March 16, 2018
On February 27th and 28th, the Chamber brought its largest-ever delegation to Sacramento for advocacy meetings, educational panels and the latest information about policy priorities poised to impact San Diego businesses. The delegation heard from Senator Toni Atkins, who will assume her role as Senate Pro Tem on March 21st, Assemblymember Todd Gloria and, Board of Equalization Member Fiona Ma, among several other elected officials. The overarching themes of the trip were housing and its wide-reaching impact on talent retention and recruitment, and the general business climate across the state. These delegation trips are an important part of communicating San Diego’s immense value to the state’s economy and demonstrates a unified voice in advocating for San Diego’s needs and policy areas of priority.
With a packed two-day agenda there were many great takeaways from our meetings. Highlights include:
- Delegates enjoyed an exciting update on the future of self-driving cars, sponsored by innovation advocate, Deloitte. The expert panel included the head of the California DMV and Assemblyman Phil Ting.
- Assemblyman Chad Mayes gave an uplifting briefing about his new program, New Way, which hopes to make space for more civil, productive and bi-partisan policy discussions.
- A panel discussion led by Assemblyman Todd Gloria, and San Francisco’s Senator Scott Wiener. Both legislators are spearheading innovative policy to build more homes, and their frank comments about those who would oppose addressing our housing crisis were a call to action for all.
