Pro-Business Leadership
Pro-business leadership on all levels of government is an essential ingredient in cultivating a vibrant, healthy, and fruitful quality of life. How can the business community make a difference? You can vote. Additionally, you can motivate your employees and or colleagues to vote and give them the necessary information to do so. Business owners should explain how campaign issues relate to their company's bottom line, and when then- revenue goes up, their employees' salaries and benefits usually improve. Historically, what has been good for business bas been good for America. An employee who is aware of legislation affecting their industry, takes that into account when casting their vote. The business community must draw the connection between critical issues and paychecks.

Employee Relations and Regulatory Reform
The costs associated with hiring workers, maintaining a safe workplace and complying with governmental regulation represents the largest ongoing cost for many, if not most Alhambra companies. This is particularly true in California where worker’s health care costs, expansion of employer liability, and minimum wage increases continue to increase costs, limit flexibility, confuse both employers and employees, and terminate badly needed jobs. Through the year 2005, we must continue to aggressively address the policies that leave California at a competitive disadvantage in business attraction year after year.

Taken as a whole, governmental regulation represents a burden not only for industry, but also for the community, which suffers from decreased job growth and business expansion. Costs associated with regulatory compliance often divert funds from research, product development and capital improvement. In these times of rapid technological growth, when today’s dreams are tomorrow's products, we cannot afford to maintain a regulatory process that inhibits innovation, or expansion.

Key Issues:
• State minimum wage increases
• Preservation of the flexible workweek
• Health care costs/liability to employers
• Family care and medical leave employment laws
• Discrimination in the workplace
• Regulatory duplication
• Worker's Compensation reform efforts
• Mitigating over restrictive regulations relative to the environment

Infrastructure – Water, Energy, Transportation and Communication
As Alhambra seeks to reshape its economy to compete effectively in the next century, we must continue to improve our infrastructure systems, particularly in the areas of water, power, transportation, and communications. These systems provide the foundation for accelerated business growth, increased capital investment and improved quality of life. Worthy improvements require tremendous capital investment, sound management, and a creative partnership between the public and private sectors. As government budgets continue to shrink, spending priorities will become more and more difficult to ide1uity and the business community must emphasize the importance of continued infrastructure investment.

Key Issues:
• Technology
• Utility issues as they relate to business
• Highway/freeway Improvements as they relate to business

International Trade
Recognizing the importance of the continued development of international trade, Alhambra Chamber supports all policies that promote the expansion of free and fair trade wherever possible, as it relates to our membership.

Taxation & Government Finance
California maintains one of the highest corporate income tax rates in the nation, a full 63.3 % higher than the national average. The six closest competing states are all well below the national avenge, including Nevada and Washington, which have no corporate income tax whatsoever. Locally, special assessments, taxes, and fees, when considered as a whole, represent a considerable added cost for businesses of all sizes. While California, particularly southern California, relies heavily on its vast natural, human and technological infrastructure to attract new investment, we must also remain competitive where it counts, the bottom line. The fact that many public services require the cooperation of multiple governmental agencies not only serves to further confuse the general public, but also adds to the cost of government services. Aligning each government service with its most appropriate and efficient provider restores accountability to a complex process and allows for increased quality and lower taxpayer cost.

Key Issues:
• All state and local tax increases affecting the Alhambra business community
• Efforts to secure tax credits for targeted work training programs
• Efforts to privatize government services/public contracts

Small Business
Small Businesses are the cornerstone of our economy. State Employment Development Department data shows that small businesses generate nearly two-thirds of all new jobs.
Small businesses historically have played an important role in helping slow economies recover and prosper. In fact, Small Business Administration information shows that during the 1990’s, small businesses created the majority of new jobs. Given the proper tools and incentives, small entrepreneurs again will play an important role in revitalizing California’s economy.
California small businesses continually face a number of obstacles, new laws, and regulations that increase costs and regulatory burdens. Small employers here contend with the most stringent, complex and costly tangle of employment laws in the nation.
Small businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to survive under all these new and costly mandates because submerge actual costs --- but do not eliminate them. All these costs have a disproportionate impact on smaller businesses because of the smaller profit margins.
Key Issues:
• Reduce/eliminate paperwork and red-tape bureaucracy wherever and whenever possible.
• Better access to capital and contracting opportunities
• Encourage Internet use by Alhambra small businesses
• Small business exemptions
• Tort reform/frivolous lawsuits

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