Spring 2012 - Camarillo Chamber of Commerce

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The Journal Spring 2012 30 business advocacy The Camarillo Chamber of Commerce Business Advocacy Committee has reviewed and taken positions on the two ballot initiatives that will be on the June 5th ballot. The Chamber supports Proposition 28 – Limits on Legislators’ Term in In Office. This initiative constitutional amendment will alter the term limits created when voters approved Proposition 140 in 1990. Proposition 28 will reduce the total time a person may serve in the state Legis- By Brendan Hoffman Chamber Alliance The 2012 Legislative session is underway in Sacramento, but the big public policy initiatives being proposed are likely to be decided by voters. As lawmakers continue to either cut funding for cities or borrow against public education resources, some local governments are considering asking voters to tax themselves to make up for lost state revenues. For instance, Santa Barbara Unified School District is asking its voters on June 5 to pass two $56 parcel taxes, and other school districts are expected to follow suit. Recently, the Chamber Alliance helped to defeat a proposal by Santa Bar- Chamber takes business friendly positions on June ballot measures lature from 14 years to 12 years. It allows a person to serve a total of 12 years in the Assembly or the Senate, or a combination of both. Only legislators first elected after the proposition passes will be affected by the change. The Chamber views this measure as a much needed improvement to the current term limits law, and feels it will allow the legislators to be more effective by serving a longer time in one office. The Chamber opposes Proposition 29 – Imposes Additional Tax on Cigarettes for Cancer Research. Prop 29 imposes an additional $1 per pack tax on cigarettes and the equivalent tax increase on other tobacco products to fund research for cancer and tobacco-related diseases. bara County Supervisors to place a 10% oil severance tax on the Nov. 6 ballot. The Alliance cautioned supervisors that our member chambers had consistently opposed similar legislation applying to all counties in California, and we were not about to look the other way if one county were to have such a tax that neighboring counties would not have. Meanwhile, signature gatherers are trying to qualify a statewide oil severance tax. Right now, there are three significant tax hikes being proposed for California’s general election on Nov. 6, all of which seek to increase funding for schools after several years of dramatic budget cuts by legislators. Each of these proposals would either raise the state’s sales tax or income tax to help balance the budget over the There is nothing in the measure to assure the revenue raised will be spent in California. While the Chamber is in favor of healthy living and measures to reduce the use of tobacco, we believe this measure created a new program and added layer of bureaucracy when the State is cutting other existing essential programs. The Legislative Analyst’s Office concluded that the revenue stream to fund these new cancer research programs would be declining and the Chamber Board was concerned that it would once again put existing programs at risk to keep these new programs funded with general funds as the tax collected diminishes. November 6 ballot will be crowded & taxing Easy choice for you. Your friends. Your family. • Free Checking • Over 28,000 fee-free ATMs • Mortgage solutions • Auto and Personal loans • Mobile banking & bill pay • Investment planning Open to the public. Join us today. next few years. However, the backers of these initiatives are not on the same page and polling continues to suggest that voters are more likely to reject all three instead of pick just one. Efforts continue to pressure the backers to get behind a single tax increase initiative. An interesting measure that did recently qualify for the Nov. 6 ballot is a referendum on the State Senate boundaries recently drawn up by the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, which was established by Prop. 14 in 2008. The Chamber Alliance is reviewing initiatives on the June 5 ballot and will announce its positions soon. For more information about the Chamber Alliance, please visit www.ChamberAlliance.biz! ® ACCREDITED BUSINESS 805.988.2151 | www.cbcfcu.org Camarillo | Oxnard | Thousand Oaks | Naval Base Ventura County
By Senator Tony Strickland President Obama’s 2013 budget proposes cutting funding for the U.S. Department of Defense. Part of these cuts is Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s plan to ask Congress to approve two rounds of military base closures, one as early as next year and one in 2015. Military bases in Ventura County provide a huge economic impact to our local community. These bases employ nearly 19,000 people who live on or around the bases. These are people who spend their hard-earned money at local businesses and restaurants and give back to their community daily. At a time when the world is unstable with Iran, North Korea, and the Middle East, our military bases are in- By George Runner New legislation by Senator Tom Harman would direct California’s three tax agencies to work toward the goal of consolidating tax self-services into a single taxpayer-friendly website. In these difficult economic times, it’s more important than ever for government to eliminate the bureaucratic red-tape that entangles businesses. Many California businesses have to file and pay taxes to three separate agencies, and taxpayers are often confused as to which agency is responsible for a particular tax: BOE, EDD or FTB. SB 1326 would streamline this process. Under the bill’s provisions, the Local military bases provide positive impact for California credibly important to our national defense. Simply put, the positive effect of our military bases is invaluable and I plan to fight to make sure these bases are kept open. I recently introduced Senate Joint Resolution 19, which encourages the California Congressional delegation to help preserve these bases that provide economic support to our local community, as well as national security for our nation. Congress has the authority to approve the base closures, so we need to send a clear message to our representatives in Washington, D.C. not to go forward with the deep defense cuts and let them know just how important California military bases are. I have also asked Governor Jerry Brown to authorize the formation of an unpaid, volunteer task force for the strategic purpose of preserving California’s military bases. Similar task forces website www.taxes.ca.gov would be enhanced to allow taxpayers to file tax returns, claim refunds, and request for relief of interest or penalties with one login. Taxpayers would no longer need to navigate through three separate tax agencies to access forms and information, saving taxpayers time and increasing voluntary compliance. As Senator Harman pointed out, “This is something that should have been done a long time ago. Businesses should be spending their resources to create jobs not to hire teams of attorneys and accountants to manage filling out California’s patchwork of tax forms. With technological advances, it is about time California’s tax system moves out Opinion / Editorials were created in the past by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2004 and Governor Wilson in 1993, but have since expired. According to a 2006 Economic Impact Study performed by the Workforce Investment Board of Ventura County, our military bases produced an estimated $1.2 billion in goods and services, over $900 million of which was retained locally. This is money that went directly back into our community, helping boost local small businesses. Additionally, approximately $166 million in taxes were attributed to Naval Base Ventura County in 2006, almost $70 million of which went to state and local governments. Clearly, these bases are vital to local businesses, my constituents, and California as a whole. Shutting them down would be hugely detrimental, so I will to work to make sure our military bases continue to be positive resources for the people of California. Bill would create one-stop tax portal for CA businesses of the dark ages.” Just as online banking has provided individuals and businesses with easier access to banking account information and services, a single website will make voluntary compliance with tax programs simpler. Senate Bill 1326 received the unanimous support of the Senate Governance and Finance Committee and now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee for further consideration. Elected in November 2010, George Runner represents more than nine million Californians as a member of the State Board of Equalization. For more information, visit www.boe.ca.gov/Runner. The views expressed within the articles in this section are the opinions of the individual authors. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion, position or policies of the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce, its staff or Board members. To read the Chamber’s full Policy Platform, please visit CamarilloChamber.org. If you are interested in submitting an article for review please email to Lara@CamarilloChamber.org. The Journal Spring 2012 31
Page 1 and 2: The Journal Inaugural Issue! 7 Stra
Page 3 and 4: 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Journal Spring 2
Page 5 and 6: about the Chamber Chamber AIMs to h
Page 7 and 8: may 2012 04 11 18 22 25 31 7:00 p.m
Page 9 and 10: twenty 88 food & drink Above: New r
Page 11 and 12: Membership Benefits Chamber Referra
Page 13 and 14: Support Local Business t Camarillo
Page 15 and 16: Camarillo Chamber Member Listing -
Page 21 and 22: Local hospital committed to excelle
Page 23 and 24: Events & programs Camarillo’s Sta
Page 25 and 26: New Committee Chair named Ambassado
Page 27 and 28: Last year the hotels in the cities
Page 29: News from the CalChamber business a

Spring 2012 - Camarillo Chamber of Commerce

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