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Improving infrastructure and the workplace, stabilizing spending top the list

SACRAMENTO 01/21/05 - The California Chamber of Commerce (CCC) has defined the state legislature's top priorities for the new year - namely, simplifying work place requirements to make it easier for employers and employees to comply with regulations; maintaining California's infrastructure; sustaining strong educational standards; and working to bring stability to the state budget.

The Chamber recently unveiled its "2005 Business Issues and Legislative Guide," an annual review of the most pressing issues facing California businesses each year along with Chamber positions and policy recommendations on how to improve the state's economy and business climate.

The theme of this year's report is "Keeping California Open for Business, Agenda for Economic Growth and Development."

"The foundation for restoring stability to California is an economic climate that encourages businesses to grow and create jobs here," said California Chamber of Commerce President Allan Zaremberg at a press briefing in Sacramento. "A strong California means a strong economic climate, that's obvious. The good news is that we've seen improvement, but several challenges remain."

The Chamber, he said, plans to introduce measures to make complying with workplace regulations easier for employers and employees. The centerpiece of the workplace reform measures will be a bill to make it easier for employees to work a four-day work week.

Other measures include rewriting workplace regulations so they are rid of "legalese" and instead putting them in easier to follow plain language, and making sensible changes to make workplace requirements easier to administer.

"A four day work week takes into account the demands of employees today," said Zaremberg. "Working families want and need flexibility in their work schedules, but they can't get it because of the complicated requirements. We'd like to change that."

The Chamber is not proposing doing away with the 8-hour work day, but making sensible changes to allow those who want to work a four day work week to do so, he said.

"While the next two years of state budget deficits will mean leaner funding years for all state programs and services, including infrastructure funding, efforts must still be made to maintain and improve California's critical infrastructure," Zaremberg said, adding that, "Infrastructure reforms such as ensuring adequate planning and removal of red tape are critical so that when funding becomes available, projects are ready to go."  

In some areas, such as energy and housing, he said, "Necessary reforms and improvements can be done through the legislative and regulatory arenas. These include reforms to encourage investment in California's energy market and reforms to ensure adequate affordable housing to meet the state's workforce needs."

Improving California's public schools "is an important policy priority this year, as it always has been," the Chamber chief said. "The state's public schools train the workforce of tomorrow and without a well-educated workforce, California won't be able to compete in a global marketplace."

The Chamber continues to support strong academic standards, testing and accountability measures for our public schools, said Zaremberg. "It will be critical to maintain standards and accountability measures to implement performance-based pay for teachers, which the Chamber also supports."

In addition, the Chamber "will work this year to ensure a workforce development system that takes into account all workforce needs, including those jobs that do not require a college degree," he said.

A final yet important legislative priority for the Chamber this year "will be to encourage reforms of the state budget to ensure state spending is in line" with state revenues.

"Resolving the state's chronic budget deficit is critical…persistent state deficits create continued uncertainty and instability in the economy and discourage business investment here," he said.

Lawmakers, Zaremberg concluded, "must find a way to balance the budget in a manner that can provide for the reasonable needs of government by encouraging economic development and ensuring California businesses can compete in a global marketplace."

The Governor's proposed January budget, he said, "moves the state in the right direction. A healthy economy is essential to assuring the revenue stream to support necessary state programs."
 
A PDF version of the "Business Issues and Legislative Guide" can be viewed on the CCC website at www.calchamber.com/businessissues and clicking on the "See index to entire Business Issues and Legislative Guide" link in the middle of text at center top of page.

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Major California Trade Conference Planned

01/30/05 – The “Global California: Expanding Opportunities” conference will create a dialogue on the future of world trade services in California and how global, national, state, and local business trends and developments impact California's increasingly internationalized $1.4 trillion economy; select panels at the day-long event will share their expertise on a variety of topics including free trade opportunities for California-based companies; the state of the state’s transportation infrastructure; the role of Sacramento in facilitating and promoting trade; and how can the California ''brand'' be more effectively utilized to ''sell'' the state as a truly globalized trade center.