February 28, 2019

On February 26 and 27 the Chamber led a delegation of 85 business, community, and civic leaders to the state capital to advocate for legislation that will benefit regional business and job creation during the Chamber’s annual Leadership Delegation to Sacramento. “With a new administration in Sacramento, comes a new political landscape and legislative priorities and San Diego is at the center of many of the key issues state leaders are tackling such as housing and homelessness and the border,” said Jerry Sanders Chamber President & CEO. “This trip brought the diverse expertise and first-hand knowledge of San Diego’s business community directly to elected officials so they could understand how their decisions impact local business.”

With a two-day agenda there were several great takeaways from our meetings:

• Chief Deputy Director of Finance Vivek Viswanathan informed the group about an effort to add a California tax incentive to supplement the “Opportunity Zone” program created by the Federal Tax Reform in 2017.

• Delegates heard from Mike Madrid, a political strategist with GrassRootsLab, about the trends towards hyper-partisanship within the U.S., California, and in San Diego, and how that impacts the business community’s effectiveness and ability to engage with consumers.

• Secretary of Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot discussed how we can better manage our natural resources to protect against wildfires and other threats.
• In a panel discussion on housing, Brian Hanlon, Executive Director of California YIMBY, highlighted that it is policies like the costly development requirements adopted in San Francisco that result in ever-increasing rent and fewer housing opportunities for anyone other than the wealthy. It was encouraging to hear almost every speaker, regardless of their role, share our priority to create housing that our workforce can access. The awareness of the reality of the housing crisis is evident across the board.

• And, the Chamber received kudos from Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis for our leadership on promoting trade across the Southern border and she also shared her support for a California trade office in Mexico, a project the Chamber has been championing.

For more details on the trip check out #SDinSAC on Twitter.