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June
1, 2007
South
Bay Business Leaders Take Action in the State
Capitol
 The
SBACC and South Bay business leaders met with several state
officials in Sacramento on May 21, 2007. The trip also
included a reception and dinner with several elected
officials in attendance. The following priority issues were
discussed:
Priority
Issue #1:
Redistricting Reform
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SBACC
Position
1. A redistricting panel shall be created ant it should be
non-partisan
2. The process should include Congressional Districts
3. Create logical boundaries (clustering) with a minimal
numbers of assembly districts within Senate districts
Key Reasons for Redistricting Reform
1. Redistricting holds legislators accountable
2. Redistricting allows voters to select legislators-not
legislators to select voters
3. Redistricting allows for non-partisan decision-making
4. Redistricting creates competition
5. Redistricting allows elected officials to be closer to
the voter
6. Efficient government begins with citizens having a clear
understanding of who represents them
7. Legislators are not forced to compromise under the
current system
8. Redistricting establishes more moderate elected officials
9. Our current system is not a clear representation of
California voters
Background
Assemblymember
Betty Karnette meets with SBACC leaders. |
To make
California elections more competitive, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger unveiled a plan to reform the highly
politicized process of drawing legislative and congressional
districts. Schwarzenegger's proposal was released just over
a year after voters soundly rejected his previous
redistricting effort as part of a slate of government-reform
measures in his 2005 special election.
Democrats have been less than enthusiastic about redrawing
lines. They expressed some skepticism about the plan, but
pledged to work with the governor. Currently, state
lawmakers are responsible for drawing the district lines, as
well as those for the state's congressional delegation,
leading critics to say politicians are choosing their
voters, rather than the other way around.
The current district lines drawn in 2001 are widely
perceived as having been drafted to protect incumbents.
Schwarzenegger said in the past three statewide elections,
only four congressional and legislative seats changed
parties out of 459 races. One of the groups backing the
governor's proposal is Voices of Reform. Fred Keeley, a
former Democratic assemblyman from Santa Cruz -- and who was
widely considered a victim of the 2001 map-drawing -- is a
representative of the group.
Schwarzenegger's proposal calls for creating an 11-member
citizens commission -- no politicians or lobbyists allowed
-- to oversee drawing district lines. The pool of potential
commissioners would be nominated by various county and city
elections officials.
Senator Alan
Lowenthal meets with South Bay business leaders.
Priority Issue #2:
Health Care Reform
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SBACC Position
SBACC reserves its right to establish its position on
proposed health care reforms during or after the legislature
has time to review and debate their proposals.
Currently, the SBACC SUPPORTS the following, but is not
limited to:
1. Policies that encourage continued medical discoveries and
innovations that improve quality of care;
2. Actions that preserve the current voluntary
employer-provided health coverage system;
3. Efforts to contain the costs of premiums;
4. Conformity to federal law on health savings accounts;
5. Legislation to allow employers to offer more affordable
benefit plans that allow choices in coverage;
6. Opportunities to gain efficiencies and optimal outcomes
by coordinating the fragmented health care delivery systems;
7. Work to curb the expansion of litigation in the health
care system;
8. Reforms to the worker compensation system that deliver
significant cost savings;
9. Efforts to make health prevention the foundation for
reform through greater government responsibility for primary
prevention efforts.
Furthermore, the SBACC OPPOSES the following, but is not
limited to:
1. Policies that allow cost shifting from
government-provided programs to the private sector;
2. Proposals that stifle research and development, enact
price controls, encourage counterfeit drugs and interfere in
the ability of employers and health providers to negotiate
for lower drug costs;
3. Proposals to establish a government-run health care
delivery system in California; and,
4. Employer mandates.
Priority Issue #3:
Legislative Positions
Click here for a complete list
of SBACC legisaltive positions.
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