Business Leaders Strike Out in Sacramento

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Los Angeles area business leaders traveled to Sacramento Thursday to push for more business-friendly legislation, but came away mostly empty handed as lawmakers’ attention was consumed by the state’s budget crisis.

More than 100 members of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and several other local chambers met with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers.

They sought progress on legislation to solve the state’s looming water crisis and to combine state dollars and federal stimulus funds on key transportation projects. They also tried to rally support for a bill to require an economic impact analysis on all major legislation.

But chamber Chief Executive Gary Toebben said that while lawmakers listened politely, there was little enthusiasm for such measures while the budget crisis was still unfolding.

“There is such a dearth of people talking about the importance of creating jobs to get us out of this downturn,” Toebben said. “All of the talk is on state budget cuts. The budget is casting a cloud over everything else in the Capitol.”

The only area that offered local business leaders some hope was water policy. The chamber is advocating for a canal to be built around the ecologically troubled Sacramento/San Joaquin river delta region where several species of fish are threatened or endangered so that more water can be sent to Southern California.

“While we didn’t get specific commitments, lawmakers did indicate they want to craft a water package once the budget crisis is resolved,” said Ron Gastelum, a chamber board member who formerly headed the Metropolitan Water District.

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Howard Fine
Howard Fine is a 23-year veteran of the Los Angeles Business Journal. He covers stories pertaining to healthcare, biomedicine, energy, engineering, construction, and infrastructure. He has won several awards, including Best Body of Work for a single reporter from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers and Distinguished Journalist of the Year from the Society of Professional Journalists.

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