Government Relations Policy Overview

The Bay Area Council Government Relations Committee is the advocacy arm of the Council.  Our job is to support the work of the policy committees and ensure that the positions we take as an organization are voiced at the local, state and federal levels.

Priorities

• Work with state and federal legislators to influence policy to improve the business climate and quality of life in the Bay Area.

Ballot Measures

The Bay Area Council Executive Committee approved positions on various state, regional and local ballot measures and propositions appearing on the November 2016 ballot. The Government Relations Committee advises the Council’s Executive Committee on relevant ballot initiatives. For any measure not listed here, the Council has no position.
County, Local and Regional Measures
Measure RR (Contra Costa, Alameda, San Francisco counties): Support
Provide $3.5 billion to fix and modernize BART mass transit system. (Pass: 70.1%)
Measure B (Santa Clara County): Support
Provide $6.5 billion over 30 years to improve mass transit, fix local roads and reduce congestion. (Pass: 70.8%)
Measure X (Contra Costa County): Support
Provide $2.9 billion over 30 years to improve mass transit, fix local roads and reduce congestion. (Fail: 62.54%)
Measure A1 (Alameda County): Support
Provide $580 million for various affordable housing and rental assistance programs. (Pass: 72.3%)
Measure A (Santa Clara County): Support
Provide $950 million for various affordable housing and rental assistance programs. (Pass: 67.2%)
Measure KK (City of Oakland): Support
Provide $600 million for affordable housing, road repair and vital city services. (Pass: 82.4%)
Statewide Propositions (all require majority vote)
Proposition 51 (School bonds): Support
Authorize $9 billion in general obligation bonds to address California’s multi-billion dollar backlog of school construction and modernization projects. (Pass: 54%)
Proposition 52 (Healthcare): Support
Ensure that the fees paid by hospitals to the state maximize the available federal matching funds and are used for their intended purpose of providing healthcare. (Pass: 69.6%)
Proposition 53 (Voter approval for infrastructure bonds): Oppose
Require voter approval before the state could issue more than $2 billion in public infrastructure bonds that would require an increase in taxes or fees for repayment. (Fail: 48.55%)
Proposition 54 (Government transparency): Support
Prohibit any bill from being passed by either house of the Legislature until it has been printed and posted online for at least 72 hours. Other open government reforms. (Pass: 64.3%)
Proposition 55 (Prop. 30 extension): Oppose
Extend the personal income tax increases on incomes over $250,000 approved in 2012 for 12 years, allowing the tax increase to expire in 2019. (Pass: 62.1%)
Proposition 56 (Cigarette tax increase): Support
Increase cigarette tax by $2 per pack to fund existing healthcare programs, tobacco use prevention/control programs, and tobacco-related disease research. (Pass: 62.9%)
Proposition 58 (Non-English language in schools): Support
Allow non-English languages to be used in public education in California. (Pass: 72.4%)
Proposition 67 (Ban single-use plastic bags): Support
A referendum on whether to uphold or overturn the 2014 California law (SB 270) to ban single-use plastic bags. (Pass: 51.9%)

Government Relations Committee

Chair: Andrew Giacomini, Managing Partner, Hanson Bridgett LLP
Co-Chair: Peter Brightbill, SVP and State Director, Government Relations, Wells Fargo & Co.