All levels of government were represented at the Government Affairs Forum held yesterday, Thursday, April 3rd. The monthly event in the Chamber’s refurbished conference room sponsored by Foothill Credit Union gives Chamber members a chance to hear from their elected officials.
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- Becky Cheng, representing Congresswoman Judy Chu, provided an update on federal legislation. H.R. 4094, Contract Accessibility Improvement Act is a bill to increase government contracts awarded to women-owned small businesses that Rep. Chu supports. H.R. 1240, the Commercial Real State & Economic Development (CREED) Act extends the authority of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to help small businesses refinance commercial debt. Cheng also highlighted some House contests for youth including an art contest and a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) contest to develop an “app.” Perhaps the biggest boon to small business owners in Arcadia is the establishment of a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in Pasadena. Previously people had to go to Long Beach to get free advice and support, now they only have to drive a few exits down the 210. (To download Rep. Chu’s Legislative Update, click here: 140403 Legislative Updates_Arcadia Chamber of Commerce.)
- Olivia Lee, representing Assemblyman Ed Chau, announced that there will be a symposium on the use of drones at UCLA towards the end of May and that he will also be co-hosting a workshop with the Los Angeles Department of Public Health on the “No Bare Hand Contact with Ready-To-Eat Food” law that became effective on January 1st. Assemblyman Chau is also sponsoring A.B. 2244 – Inactive Dormant Businesses, a bill to provide tax relief to businesses that go inactive. Currently the minimum tax is $800 per year even if a business has no activity. (Bill posted below)
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Brian Mejia, representing Supervisor Mike Antonovich, shared the supervisor’s concerns about “runaway productions” – the flight of filming & production from Southern California to other states and countries. “Feature filming has dropped 50% from its peak in 1996 and television documentaries are down 39% from their peak in 2008. The region has lost more than $3 billion dollars in entertainment production wages,” according to Mejia. (Film press release below) Mejia also shared Antonovich’s upcoming “Trail Dusters Ride” at Frank G. Bonelli regional park on May 18th.
- Monrovia, Arcadia, Duarte (MAD) Town Council members Linda Sells and John Nicorolo shared concerns about the need for more development on Live Oak and upcoming developments that will be undertaken in Arcadia’s southeast end.
- Arcadia Councilman and recently-crowned Citizen of the Year Bob Harbicht informed the forum attendees that the plans for the $100MM Seabiscuit hotel complex located across from Santa Anita Park are moving forward. This should be a boon to the city in occupancy taxes. Harbicht also addressed reservations he has for the measure to strike down Arcadia’s Utility Use Tax (UUT), citing concerns that the loss of $7MM to the city budget would essentially force the city to decide “how many police officers to let go and which fire station to close.” The movement by local conservatives to get the UUT issue on the ballot only requires 800 signatures.
Harbicht will be the guest speaker at the next monthly Government Affairs Forum at 8 a.m. Thursday, May 1, at the Chamber, 388 w. Huntington Drive. He will be speaking about his record 20 years on the Arcadia City Council before being termed out this month.
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