor and review alternatives to (1) any proposed
state minimum wage increases and (2) any local or state
living wage ordinances.
3. Monitor and provide recommendations to the current
workers’ compensation reform measures to reduce costs to
businesses.
4. Consider and review responsible healthcare policy
proposals that maximize free market forces, minimizes
mandates upon insurers and providers, and results in
increased availability of healthcare coverage affordable
for employers, employees and individuals.
5. Monitor measures that reform our state’s educational
system and encourage workforce preparation.
6. Advocate against the unwarranted and frivolous
lawsuits on our businesses, consumers, taxpayers, and
communities.
7. Monitor proposals that undermine the current process
of guaranteeing secret-ballot elections for unionization
such as card check.
Immigration Reform
1. Support efforts that create a guest worker program
that is comprehensive, addressing both future economic
needs for workers and the status of undocumented workers
already in the United States.
2. Support the creation of an effective employment
verification system that is fast and reliable and the
impacts on Southwest California businesses while
understanding enforcement ramifications at the local,
state and federal level.
3. Support policies that ensure all workers enjoy the
same labor law protections.
4. Support policies that require all workers striving
for citizenship to demonstrate a working knowledge of
the English language and American civic requirements.
5. Support policies that expand temporary visa programs
for essential workers, creating paths to permanent
residence for these workers and providing a way to earn
legal status for the millions of undocumented workers
already in the United States.
Healthcare
1. Consider actions that preserve the current voluntary
employer-provided health coverage system.
2. Continue the efforts to contain the costs of
premiums.
3. Conform to federal law on health savings accounts.
4. Support legislation to allow employers to offer more
affordable benefit plans that allow choices in coverage.
5. Support policies that prevent cost shifting from
government-provided programs to the private sector.
6. Work to curb the expansion of litigation in the
healthcare system.
7. Support the wellness and disease management education
programs.
8. Monitor policies that encourage continued medical
discoveries and innovations that improve quality of
care.
9. Work to improve the timeliness of hospital
construction and to ensure costs associated with such
construction are kept at reasonable rates.
10. Help to reform the state hospital construction
review process and the archaic methods used to delay
hospital readiness.
Transportation
1. Review and evaluate public and private sector
transportation improvement plans that impact congestion
on freeways, streets and roads, and ensure mobility
within the Southwest California region.
2. Review and evaluate legislative and regulatory
proposals that impact the automobile, trucking, rail,
aviation, and maritime industries.
3. Review and evaluate legislation and regulatory
proposals that might place the Southwest California
logistics industry at a competitive disadvantage.
Environment
1. Support policies that recognize the importance of
balancing environmental issues including green programs
and their impacts on the public and private sector.
2. Monitor policies that ensure long-term positive
impacts on environmental stability and the economic
vitality of the Southwest California region.
3. Encourage responsible environmental regulations and
the potential impacts on local governments and agencies.
Tourism and Business Expansion
1. Support a stronger relationship between the Economic
Development Corporation (EDC) serving Southwest
Riverside County and the Cities of Temecula, Murrieta,
Lake Elsinore and Wildomar in order to advertise and
enhance the Southwest California region.
2. Support and promote policies to increase travel
visits to the wine country and other areas of interest
in order to help stimulate the local economy and provide
jobs throughout the Southwest California region.
3. Review and evaluate policies that ensure that the
Southwest California region maintains a reputation as an
attractive and prosperous location for doing business.
4. Promote economic development opportunities in the
Southwest California region for business retention,
expansion and attraction. |
