Valley Industry & Commerce Association |
|
|
- VICA Partners with CA Paid Family Leave Grant Program
-
Thank You for Joining: After Dark Not-For-Profit Matchmaking Event
- VICA Continues to Defend Businesses in Civil Cases
- VICA Opposes Attorney General Overreach in Healthcare
- VICA in the News
-
AT&T's Stay Connected with Power
|
|
|
“This ordinance is deeply flawed, inequitable and discriminatory. It requires pay increases for only some workers at some facilities, while completely excluding workers doing the exact same jobs at other providers.” |
|
No on the Los Angeles Unequal Pay Measure Coalition
Statement on the minimum wage increase for healthcare workers at private facilities.
|
|
Thank You for Joining! VICA After Dark: Not-For-Profit Matchmaking Event |
|
VICA thanks all who joined us for our After Dark Not-For-Profit Matchmaking event hosted at New Horizons, along with our Co-Sponsor PacFed.
Over 15 different non-profits showcased their work and allowed attendees to get an inside look at what it would take to serve on their board. If you are interested in further connecting with any of our non-profits, please reach out to the VICA team and we can connect you.
The VICA Not-For-Profit Committee meets quarterly, on the 1st Thursday of the month and is open to all VICA members. If you would like to be added to the interest list, please email peter@vica.com to join. The Not-for-Profit Committee is focused on the unique operating and policy challenges for non-profit organizations in the Valley.
|
|
Thank You to the Following Not-For-Profit Organizations for Joining Us! |
|
Boys & Girls Club of Burbank and Greater East Valley
Boys & Girls Club of San Fernando
Boys and Girls Club of the West Valley
Child Care Resource Center
Chrysalis
El Centro De Amistad
Homes 4 Families
Many Mansions
Meet Each Need with Dignity
New Horizons
San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center
|
|
ONEgeneration
San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission
The Adult Skills Center
Valley InterCommunity Council
Valley Village
Verdugo Hills Council, Boy Scouts of America
Western Los Angeles County Council, Boy Scouts
of America
YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles
|
|
California Paid Family Leave Grant |
|
VICA is pleased to announce its partnership with California Paid Family Leave (PFL) Grant. The program awards grants to assist California's small businesses impacted by the Paid Family Leave (PFL) Program.
Businesses impacted by California's Paid Family Leave program will have:
- Increased costs such as training and upskilling existing staff to cover the duties of the employee on California's Paid Family Leave;
- Hiring and training additional staff to cover the duties of the employee on California's Paid Family Leave; and marketing, recruitment, and
- Other reasonably foreseeable training costs
The PFL Grant Program allows eligible small businesses in California with 1-100 employees with at least one (1) employee utilizing California's Paid Family Leave program to apply for grants up to $2,000 per employee to offset the increased costs associated with the employee out on leave.
California's Paid Family Leave program allows California workers to take paid leave to bond with a new child (through birth, adoption, or foster care) or to care for a seriously ill family member. Beginning July 1, 2020, this paid leave expanded from six (6) to eight (8) weeks. California's Paid Family Leave program also expanded the twelve (12) week non-paid protected leave to all businesses, regardless of business size.
For more information, eligibility details, and to apply, visit CaliforniaPFL.com or call (818)989-0300.
|
|
VICA Defends Businesses in Civil Cases |
|
The VICA Board has voted to oppose Senate Bill 1149 (Levya), which would limit the ability of litigants to enter into agreements or obtain court orders restricting the disclosure of factual information in civil cases
This bill will disincentivize efficient settlement of cases – regardless of their merits – and thereby increase litigation time and cost for both plaintiffs and defendants. Further, the bill will upend the longstanding norm of producing documents under a protective order by creating a presumption against such orders. Any attorney who even mistakenly requests such a settlement term would be subject to professional discipline from the State Bar of California. The provision does provide that the State Bar may investigate and take appropriate action.
In today’s instant information world of online product reviews and social media exposés, where anyone with an Internet connection can find out anything at the touch of a smart screen, the notion that there is insufficient information available about potential product defects or environmental conditions is nonsensical. There is no compelling public policy need to widely expose proprietary business information in the large swath of litigation impacted by SB 1149. This bill will only serve to exacerbate an already unfriendly legal environment for California businesses without advancing any public health and safety interests.
The effect of publicly releasing proprietary information would have disproportionate impacts on industries that rely on research and development as cornerstones to their market share. It is self-evident that if trade secrets are not protected in one case, they won’t receive protection in any case since the secrets will no longer be secret. The injustice of this policy is that sensitive business information is released even if the jury ultimately finds there is no defect or hazardous condition.
|
|
VICA Opposes Attorney General Overreach in Healthcare |
|
The VICA Board has voted to oppose Assembly Bill 2080 (Wood), which would authorize the Attorney General (AG) to review and either consent, conditionally consent, or deny consent to transactions involving mergers, acquisitions, or other transfers of control or assets among healthcare entities if the transaction is worth $5 million or more. Also, AB 2080 bans certain anticompetitive terms from contracts among participants in California’s healthcare market.
This bill would impose expensive, unpredictable, and unfair administrative burdens on healthcare providers and payers, increasing the cost of healthcare for all Californians and undoing a decade of progress under the Affordable Care Act. Many Californians are now covered by managed care arrangements, in which health plans contract with healthcare providers for high-quality care at a reduced cost. This bill, however, imposes broad contract prohibitions that would disrupt countless relationships between payers and hospitals, physicians, and other partners, permanently altering long-standing arrangements that are fundamental to organizing coordinated care.
For example, the bill outlaws any contract term that prevents a plan from offering incentives to encourage enrollees to utilize or avoid specific healthcare providers, the very essence of a preferred provider arrangement. Ultimately, this would result in fragmented patient care and end the ability of healthcare entities to enter value-based contracts. This bill would prohibit physician groups, hospitals, payers, and others from making certain business decisions without the prior permission of the AG, making the attorney general the sole arbiter of accessibility and availability of healthcare in California.
This bill unnecessarily makes these business decisions more expensive and time-consuming and undermines fair due process by placing the burden of proof of the need or value of an affiliation on doctors, health facilities, and payers. This creates a guilty until proven innocent system on top of an already rigorous oversight process that has served the state well for decades. Also, AB 2080 gives so much arbitrary and absolute discretion to the AG that healthcare entities are likely to refrain from these critical types of transactions in the future, freezing the status quo in California while other states continue to drive toward efficiency and innovation. AB 2080 would restrict the flexibility and resources healthcare providers desperately need simply to keep their doors open and provide vital care to patients.
|
|
AT&T's Stay Connected Without Power Materials
|
|
As California prepares for wildfire season, AT&T is working with our stakeholders to help communities across the State have resources to stay connected during disaster situations.
AT&T is expanding their outreach to our communities, making a specific effort to
educate customers at heightened risk during power-outages on ways to stay in communication when power is lost during disaster events, including PSPS events when electric utilities proactively shut off power.
|
|
Below are the “Staying Connected without Power” materials — including a user-friendly fact sheet and social media posts with simple steps that individuals can take to be prepared and stay better connected if their local energy provider shuts down power. Tips include:
- Keep your wireless phones charged.
- Identify ways to charge when the power is off like your car or portable battery.
- Enable your phone for Wireless Emergency Alerts.
- Forward your landline to your mobile line in an evacuation.
|
|
VICA Thanks Our Renewing Members |
|
|
|
Newsmaker Connection with Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson
Tuesday, July 26 | 11:30 AM
VICA Office
LA City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson proudly represents the Eighth District of Los Angeles and chairs the city’s Planning Land Use and Management committee. He has introduced policies that combat homelessness, create quality jobs, clean streets, and encourage community policing. Within his first 18 months as a Councilmember, he authored Proposition HHH and has authorized more affordable housing in district 8.
VICA thanks our Presenting Sponsors, Amazon, Cedars-Sinai and State Farm.
|
|
Leaders Forum with Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins
Friday, July 29 | 8:30 AM
Burbank Airport Marriott
Stephanie Wiggins, Deputy Chief Executive Officer for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), most recently served as Executive Director of Vendor/Contract Management for Metro. She has more than 20 years of experience working for transportation agencies.
VICA thanks our Presenting Sponsors, Bechtel cORP., Comcast NBCUniversal, EKA, and Flatiron Construction.
|
|
|
|
|
Local Officeholders Luncheon
Get Your Sponsorship Before it's too Late!
Thursday, August 18 | 11:30 AM
Burbank Airport Marriott
Don't miss our Annual Local Officeholders Luncheon! Come and hear from our local elected officials and enjoy lunch and networking with fellow business leaders.
VICA thanks our Presenting Sponsors, Amazon, Comcast NBCUniversal, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, SoCalGas, and Wells Fargo.
|
|
VICA After Dark: LAFD Chief Kristen Crowley
Wednesday, August 31 | 5:30 PM
FIVE on the Hill at Hilton Universal City
VICA After Dark is a regular evening reception designed to give VICA members and guests the opportunity to hear updates about policies impacting the business community from a featured opinion leader and network with other prominent business leaders from the community.
VICA thanks our Presenting Sponsors, Five on the Hill, Medtrans, and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
|
|
|
Government Affairs Committee
Meeting
Wednesday, July 20
12:00 - 2:00 PM
VICA Office
Sponsored by Dolphin Group
|
|
Land Use Committee Meeting: Roundtable Edition
Tuesday, August 9
8:30 - 10:30 AM
Hosted by The Garland
|
|
Energy, Environment, Manufacturing & Utilities Committee Meeting
Wednesday, August 10
12:00 - 1:30 PM
VICA Office
Sponsored by Metropolitan Water District
|
|
Shoot Publicity Wire | July 7
|
|
California's Sequoias
Confronting an existential threat to the world’s largest trees, Rep. Scott Peters joined House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on a rescue plan for California’s giant sequoia groves. Peters (D-San Diego) and McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) introduced the Save Our Sequoias Act to provide $350 million over 10 years to protect the iconic trees, streamline environmental review for restoring groves and create a reforestation plan. More than 85% of all giant sequoia grove acreage across the Sierra Nevada burned in wildfires between 2015 and 2021.
Inflation
Inflation’s relentless surge didn’t merely persist last month, it accelerated. For the 12 months that ended in June, the government’s consumer price index rocketed 9.1%, the fastest year-over-year jump since 1981. And that was nothing next to what energy prices did: Fueled by heavy demand and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, energy costs shot up nearly 42% in the last 12 months, the largest jump since 1980. Even if you toss out food and energy prices — which are notoriously volatile and have driven much of the price surge — so-called core inflation soared 5.9% over the last year. Consumers have endured the pain in everyday routines.
Water
Recent water usage restrictions placed upon Los Angeles residents in hopes of combating a historic drought appear to be working, the LADWP announced Wednesday. Last month saw the all-time lowest water use for any month of June on record in the city of Los Angeles, with usage dropping by 9% compared to last June, according to LADWP. The restrictions went into effect June 1. They included restricting outdoor watering to two days per week, down from the three, with watering permitted at odd-numbered street addresses on Mondays and Fridays, and at even-numbered addresses on Thursdays and Sundays.
|
|
Tesla
Elon Musk has long used his mighty Twitter megaphone to amplify the idea that Tesla’s automated driving software isn’t just safe — it’s safer than anything a human driver can achieve. That campaign kicked into overdrive last fall when the electric-car maker expanded its Full Self-Driving “beta” program from a few thousand people to a fleet that now numbers more than 100,000. The $12,000 feature purportedly lets a Tesla drive itself on highways and neighborhood streets, changing lanes, making turns and obeying traffic signs and signals.
Minimum Wage for Healthcare Workers
A Los Angeles ordinance that boosted the minimum wage for healthcare workers at private facilities to $25 an hour is being challenged by others who say the hike is unfair, as it excludes employees at more than 90% of the city’s hospitals and medical clinics. LA Mayor Eric Garcetti signed the ordinance Friday, July 8 following a 10-0 vote by the City Council to approve the wage increase after SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West collected the required amount of signatures to put it on the November ballot. No on the Los Angeles Unequal Pay Measure have filed paperwork to qualify a referendum for the November ballot.
LA City Attorney Candidate - Faisal Gill
Faisal Gill, a leading candidate in the race to succeed Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer, is temporarily ineligible to practice law in California. Gill’s license was placed on involuntary inactive status by the State Bar of California on July 1, according to the state bar’s website. Gill described the matter as “a small administrative oversight on my part, which will be rectified immediately.” Gill paid the reinstatement fee Wednesday, and said he “should be good to go.” The state bar confirmed that Gill would return to active status when it received the fee, but as of Wednesday evening had not yet returned his license to active status.
|
|
Are you interested in a Membership Spotlight?
Answer the below questions, send responses and a professional photo,
and we'll ensure your in the line up for 2022!
|
|
MUST BE A CURRENT VICA MEMBER TO BE FEATURED!
Please keep each question response to 2-4 sentences maximum.
- Please share a bit about your background and a fun fact that people would love to learn, ie: scrapbooking is your favorite hobby, you were in a band, you have traveled around the world…
- What has been your organization’s largest accomplishment or efforts made over the past year?
- Please share how VICA has supported your business strategy or expanded your footprint with the business community?
Send responses and headshot to Peter Warda
|
|
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 cathy@vica.com or call (818) 817-0545.
|
|
ABOUT VICA
Presenting the business perspective on behalf of employers in the
San Fernando Valley cities of Los Angeles, Burbank, Glendale, Calabasas,
Hidden Hills, San Fernando and Santa Clarita.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
