Members Only

Minutes from April 10, 2018 Joint meeting with Monday Morning Group-Federal Issues

April 12, 2018
inland

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

 Member Only Board of Directors Meeting
1601 E. Third St., Suite 138
San Bernardino, CA 92408

Minutes

Present: Deborah Barmack, Peter Barmack, Carole Beswick, Rachelle Bussell, Ken Coate, Sandra Cuellar, Kevin Dyerly, Adam Eventov, Mark Kaenel, Lowell King, John Mirau, Dan Murphy, Roman Nava, Brian Reider, Dan Roberts, Elizabeth Romero, Kristine Scott and David VanVoorhis.

Guests: Members of the Monday Morning Group-Nick Adcock, Paulette Brown-Hinds, Judy Carpenter, Mike Downs, Kent Hansen, Brian Hawley, Ron Loveridge, Allison McKenzie, Marcia McQuern, Lou Monville, Cindy Roth, Bob Stockton, Ken Stream and Matt Webb.

Announcements:  1) Please see Mark Kaenel to get your ticket(s) for the baseball game, Sunday, May 20th.  Mark has a few additional tickets which are available for purchase.  Due to the size of the group the Inland Action name will be displayed on the message board during the middle of the 5th inning.  Additionally, there are a few remaining spots on the Capitol Dome tour, please contact Carole Beswick for further information.

M/S/P: Minutes from April 3, 2018.

Chair, Kristine Scott called on the individual committees from the Monday Morning Group and Inland Action to discuss federal issues.  The following was discussed.

  • Environment
    • HR 497 Santa Ana River Wash Plan Exchange Act (Senate side)
    • HR 857 & S 32 CA Off-Road Recreation & Conservation Act of 2017; CA Desert Conservation & Recreation Act of 2017 (out of committee)
    • S 1464 & HR 448 – Water Conservation Tax Parity Act
  • Judicial
    • Appointment of Federal Judge to the Eastern Division of the Central District of the Federal Court
      • 6 vacancies exist in the Central District. There is only one judge in the Eastern Division, forcing a majority of local cases to be heard in Orange and Los Angeles Counties.
  • Transportation
    • Fast Act funding
      • Applications for FAST Act (INFRA) funding have been submitted three times.  The last two applications were jointly submitted with LA Metro, OCTA and RCTC.  The Trump Administration has not acted on the last one for nearly a year.
    • Capital Investment Grants
      • A request will be made for some $80 million in CIG funding for the West Valley Connector Bus Rapid Transit line proposed to connect ONT with the San Bernardino Metrolinkline in Rancho and the Riverside Metrolink line in downtown Pomona.
    • Customs services for airports in the region i.e. ONT, SBIA (on hold)
    • Encourage the development of a strategy and coalition with other regions in the country to avoid the loss of transportation funding from EPA proposals to adopt more stringent standards for ground-level ozone and encourage an enhanced federal role in reducing emissions from interstate and international goods movement vessels.
    • Discussion of Federal Infrastructure Plan
    • Technology advances in autonomous vehicle
      • STAR Program
  • Housing (HUD)
    • Support for EnVisionCenters
    • Support for Housing Choice Vouchers
    • Preserve HUD VASH vouchers
    • Opportunity Zones
  • Economic Development
    • HR 4115 Partners Act – Apprenticeships
    • S 1599 – Work based vouchers to upscale workers
  • Healthcare
    • Work with allies in Congress to protect the 340B drug discount program by elevating the program’s integrity and purpose.
    • The 340B drug discount program is a federal program that allows qualified safety net hospitals to opt-into the program in order to purchase certain drugs directly from manufacturers at a discount. The program is focused on hospitals that serve the uninsured and underinsured.  Drug manufacturers that participate in the Medicaid program are required to offer covered outpatient drugs at a discount. All of this at no cost to the government.
    • Graduate Medical Education funding
    • We strongly support an increase in funding for additional medical residencies.
    • The opioid epidemic is a national issue that needs to be addressed at this level.
  • Education
    • HR 2902 IDEA – Fully funding for mental health and special needs.
    • ESSA – We support it in its present form and will be watching for any proposed changes from the Department of Education.
    • DACA remains a critical area of focus for our region

The earthquake early warning system has recently proven to work.  Funding for continued research is in jeopardy with the current administration.  This system is important for the safety of our residents.

Cal State San Bernardino has a nationally recognized cyber training program that may resonate with Senator Kamala Harris who is speaking out on combating cyber-attacks.

Meeting adjourned 8:30 a.m.