November 24, 2022

Happy Thanksgiving! Yes, it’s a week early but since you Chamber members are very nice and don’t expect us to actually work on the day-of, we won’t be sending you an email next week. Congratulations to everyone for making it through election season, we’ll see you in December (yikes!)

Business Updates:

They truly are everyone’s favorite cookie…Congratulations to The Cravory for being  featured on Good Morning America as one of Oprah’s Favorite Things! 

More accolades: The San Diego International Airport was ranked the #2 midsize airport in the country by Wall Street Journal. (just wait until T1 is done!)

Legislative Updates

Federal:

It’s looking unlikely that there’s any action on the debt ceiling during the lame duck session. Republicans are indicating they won’t be offering any votes and without a bipartisan approach, the effort will likely be held until the next Congress which will undoubtedly bring about a firework filled landscape.

Republicans (narrowly) have the lead in the House, and that means they’re crafting their agenda. Already, they’ve announced investigations into the President’s family and renewing tax cuts. More specifically, that means making Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent and undoing some tax increases on businesses that have been enacted more recently.

It’s the end of an era: the first female Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, announced that she will be stepping down from her leadership post in order to support future generations.

International:

Join us for this year’s International Tribute Awards to honor outstanding individuals and organizations who have played a vital role bridging the U.S. and Mexican economies. This year’s award recipients include International Leader of the Year: Carlos Jaramillo, Chair of Tijuana EDC, and International Business of the Year: Energy Communications, Corp. Congratulations!

A pilot program was implemented at the San Ysidro port of entry this Tuesday by the Mexican government in collaboration with US authorities which consists of an aleatory checkpoint for northbound travelers. Mexican authorities request travel documents before vehicles reach the port’s booths staffed by US Customs to help reduce the number of unauthorized individuals that attempt to cross into the US. The program aims to facilitate border crossings that continue to impact our businesses and community.

A federal judge has blocked the policy known as Title 42. This measure grants the U.S. government the ability to ‘prohibit the entrance of individuals to mitigate the spread of a contagious disease’ and authorizes border officials to promptly turn around and deport migrants. It was initially enacted for 30 days back in March 2020 but extended indefinitely later on. Migrants arrested at the border were previously processed under immigration law, and thousands sent back to Mexico have been waiting in shelters. Biden has previously advanced efforts to suspend Title 42 amid declining COVID cases. Title 42 is now on hold for 5 weeks, with concerns being raised about lifting this measure without implementing changes in immigration policies given limited resources and an increased number of migrants arriving at the southern border.

Hundreds of thousands people took to the streets all over Mexico on Sunday to protest President Lopez Obrador’s plan to overhaul the country’s electoral institute (INE). This proposal would allow citizens to elect electoral authorities proposed by Mexico’s executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and eliminate local and state election management organizations. Concerns raised by business and civic organizations as well as industry and community leaders highlight centralization of power and losing autonomy on elections across the country.

The 27th annual UN meeting on climate, COP27 is taking place in Sharm el-Sheikh until 18 November after a year of extreme weather that made the climate crisis even more a reality. World leaders headed to Egypt to discuss the role of climate finance, adaptation ambition, and implementation with the goal to pursue climate stability and promote the Six-Sector Solution roadmap to reducing emissions across sectors in line with the Paris Agreement commitments.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ministerial meeting kicks off today as the first in-person summit in four years. Attendees include Chinese President Xi Jinping, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, amongst other officials from Asia-Pacific economies to discuss trade, supply chain for essential goods and vaccines, resuming travel, economic structural reform and promoting indigenous economy.

State:

Whiplash. We went from a $100 billion budget surplus to a projected budget deficit of $25B in FY 23-24. Cash those gas-relief checks fast, y’all or they might ask for the money back!

Speaking of being smart with your money, if you have five employees or more, you are required to provide a sponsored retirement plan or enroll in CalSavers.

California Air Resources Board has a mandate to reach carbon neutrality across the state by 2045, and that’s going to be a ginormous lift. Their scoping plan was released this week, which is the “how we plan to do this” document. Check it out here. If you’re looking for maybe an easier-to-digest story about the plan, you can find that here.

After a six-hour caucus meeting, California Assembly Democrats finally agreed on having Assemblymember Robert Rivas take on the coveted Assembly Speaker role in the summer of 2023. Current Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon will stay on until then.

Local:

CBRE is out with their local market life science report. TL;DR the San Diego market is hot hot hot!

San Diego City Council moved forward with polystyrene ban 2.0. It’s “2.0” because years ago this passed, but following a lawsuit, was sent back for an EIR, which has since been completed. If you think you need a waiver from this policy, please let Chamber staff know and we’ll be happy to help you.

A local San Diego science company has discovered a new crater on planet Mars! Check it out.

It’s not over yet! As of yesterday, Yes on Measure B is now ahead by nearly 3,000 votes and Yes on Measure C’s margin is now ahead by nearly 8,000 votes. There are approximately 15,000 votes left to be counted in the County.

City of San Diego Development Services Department Updates:

• Tonight from 7:00pm-12:00am, DSD will have a planned service outage for online permits and short-term residential occupancy (STRO) applications.
• Friendly reminder on annual holiday construction restrictions! The holiday season restriction period will be from November 24, 2022-January 1, 2023. Learn more if your construction work is or is not in a restricted area here.

Julia Chase is now the City of San Diego’s Chief Resilience Officer. With positions previously held with the City’s Planning Department, Julia will lead the efforts to implement the City’s climate resiliency plan, which includes 86 adaptation strategies, known as Climate Resilient SD.

The Navy is now officially seeking bids to redevelop their 70.3 acre NAVWAR campus. With approximately 5,000 employees, they’re hoping to see new facilities and parking in exchange for the land. The request for qualifications (RFQ) can be found here.

Sheriff-elect Kelly Martinez has appointed Assistant Sheriff Rich Williams as Undersheriff, and Cmdr. Brian Nevins as Assistant Sheriff to her leadership team.

Upcoming Hearings & Public Input Opportunities

• The San Diego City Council has been adjourned until December 5.
• The County Board of Supervisors will next meet on December 13 and December 14.

Capital Opportunities & Resources

• The CPUC launched the Digital Divide Grant Program! Applications will be accepted until January 13, 2023 and must be submitted via Email.  Four grants of up to $250,000 each are available!
• San Diego County’s Small Business Stimulus Grant funds are still available for local small businesses and nonprofits impacted by the pandemic. County Districts 1, 2, and 3 are still accepting applications. Learn more here.
• Small business owners may currently receive $2,000 per employee that participates in the paid family leave program. Small business owners can apply here.
• Businesses can reach out to their nearest Small Business Development Center (SBDC), which has developed the Small Business Survival Resources Guide. SBDC can help with applying for COVID-19 relief, guiding you through available resources, and assisting with cash flow concerns, supply-chain interruptions, workforce capacity, insurance coverage, and more–all at no cost!

Future Chamber Meetings (Virtual) & Committee Actions:

Public Policy Committee:

Our next meeting will be in December. We’re dark in November!

Sustainability & Industry Committee:

Our next meeting will be on December 1, 8:00am via zoom.

Health Committee:

Our next meeting will be December 14, 8:00am via zoom.

Economic Development Strategy Working Group: 

Our next meeting will be on December 15, 9:00am via zoom.