"
Several of the major initiatives we've taxed ourselves to pay for over the last decade - to build transit lines, parks and housing for the formerly homeless - touch on or even promise to reshape the public realm.
"
-
Christopher Hawthorne,
newly appointed Chief Design Officer for Los Angeles
|
|
|
|
State Officials Join VICA for
2018 State Officeholders Dinner
|
 |
|
|
Assemblymember Tim Grayson and wife Tammy with Minions.
|
Last Friday, VICA members and their guests
met with s
tat
e ele
cted officials during
VICA's 2018 State Officeholders Dinner at the Globe Theatre at Universal Studios Hollywood. Leaders from all throughout California came together to take part in one of VICA's most popular events.
Members had a unique opportunity to connect with state legislators during the
reception and dinner
. During dinner, elected
officials
participated in exciting new games, including VICA Feud where state Senators Steven Bradford, Bob Hertzberg and Holly Mitchell went head-to-head against Assemblymembers Heath Flora, Miguel Santiago and Tony Thurmond to determine bragging rights in Sacramento as the VICA Feud winner.
|
|
|
|
State Senators versus Assemblymembers during VICA Feud.
|
|
Throughout the night, State Officeholders played lightning rounds of questions and analyzed drawings created by our Little Picassos from the
Boys and Girls Club of the West Valley.
State Officeholders also had the opportunity to battle students from
Granada Hills Charter High School (GHCHS)
for an Academic Decathlon. Although it was a tight competition
, the GHCHS team demonstrated why they are the reigning
national Academic Decathlon champions.
|
|
|
VICA Immediate Past Chair Coby King (
High Point Strategies
) and Assemblymember Heath Flora.
|
The night concluded with a close (second) round of VICA Feud where VICA's Immediate Past Chair Coby King (High Point Strategies) teamed up with Assemblymembers Tim Grayson and Reggie-Jones Sawyer to go up against VICA Chair Lisa Gritzner (LG Strategies) and State Senators Anthony Portantino and Josh Newman.
The 2018 State Officeholders Dinner was presented
by Comcast
NBCUniversal and co-sponsored by 21st Century Fox, Child360, Farmers Insurance, FivePoint Newhall Ranch, Health Net, Inc., JP Morgan Chase & Co., Los Angeles Daily News, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and Providence St. Joseph Health.
Thank you to our sponsors, members and all who attended this event.
|
Monday, April 9, 2018
5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Valley Presbyterian Hospital
15107 Vanowen St., Van Nuys
Come meet
California State Treasurer John Chiang
Attendees enjoy hosted drinks and appetizers as they meet and interact with other prominent business leaders from the community. VICA After Darks are complimentary to VICA members.
|
VICA Advocates for
Los Angeles in
Washington, D.C.
This week, VICA joined the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, local elected officials, and other business groups for the annual Access D.C. advocacy trip. The VICA delegation met with senior staff of the Vice President at the White House, followed by lunch with Congressmember Brad Sherman on Tuesday. On Wednesday, VICA joined over 150 other delegates for meetings with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Congressmembers Linda Sanchez, Nanette Barragan, Alan Lowenthal, Grace Napolitano, Adam Schiff, Maxine Waters and staff from many other offices including the Department of Transportation. Hot topics of discussion included implementation of tax reform, trade and NAFTA renegotiations, investment in infrastructure such as transit and roads, housing, education, and water.
|
Monday, April 23, 2018
11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Hilton Universal City
555 Universal Hollywood Dr, Universal City
Gubernatorial Candidate Antonio Villaraigosa
VICA's Leaders Forum offers members the
opportunity
to connect with
political and in
dustry leaders in a
setting
that allows for
discussion
and networking. Lunch is included for this event.
Sponsorships
are available. Contact Helene at the VICA office for
more
information.
|
|
Committee Reports
Transportation Committee (3/13)
Hosted by
The Garland
- Whitney O'Neill, Sr. Government Relations Manager at Metrolink, presented on the Southern California Optimized Rail Expansion (SCORE) Program to upgrade the regional rail system, which the Committee recommended to support.
- Vartan Djihanian, Western Region Manager for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, presented on the Chamber's priorities for modernizing America's infrastructure, including a proposed increase to the federal fuel user fee. The Committee recommended to support an increase in the federal motor vehicle user fee.
- The Committee also recommended to oppose two measures relating to land use and transportation: AB 1759 (McCarty) on Housing Production and Transportation Funding and SB 827 (Wiener) on the Transit-Rich Housing Bonus.
___________________________________________________________________
Government Affairs Committee (3/14)
- Deputy Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, Jeff Gorell, spoke to the committee about L.A. Cyber Lab, a public-private partnership to share information about cybersecurity threats to government and business.
- U.S. Chamber Vice President Ron Eidshaug was visiting the Valley from D.C., and shared some insights from the Capitol on how businesses can keep advocating for priorities including infrastructure and trade.
- The committee recommended to oppose Proposition 68, a $4.1 billion general obligation bond measure to pay for parks, environmental projects, and water infrastructure.
- The committee recommended to support Proposition 72, which would exclude rain water capture systems from being considered 'new construction' for property tax purposes.
____________________________________________________________________
Healthcare Committee (3/15)
Hosted by Valley Presbyterian Hospital
- Amber Ott of the California Hospital Association spoke to the committee about the 340B Drug Pricing Program and efforts at the state level to dismantle the program. The committee recommended to oppose the proposal to reduce 340B Drug Pricing reimbursements, as well as efforts to restrict hospitals from dispensing drugs purchased under the program.
- The committee recommended to oppose two bills by Senator Hernandez: SB 910, which would prohibit health insurance companies from selling short-term health insurance plans in California and SB 1152, related to homeless patient discharge policies for hospitals.
- The committee recommended to support AB 1795 (Gipson), which would help patients experiencing mental health emergencies to be treated more quickly at mental health urgent care centers rather than a hospital's emergency department.
- The committee recommended to oppose AB 2759 (Santiago), which would place rules for health facilities and clinics during the hiring process for nurses.
|
|
Member Messages:
Get Your Message in VICA Weekly!
|
VICA members can promote their business, events and news in VICA Weekly. Member messages are available for $50 per week or $175 for four weeks. Messages are text-based and may not contain more than 70 words. A logo may be added for an additional $5 per week. For more information or to schedule your member message, contact
[email protected]
or
call (818) 817-0545.
|
|
|
