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February 15,
2010
Economic
Competitiveness For America’s Ports
The Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau has
decided to support H.R. 3447, due to its ability to
positively impact the future competitiveness and
environmental soundness of the Long Beach and Los Angeles
Ports that so many of our businesses use.
Introduced by Representative Laura Richardson (D-CA), H.R.
3447 would alter the funding system for the Trust Fund by
taking the spending power out of the hands of Congress. H.R.
3447 will allow the funding to be used entirely and without
delay by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for dredging of
America’s harbors.
The Chamber believes that H.R 3447 will allow the
communities in which the Ports are based to more directly
impact the nature and timing of the appropriation of funding
used to keep our harbors and ports maintained. In lieu of
the challenging economic climate, this is exactly the right
time to put authority into the hands of those who best
understand market forces and therefore know what is needed
to strengthen the competitiveness of these important drivers
of economic activity.
H.R. 3447 will revise current protocol in which funding is
subject to Congressional approval, a protocol that has
resulted in funding delays as well as the reallocation of
funds otherwise earmarked for the dredging and maintaining
of harbors and ports to unrelated budget measures.
In other words, this measure will help keep our port
competitive and an important source of economic growth in
our region.
October 19,
2009
Chamber Stops
Anti-Job Creating Proposals
AB 793 and AB 943, two harmful legislative proposals that
would have put businesses in Redondo Beach, were defeated in
October when the Governor vetoed both pieces of legislation.
The Chamber reviewed each proposal through its Government
Relations Council and sent letters to local legislators and
the Governor urging opposition to both proposals.
AB 793 would have revised the statute of limitations law for
any workplace claim or lawsuit relating to compensation so
that the statute of limitations is renewed each time an
employee’s compensation is “affected,” including each time
it is paid. AB 793 would encompass a broad array of
workplace decisions, including hiring, job evaluations, and
promotions. The Chamber opposed AB 793 because it
unreasonably expands employer liability in workplace
lawsuits far beyond the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
of 2009.
AB 943 would have prohibited employers from using consumer
credit reports for employment purposes unless the
information is “substantially job related.” It would have
severely diminished an employer’s ability to protect their
business from the threat of employee theft. Employee theft
has been well documented as a growing problem and the United
States Chamber of Commerce rates the annual cost to
businesses at $40 billion.
September 15,
2009
The Agenda For
Economic Recovery
The Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau
joined forces with the California Chamber of Commerce and
other business organizations to draft a plan to help the
economic recovery in California.
The Agenda for Economic Recovery, a coalition of Chambers
and similar business interest, promotes four fundamental
steps to ensure economic growth and prosperity. The
principles as outlined below do not seek to revise or repeal
existing laws, but rather take into account existing
resources to implement best practices that will ensure
economic growth and prosperity. A major goal of the
coalition is to help California re-emerge as an economic
powerhouse and keep business in the state.
“The time is now to get California back to where it was by
supporting the businesses that are here and creating a
economic climate to keep them here,” stated Marna Smeltzer,
President and CEO of the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce &
Visitors Bureau. “Our Chamber is in a unique position to
help with the shaping of California’s economy by taking
these goals to our area legislators urging them to promote
and support business friendly legislation,” continued
Smeltzer.
The Coalition’s four fundamental steps that must be taken in
order to revive our economy:
Develop a comprehensive economic growth strategy.
Our growing
population and increasing list of state priorities require
the state to facilitate, rather than just encourage economic
growth.
The state needs
a concrete, proactive strategy that will stimulate
broad-based economic growth and job creation and assure
entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes that the
conditions in California are right for success.
Drive business investment and retention.
In this new era
of tight capital, California must develop a policy to
encourage investment in state infrastructure and private
enterprise.
The competition
among the states for federal funds as well as competition
for private investment requires California to develop a plan
for attracting projects and retaining business enterprises.
Require an assessment of economic impacts.
All governmental
policies and programs should be reviewed to ensure that they
do not limit or suppress economic growth.
If the state is
required to abide by acceptable economic and scientific
standards, then businesses will have the confidence that
policy decisions will evaluated fairly.
Establish
accountability metrics.
The state needs
to adopt quantifiable standards so that there is consistency
and transparency in the implementation of the economic
impact analysis.
These
accountability metrics are crucial to ensure that the state
is meeting its goals and that there are uniform measurements
of success.
June 1, 2007
Oppose Proposed Law that Kills
Economic Improvements
A
proposed new law, AB 1459, would negatively impact jobs and
economic growth in coastal communities. The new law would
also prohibit cities, counties, and the Coastal Commission
from ever permitting the construction of condominium hotels,
timeshare units, and other similar interests in Redondo
Beach, which is designated as a Coastal Zone.
“This would only hurt our local economy and the recruitment
of new businesses,” stated Marna Smeltzer, President/CEO of
the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce & Visitor’s Bureau.
One aspect of the local economy is tourism. Ranked as
California’s fourth largest employer and fifth largest
contributor to the gross state product, tourism would
definitely suffer. Furthermore, condo hotel units and
timeshare construction would also decline. These projects,
in recent years, have become essential in the growth of our
local economy.
The proposed legislation will stop the creation of
significant new lodging accommodations in the Coastal Zone
which is overseen by the California Coastal Commission. The
Commission is the authority for oversight and when projects
are approved, the commission imposes appropriate conditions
to protect the public’s interest in access to the coast and
overnight lodging.
“There is already a check and balance system in place to
protect the general public and see that construction of new
condos and timeshares happen appropriately,” explained
Smeltzer. “AB 1459 is simply not beneficial to our
businesses,” Smeltzer continued.
December 2, 2004
Chamber
Urges Council for Less Aggressive Business License Tax
At
the November 16th City Council meeting the City Council struggled with an
aggressive proposal for increasing the Redondo Beach Business License Tax..
The Business License Tax has not been increased since 1991, and Redondo
Beach fees are the lowest in the South Bay. Our City is facing a $1.5 to $2
million deficit in the 2004 / 2005 budget. The City Manager's proposal is an
attempt to bring Redondo Beach's business license tax in line with other
South Bay cities and to help offset the city's budget deficit.
The
Chamber lobbied that the proposal was too aggressive and playing catch up
all in one year is just too dramatic. Business leaders agree there is
justification for adjusting the tax. Additionally, implementing an annual
CPI is a good idea in order to keep up with inflation. However, they pointed
out that since the issue needed voter approval in March, there should be
careful consideration to place a measure on the ballot that could be
supported by the voters.
The
original recommendation proposed to increase the business tax from $99 to
$150 for each business plus increase the per employee fee from $18toS35. A
second proposal for consideration added a "square footage fee" for
businesses with over 10,000 sq feet to be assessed up to 10 cents per sq ft
with a cap of $160,000.
The
Mayor and members of the City Council agreed with business leaders that the
plan was far too aggressive to implement all in one year, but struggled with
an equitable solution.
A
final decision whether to place a measure on the March ballot will be
decided at the November 30 City Council meeting.
The
two alternatives that will be discussed are the following.
Alternative #1
Increase the business tax, and the employee
tax, rooms and other rentals, 20% each year for the next 2 years and then go
to an annual increase based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Alternative #2
Increase the business license tax and the employee tax,
rooms and other rentals, 10% each year for the next five years, and then go
to an annual increase based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI)
The Chamber would like to thank the members who took the time to complete
the Business License Survey that was faxed and e-mailed. The results were
shared with the City Council who reviewed the results with serious
consideration.
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