VICA Wins For San Fernando Valley Businesses

From Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA):

Friday, Sept. 30 was the last day for Governor Jerry Brown to sign or veto bills for the 2015-16 legislative session. The Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA) was pleased that 73 percent of the bills VICA tracked on the governor’s desk were successful, including bills that VICA-supported which were signed and VICA-opposed bills which were vetoed.

Governor Brown signed SB 936 by Senator Hertzberg, which will encourage job creation by expanding access for small businesses to the California loan guarantee program. VICA strongly supported this bill, which will stimulate economic growth and prosperity.

VICA also welcomed Governor Brown’s signature on important legislation which clears the way for the Los Angeles 2024 Olympics bid (SB 1465 - De Leon).

The governor signed two bills which VICA strongly supported, which will help ease the housing crisis by making it easier to build second units, or ‘granny flats.’ SB 1069 (Wieckowski) will limit the restrictions that can be placed on second unit construction, while AB 2299 (Bloom) eases statewide restrictions.

The governor signed an important VICA-supported investment into computer science education for our schools, AB 2329 (Bonilla). He also vetoed a damaging bill which would have significantly increased costs for the University of California (SB 959 – Lara), harming current and future UC students.

Kevin Tamaki, Chair of VICA, said “We are pleased that many of the gGovernor’s actions supported business and economic growth for the San Fernando Valley. VICA will continue to advocate for business and to work with our legislators and the governor’s office as we prepare for the next legislative session.”

Other bills which VICA opposed died in the legislature last month. These include two power grabs which would have allowed Sacramento to pack local boards - LA Metro and the South Coast Qir Quality Management District (SB 1379 and SB 1387). Legislators also rejected a bill which would have required some retailers to pay employees twice their hourly rate on Thanksgiving (AB 67).

Stuart Waldman, President of VICA, said ““We are really proud of our success this year, in the face of some very tough challenges, and a legislature and Governor who passed and signed other bills which are very unfriendly to business. We must allow business to thrive to support continued economic growth for all Californians.”

VICA also faced some losses, including SB 32 (Pavley) and SB 3 (Leno). Under these new laws, businesses will face significant burdens complying with top-down mandated emissions reductions and a rapidly rising minimum wage. VICA will continue to work with legislators during implementation to mitigate the heavy impact these laws will have on business.

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