One Day That Can Make a Big Difference

SCCA members and staff traveled to Sacramento for the 16th Annual SCCA Legislative Day on Tuesday, March 19. Our day began with a luncheon and briefing by Caltrans Deputy Inspector General Debbie Lumpkin on the role of the IG’s office and on pending legislation expanding the office to include local transportation agencies. She said she wants to continue the relationship with SCCA.

After lunch, we divided into four groups to participate in 25 meetings. In our meetings, we stressed that SCCA is opposed to measures that attempt to leverage transportation funding for other non-transportation-related purposes as it breaks the SB 1 promise to fund local streets and roads. In each meeting, we emphasized that SCCA members have many years of experience in the construction industry and would be glad to be a resource to their legislative endeavors.

Several members met with Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) regarding AB 5 and Dynamex. Kalra chairs the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee. It was a perfect opportunity for SCCA members to talk with and influence one of the major policymakers on Dynamex.

Following the afternoon state Capitol visits, SCCA hosted a reception downtown. In all, 14 legislators participated in the event:

• Senator Steve Bradford (D-Gardena) ƒ
• Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa) ƒ
• Senator Brian Jones (R-Santee) ƒ
• Senator Mike Morrell (R-Rancho Cucamonga) ƒ
• Assemblymember Steven Choi (R-Irvine) ƒ
•  Assemblymember Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova) ƒ
• Assemblymember Brian Dahle (R-Bieber) ƒ
• Assemblymember Tom Daly (D-Anaheim) ƒ
• Assemblymember Todd Gloria (D-San Diego) ƒ
• Assemblymember Reginald Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles) ƒ
• Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) ƒ
• Assemblymember Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) ƒ
• Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) ƒ
• Assemblymember Marie Waldron (R-Escondido)

There were also 20 staff members and several guests, including Jose Mejia, Director, CA Council of Laborers; Katie DonahueDuran, Lobbyist, CA Council of Laborers; Roger Dickinson, former Executive Director, Transportation California; Tony Marino, Executive Officer, CA Dig Safe Board; Brittny Branaman, Policy and Budget Manager, CA Dig Safe Board; and Cesar Diaz, Lobbyist, CA State Building and Construction Trades Council.

SCCA members that made the trip to Sacramento were Robin Hartnett of California Earth Transport; Denise Cooper, Hod Cooper and Mitchell Cooper of Cooper Engineering; Jeffrey Atwan of JMH Engineering & Construction; Kurt Kroner of Kroner Environmental Services; Charles Gale of MWD of Southern California; Steve Ward of Pavement Recycling Systems; Greg and Karen Salsbury of Salsbury Engineering; Mike Crawford of Sukut Construction; and Gerald Mouzis of The Mouzis Law Firm, as well as SCCA Consultants Paul Von Berg and Lonnie Clausen and SCCA Staff Wes May, Mike Roddy and myself.

Thank you to Todd and Michelle Bloomstine, J’aime Rosales and David Orosco for their guidance and leadership throughout the day and to each member than took time from their busy schedules to support SCCA and the construction industry.

Why not plan now to attend next year’s SCCA Legislative Day. It’s just a single (very busy) day but it can have a significant and far-reaching impact on your business and your industry.