San Bernardino Area Chamber of Commerce Legislative Breakfast with Senator Connie Leyva

On Wednesday, November 9^th the Governmental Affairs Division of the San Bernardino Area (SBA) Chamber of Commerce held a Legislative Breakfast featuring California State Senator Connie Leyva from Senate District 20, which includes portions of the City of San Bernardino.

The breakfast was held at the Arrowhead Country Club in San Bernardino. The meeting started with a welcoming statement and invocation from Judi Penman President/CEO of the SBA Chamber of Commerce.

Senator Leyva talked about labor issues and jobs in the I.E., including the importance of training our youth to qualify for higher paying jobs. The Senator mentioned that there was a fund of $450 million set aside for technical education in our state. A reference was made about an $8 billion “rainy day fund” that is much needed to cover any unexpectant contingencies in the state. The group was informed about several senate bills that were passed and/or in the works.

Although she had a prepared speech, Senator Leyva took questions directly from those in the meeting. In fact, most of Senator Leyva’s time was spent answering questions from the audience, which at times were passionate and direct. Many of the questions were difficult to answer, but the Senator was able to give solid historical background and at times agree that there was a problem. An example was a question posed on the current “Gas Tax” issue, that the old gas tax funds collected should have been used to pay for our streets and highways, but were not. The Senator agreed that the old gas tax funds were not used as intended.

Senator Leyva was actively engaging the group by requesting those present to “give me something solid that I can do to make it better.” Later she asked, “as a Legislator, how can I make it better?”

The San Bernardino Area Chamber of Commerce has many events during the month including a weekly Koffee Klatch held every Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. at the Chamber office; and a Business After Hours mixer held at various locations around the city. For additional information on Chamber events, call 384-9979.