INFO ALERT: Speaker Rivas visits with BizFed members in LA

Your advocacy efforts are making waves and racking up accolades within the highest offices of state government. Your policy-shaping impact even got a shoutout from the leader of the California State Assembly. During our lunch and reception with Speaker Robert Rivas on Friday, he personally thanked BizFed members for helping to push Governor Gavin Newsom's infrastructure package across the finish line.

Let that sink in for a moment. The California Assembly Speaker credits YOU with force-multiplying efforts to meet basic infrastructure needs such as safe roads, clean drinking water, and affordable energy. Speaker Rivas, who represents the 29th District in the Central Valley, was sworn in June 30 as the Assembly's first rural speaker in a generation. He joined BizFed members in Los Angeles to familiarize himself with our action-oriented business leaders and regional priorities.

Click here to watch a snippet of the speaker's remarks on Instagram. Read on for Speaker Rivas's notes on broad-based coalition building, public-private homelessness solutions, practical climate change mitigation, and the unintended impacts of overzealous regulation. We have quicktake quotables from Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, who attended as one of the speaker's guests. Assemblymember Miguel Santiago and his team also found time to join us (despite a packed Friday schedule including a television interview) to discuss key business issues. 

We thank everyone who joined us to build
stronger bridges with leaders in Sacramento.

"I know BizFed was instrumental in championing Governor Newson's infrastructure package."

Remember when we bombarded you with emails, texts, and calls to mobilize support for the historic package of infrastructure bills? Well, it worked. Speaker Rivas expressed his gratitude for your relentless advocacy – and spotlighted the ripple effect of this particular victory. He's acutely aware that California leaders can't attract investments and retain homegrown talent without first addressing statewide livability and affordability issues.

There's no easy fix. Speaker Rivas described dead-end housing policy debates in Sacramento as "trench warfare" and repeated a mantra we hear often within the business community: "There's no silver-bullet solution." However, he believes incremental progress is possible with broader coalitions that bring together public and private sector partners with varied resources. He spoke at length about the power of "intentional engagement" between business and government to compensate for years of "squandered coalition-building opportunities"

Another top-of-mind issue he returned to several times during his lunch remarks? The need for urgent action to solve LA's homelessness crisis. Speaker Rivas called for coordinated coalitions of problem solvers to boost Mayor Karen Bass's efforts to get more unhoused Angelenos inside. Let's continue reminding Sacramento lawmakers how we're doing our part through BizFed's Homelessness Action Committee, which launched in January to deepen collaboration between business, government, and nonprofit partners.

Here's to continued coalition building and problem solving on all fronts! Speaker Rivas knows #BusinessMakesCAWork. We look forward to working with his team to ensure state government works – for all Californians. 

 "We cannot turn into Florida."

Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin kept her remarks brief and blunt, using her time with BizFed members from diverse sectors and communities to call attention to California's looming home insurance crisis. State Farm and Allstate have already stopped offering new homeowners policies in California, while Farmers is capping the number of new policies it writes. The inability of insurers to swiftly adjust insurance rates is a major contributing factor in these cutbacks. Proposition 103 requires "prior approval" before insurance companies can implement property and casualty insurance rates above 6.9%.

Over in the Sunshine State, the insurance market has grown increasingly volatile in recent years, with more than a dozen insurers becoming insolvent between 2019 and 2023. Farmers Insurance made headlines earlier this month when it announced it would completely stop offering home and auto coverage policies in Florida. Business leaders mobilize quickly. We've already sent an invitation to California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to discuss proactive solutions. Stay tuned for details and ways to engage.

Legislators are increasingly recognizing business as a powerful partner. Let's use this political capital wisely. Onward!

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Tracy Hernandez
BizFed Founding CEO