VICA Weekly
Valley Industry & Commerce Association
May 27, 2022
In This Issue
  • VICA Supports Flexible Preschool Options
  • VICA Voter Guide
  • Action Alert: Oppose LA City Un-Fair Work Week Ordinance
  • VICA Opposes LA Mansion Tax Ballot Measure
  • VICA Board to Urge Congress to Take Action After Uvalde Shooting
“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
The VICA team honors those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country and to their families. We remember those who gave their lives for our freedom. We wish you all a safe Memorial Day weekend.
VICA Supports Flexible Preschool Options for Families
The VICA Board voted to support Senate Bill 976, which establishes a free universal system of preschool by expanding access to the California State Preschool Program to all three- and four-year old children, regardless of family income, and expands the types of childcare providers who may be eligible to offer state preschool. 

Through SB 976, all three- and four-year old children will have access to free preschool in a part- or full-day program of their family’s choice. SB 976 will also provide parents with more flexible preschool options that meet their families’ unique needs. Some working families with children would benefit from free transitional kindergarten, but are unable to access those services because their work schedules or other responsibilities necessitate care that is year round and/or is offered for more hours than TK provides. Removing the income-eligibility requirement for the CSPP would enable more families to access preschool at licensed community-based programs that provide the flexible options (including early drop-off, late pick-up, and year-round care) they need. 

In addition to enabling parents to work with the assurance that their children are in safe and nurturing environments, universal preschool has many other benefits. When students receive high-quality early education, they have greater school readiness, and are less likely to be placed in special education or rely on social welfare programs later in life. Universal preschool will also encourage economically diverse classrooms, exposing children to a wider range of socioeconomic backgrounds. This will result in a more vibrant learning environment. Additionally, the increase in state funding will allow preschool providers to ensure each employee earns a livable wage. 
VICA PAC's Voter Guide:
Primary Elections
California's Primary Election is approaching on Tuesday, June 7. Some of you may have already received your ballots in the mail, while others will be heading to the polls once they open.

The VICA PAC has been interviewing candidates from different races, and has voted to endorse the following candidates as well as one ballot measure for the Primary Election.

Take a look below at the PAC's current positions:
City of Los Angeles
Measure BB - SUPPORT
Prioritize local businesses in the City of Los Angeles before outside entities for public contracts.

Los Angeles County Assessor
Los Angeles County Assessor Jeff Prang

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor - District 3
Bob Hertzberg

Los Angeles City Mayor
Rick Caruso
Los Angeles City Attorney
Kevin James

Los Angeles City Council - District 3
Councilmember Bob Blumenfield

Los Angeles City Council - District 7
Councilmember Monica Rodriguez

Los Angeles City Council - District 13
Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell

Los Angeles City Council - District 15
Tim McOsker
VICA in Action: Unfair Work Week Ordinance is Headed to City Council
This past Tuesday, the VICA Legislative Team testified at the Economic Development and Jobs Committee to speak in opposition of the Los Angeles Scheduling Ordinance. This ordinance will restrict employee schedules and increase business payroll expenses.

The Ordinance would require Los Angeles employers to provide employees with more stable and foreseeable hours. However, this ordinance is actually restrictive scheduling, imposing a one-size-fits-all system that threatens the flexibility of employees and employers.

After the Committee discussed, they have voted in favor of the ordinance, with the following amendments:

  • Delay the implementation date to April 1, 2023 (from January 1, 2023). 
  • Add a 15-day “right to cure” similar to the language in the city’s existing Right of Recall ordinance (bottom of p.3). This would require an employee, prior to administrative action or civil action, to provide written notice to the employer of the violation and the facts supporting the claim; and 2) allow the employer 15 days to “cure” the violation. 
  • Strike “unanticipated customer need” from the exceptions to predictability pay. 
  • Allow electronic communications to serve as a written notice where it is required in the ordinance.
  • Make revisions to scope regarding franchises and “integrated employers”. 
 
We are unsure when we will see the final language or when this item will be heard by the full council, but we must not delay in raising opposition. We are requesting you call your Council Member, and urge them to oppose the ordinance.

Many employers work with their employees who have other commitments such as school and family and will change schedules to accommodate last minute class schedules, illness, or family emergencies. 
 
This ordinance will prevent employers from being flexible and will hurt small businesses who rely on a flexible workforce. Labor groups know that predictive scheduling is not a real solution, which is why they will lobby for an exemption for unionized employees. This proposal is yet another example of unions bullying small businesses and pushing employers out of Los Angeles. 

To express your opposition, call/email your City Council Member:
COUNCIL PRESIDENT MARTINEZ
District 6
213-473-7006

COUNCILMEMBER CEDILLO
District 1
213-473-7001

COUNCILMEMBER KREKORIAN
District 2
213-473-7002

COUNCILMEMBER BLUMENFIELD
District 3
213-4737003

COUNCILMEMBER RAMAN
District 4
213-473-7004

COUNCILMEMBER KORETZ
District 5
213-473-7005

COUNCILMEMBER RODRIGUEZ
District 7
213-473-7007

COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS-DAWSON
District 8
213-473-7008
COUNCILMEMBER PRICE
District 9
213-473-7009

COUNCILMEMBER WESSON
District 10
213-473-7010

COUNCILMEMBER BONIN
District 11
213-473-7011

COUNCILMEMBER LEE
District 12
213-473-7012

COUNCILMEMBER O'FARRELL
District 13
213-473-7013

COUNCILMEMBER DE LEON
District 14
213-473-7014

COUNCILMEMBER BUSCAINO
District 15
213-473-7015
VICA Opposes the LA Mansion Tax Ballot Measure
The VICA Board strongly opposes the United to House LA Ballot Measure, which recently qualified for the November Ballot. The Measure would create the Los Angeles Program to Prevent Homelessness and Fund Affordable Housing. The program is funded through documentary transfer taxes on transactions worth $5 million or more.

Increasing taxes on real estate transactions is not the best way to generate more affordable housing or tackle the homelessness crisis. As a whole city, Los Angeles is experiencing a housing production and affordability crisis, a crisis that is not limited to those in need of affordable housing. Property owners whose properties are valued at $5 million or more are not responsible for Los Angeles’ homelessness crisis and they should not be taxed in order for Los Angeles to attempt to fix the crisis.
 
Previous measures to solve the homelessness crisis by raising funds, Measures H and HHH, have demonstrated no visible progress. They have not reduced the number of Angelenos experiencing homelessness, nor did they deliver the promised number of housing units.

United to House LA is another needless tax to fund the projects of unelected bureaucrats without mechanisms to hold them accountable to delivering on their promises to fix the homelessness crisis. These prior ballot measures have accrued billions of unspent dollars. The City of Los Angeles should first spend the money that already exists to help fix the homelessness crisis before increasing taxes.
VICA Board Votes to Issue Statement: Congress Must Take Action After Uvalde Shooting
During Wednesday's Board of Directors meeting, the VICA Board voted to issue a statement to Congress, urging them to take action immediately on gun control.

Though VICA has no position on gun reform, it is requesting that Congress take the necessary action that is needed to ensure tragedies such as the Uvalde shooting, and others alike, are stopped.

Members of the Board vocalized how children should be kept safe in schools and that Congress needs a plan of action immediately to make sure our schools return to be a safe zone.

VICA will be issuing its statement to every member in Congress and requests that other organizations join in solidarity. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families who have been deeply affected by this tragedy.
Click the images to learn more and apply today!
Members
VICA Thanks Our Renewing Members
Events
Last Chance to Register: VICA SFV Business Hall of Fame
Friday, June 10 | 5:30 PM
Sheraton Universal Hotel

VICA invites you to the San Fernando Valley Hall of Fame Dinner.
Join VICA members, business leaders and officeholders, as we celebrate recognized businesses during a reception, program, dinner and dessert.
VICA After Dark: LAFD Chief Kristen Crowley
Thursday, June 23 | 5:30 PM
FIVE on the Hill

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.
Leaders Forum with Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins
Thursday, July 7 | 8:30 AM
Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport

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.
Save the Date
VICA Ambassador Committee Meeting
Wednesday, June 8
9:00 - 10:30 AM
VICA Office
Sponsored by the Verdugo Hills Council Boy Scouts of America
Healthcare Committee Meeting
Thursday, June 9
12:00 - 1:30 PM
VICA Office
Sponsored by Hospital Association of Southern California & Heritage Sierra Medical Group
SETH Committee Meeting
Thursday, June 9
8:30 - 10:00 AM
Hosted by The Garland
Land Use Committee Meeting
Tuesday, June 14
8:30 - 10:30 AM
Hosted at The Garland
Hot News
Angels Stadium Sale
Anaheim City Council members voted unanimously late Tuesday to “immediately void” the deal to sell Angel Stadium to Angels owner Arte Moreno’s business partnership. The vote came after more than two hours of public comment, none of it in favor of preserving the deal, and a discussion by council members about the city’s potential legal liability and whether the city could prove the deal was not an “arm’s length” transaction on the buyer’s part.

Digital Drivers License
Are Californians ready for yet another new version of the driver’s license? Now the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles is planning to test a version called a mobile driver’s license or digital ID — an identity-verifying credential stored on your smartphone. And unlike Real ID, a mobile license could give you more control over your personal information, although critics say a poorly designed system would threaten your privacy.

Student Loan Forgiveness
The Biden administration has been considering a plan to cancel at least $10,000 of federal student-loan debt. President Biden promised something of the sort during the 2020 presidential campaign. And with about 45 million current and former students carrying $1.76 trillion in debt, some sort of debt forgiveness is appealing both as policy and as politics. But what kind of debt forgiveness, and how much for whom?
What makes that a hard question is that there is not one student debt problem; there are dozens. They range from mega-loans for Harvard Business School degrees that yield Wall Street jobs with mega-salaries to much smaller amounts borrowed to pay for vocational training that proved almost worthless.
Ford Settlement
Ford Motor Company settled claims by 40 U.S. state attorneys general that the company made misleading claims about the fuel economy and payload capacity of some of its vehicles. The company agreed to pay $19.2 million to the states and refrain from making misleading advertising claims as part of the settlement. The attorneys general said Ford misled consumers about its 2013-2014 C-Max hybrid cars and 2011-2014 Super Duty pick-up trucks.

Sheriff Election
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva will have to fend off a packed field of current and former law-enforcement officials – including a couple of his own subordinates, the LAX police chief and the former top cop of the county’s second-largest city – while also overcoming a series of controversies within his department if he is to win reelection this year. Eight challengers are trying to unseat Villanueva.

CA Primary Election
With California’s June 7 primary election just two weeks away, political campaigns are intensifying — and getting more confusing. Take this mailer, which reads, “We all want to protect the environment, increase recycling and reduce plastic waste, but adding billions of dollars in higher costs on the backs of working families is the wrong way to do it.”
The flier was mailed to constituents of at least five Democratic state lawmakers, and appears to be pushing them to support a legislative alternative to a measure eligible for the November ballot that would, among other things, require reductions in plastic waste and tax producers of single-use plastics. But the mailer doesn’t explicitly mention either the bill or the ballot measure.
Member Spotlight
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.

  1. 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…  
  2. What has been your organization’s largest accomplishment or efforts made over the past year? 
  3. 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
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.
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