California Chamber

Elected officials would no longer be able to hide expensive gifts of overseas travel donated by nonprofits and businesses, under rules given preliminary approval Thursday by the state's political ethics watchdog. The rules were proposed by the commission staff after The Times reported that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had been taking free overseas trips on luxury jets leased by a taxpayer-subsidized charity linked to the California Chamber of Commerce. The governor's office had avoided fully disclosing payments of $1.7 million by the nonprofit, the California State Protocol Foundation, for the governor's jets, hotel suites and support staff.

California's economy, with all its great diversity, affords us a real opportunity to reverse the trends. Our new agenda must revamp state policy in a number of critical areas. As chairman of the California Chamber of Commerce, I propose the following: Reapportionment--The new districts must strengthen democracy by genuinely reflecting the wishes of the voters, not by providing safe havens for entrenched politicians. Education--The school system needs a major overhaul. Parents, principals, teachers and school site administrators need more autonomy in the decision-making process and they must be accountable for their actions.

SACRAMENTO - With little fanfare this week, California voters approved a plan to close a corporate tax loophole affecting out-of-state businesses, finance $2.5 billion in clean energy and energy efficiency projects and deliver another $2.5 billion to the state's beleaguered treasury over the next five years. It is a tax increase of modest proportions compared with most in California, but experts say it highlighted the politics of taxation and how some business levies engender strong passion whereas others draw little public attention or electoral opposition.

The way Allan Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of Commerce, sees it, the business lobbying group didn't do too badly under the new Democratic administration in Sacramento. Zaremberg assessed the most recent legislative session at a meeting Tuesday of the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley.

SACRAMENTO -- A day after Gov. Jerry Brown said overhauling California's environmental laws was unlikely this year, the leader of the state Senate said Wednesday the effort is very much alive in the Legislature and he thinks it can be accomplished by year's end. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said his bill to streamline the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is moving forward and he looks forward to talking to Brown now that the governor has returned from a trade mission in China.

Regarding "State Minimum Wage Gets a Raise," Sept. 13: Let's take at face value the fears expressed by the California Chamber of Commerce and others about the resulting $2.6 billion a year in higher payrolls. It's obvious that businesses will pass that increase on to us, the consumers. That $2.6 billion divided by the California population of 36 million comes out to $72 a year (not counting tourists), which is 20 cents a day. Considering the humane nature of this legislation, my family and I are more than happy to pay that amount.