Rancho Cordova Area Chamber of Commerce

Public Policy Statements and Points of Advocacy

Healthcare, Housing, Infrastructure, Privacy & Cybersecurity, & Public Safety 

Approved by the Chamber Board of Directors ~ February 15, 2024

Healthcare

Healthcare policy is a crucial issue for the Chamber, as it supports employees' well-being and directly impacts productivity, talent management, and the community's overall economic health. Healthcare is instrumental in employee recruitment and retention, community health, and legal compliance. The Chamber focuses on employer mandates and the ability to keep healthcare costs down, especially as it applies to small businesses in the region.

We support

• Policies to reduce healthcare costs and help employers be able to offer their employees affordable, quality, and efficient healthcare benefits
• Access to mental health programs  
• Policies that encourage competitive marketplaces to reduce pharmaceutical and healthcare plan costs
• Policies to assist healthcare providers in increasing their capacity to meet the growing need for access to care 

We oppose

• Policies attempting to establish a government-mandated healthcare system
• Any mandates upon employer-provided or forced employee healthcare coverage

Housing

The Chamber recognizes the ongoing struggle to ensure affordable housing to improve local quality of life. We promote policies that facilitate building full-range housing to accommodate a growing community. 

We support

• Policies that enhance our region's ability to maintain local control over housing development needed to comply with state mandates 
• Policies to streamline and simplify the application and approval process for housing developments  
• Efforts to align State and Federal definitions of wetlands
• Construction of low-income, moderate-income, and middle-income housing through incentives 
• Policies to provide funding for local programs to address homelessness and early intervention 
• Programs to address mental health and drug use among the homeless population 

We oppose

• Legislation that narrows the region's local decision-making ability, including, but not limited to, rent-control policies
• Ballot-box land use planning

Infrastructure

Chambers play a vital role in advocating for infrastructure investments that benefit businesses and contribute to the economic well-being of our communities. Our Chamber may engage in infrastructure policy impacting business efficiency, supply chain reliability, job creation, innovation, disaster resilience, and long-term economic growth.

We support

• Expanding regional transportation facilities, projects, and funding 
• Legislation, tax credits, and incentives that promote more efficient goods movement on highways and rail lines 
• Measures that improve and mitigate adverse impacts to water quality 
• Measures to increase water supply through increased storage 
• Efforts to educate and encourage businesses on reducing water usage and increasing efficiency of water conservation efforts 
• Policies that allow local municipalities to implement programs that best suit the community 
• Development of new technology that facilitates the advancement of energy efficiency, sustainability, and alternative fuels programs 
• Legislation that encourages innovative utility and telecommunications infrastructure

PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY

Privacy and cybersecurity policies are growing more important for our local businesses as they must protect customer data, comply with ever-changing regulations, maintain trust, and ensure their operations' overall security and resilience in an increasingly digital and interconnected business environment. 

We support:

• Legislation that is privacy-protective and realistic in setting compliance expectations that consumers and businesses can rely on, including compliance and enforcement deadlines
• Policies that help businesses protect intellectual property and improve cybersecurity that helps prevent business disruption
• Policies that help businesses protect customer and employee data

We oppose:

• Policies that conflict with or expand the scope of CPPA's (California Privacy & Protection Agency) statutory authority
• Policies that create compliance issues or undermine consumer privacy
• Privacy legislation that creates carve-outs or special/disparate rules that layer on top of the CPRA for only certain types of personal information, industries, or technologies used to collect personal data.
  

Public Safety

Public safety is paramount to creating a comfortable living environment for our region's residents and our members' employees. The Chamber will promote policies to keep local businesses safe and well-informed. 

We support

• A robust public safety response system 
• Policies to create a well-funded and efficient environment for emergency responders 
• Programs to provide education about business, home, and personal safety preparedness 
• Policies to create continued trust between law enforcement, businesses, and residents 
• Policies that address crime against business to reduce it and assist affected business owners

JOB KILLERS

Our Chamber will oppose any bills the California Chamber of Commerce labels as Job Killers unless an objection is raised in reference to a specific "Job Killer" bill.