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Policy Pillars
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Economic
Growth
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Taxation
The Chamber endorses tax policies that would enhance the competitiveness of our local businesses, such as
the business tax reforms that would make the City more
comparable to surrounding cities so that our businesses
are not put at an economic disadvantage and allowing
for further business development and worker retention.
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Tourism
The Chamber supports policies that aim to maintain and
increase the regions’ booming tourism industry.
With more than 25 million visitors coming to Los Angeles
each year, the Chamber recognizes the industry’s
importance to our regions economic stability and growth.
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Business Climate
The Chamber supports a positive environment in which businesses in our local area, city, region and state can continue to flourish and remain competitive. In addition to supporting its Economic Growth Policy Pillar, the Chamber supports the following:
• Sensible changes in state labor laws and regulations aimed at making the workplace easier to administer;
• Changes in tax policy that keep businesses competitive;
• Local efforts to implement roadway improvements, infrastructure projects and other construction in a way that impacts the fewest businesses as possible; and
• Revisions to the state’s workers’ compensation system to bring balance and fairness to what has become a contentious system.
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Human
Resources |
Education
The Chamber believes that a workforce equipped with
the skills for today’s and tomorrow’s jobs
is critical for the future of the regions economy. The
Chamber supports educational reforms that would bring
increase community engagement, promote autonomy and
entrepreneurship, and create a school system that fulfills
the needs of employers for a highly skilled workforce
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Public Safety
The Chamber considers safety to be a top priority, and
supports increasing the size and presence of our police
and fire departments to allow for an increase in response
times and a further decrease in the crime level. In
this regard, the Chamber believes that existing “force
redeployment” policies need to be examined for
their long term impacts and to assure a minimum level
of police patrol car presence in our community.
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Infrastructure |
Airport
The Chamber has long held as it’s litmus test
for any proposed modification of LAX that it not a)
Have any Western Terminal or Western Vehicular Access;
b) have any “Ring Road” or c) Adversely
Impact the Westchester Business District. As such it
has expressly rejected prior proposed plans A, B and
C all of which also proposed to increase the capacity
of LAX to the detriment of our surrounding communities.
The Chamber is also opposed to any plan which will cause
a greater noise impact on our communities including
in particular any plan to relocate runways northward.
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Transportation
The Chamber believes that as the nation’s top
trade gateway and the area with the most automobiles
per capita, the region cannot afford to continue to
ignore the effect that traffic congestion is having
on our economy and quality of life. The Chamber supports
policies that improve mobility and relieve congestion
on our roads and freeways to maximize the region’s
ability to move people and goods. In particular, the
Chamber has supported initiatives to extend the Green
Line to the North.
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Land
Use
The Chamber supports policies that encourage smart growth
planning that is transit-oriented for the appropriate
placement of development, without displacing existing
residential, commercial and industrial land uses that
are significant to preservation of a healthy and appropriately
designed jobs-housing balance |
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Energy/Environment
TheChamber supports efforts to reduce our city's dependence on dirty-burning coal, while at the same time moving towards renewable forms of energy. The Chamber supports recycling, conservation and green development, including the efforts of developers to earn LEED certifications for all new construction. The Chamber supports the efforts of Renew L.A. to convert trash into clean, renewable energy, alternative fuels and other useful products. The Chamber is also aware that it is critical for business attraction and retention to improve our exsisting infrastructure and find new, reliable sources for natural gas, water and other resources critical to the sustained growth of our community and economy. |
Traffic
TheChamber recognizes that the Los Angeles area has the most severe traffic congestion in the United States. Trends in many of the underlying casual factors suggest that congestion will continue to worsen in the coming years, absent significant policy intervention. Excessive traffic, congestion detracts from quality of life, is economically wasteful and environmentally damaging, and exacerbates social-justice concerns. The Chamber supports efficent and equitable strategies for mitigating congestion, iincluding findings of the 2008 RAND report that recommends strategies for reducing congestion in Los Angeles County that could be implemented and produce significant improvements within five years.
To manage peak-hour auto travel, raise transportation revenue, imporve alternative transportation options, and use exsisting capacity more efficiently, RAND recommends the following 10 primary strategies, endorsed and supported by the Chamber:
1. Improve signal control and timing;
2. Restrict curb parking on busy thoroughfares:
3. Implement paired one-way streets;
4. Promote ride-sharing, telecommuting, and flexible work schedules;
5. Develop a high-occupancy toll-lane network;
6. Vary curb-parking cash-out law;
7. Enforce the current parking cash-out law;
8. Promote deep-discount transit passes;
9. Expand bus rapid transit and bus only lanes; and
10. Implement a regionally connected bicycle network.
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