Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Member Only Board of Directors Meeting
San Bernardino Community College District
114 S. Del Rosa Drive
San Bernardino, CA 92408
Minutes
Present: Patti Arlt, Deborah Barmack, Peter Barmack, Carole Beswick, Mike Burrows, Ken Coate, Kevin Dyerly, Louis Goodwin, Scott Hofferber, Mark Kaenel, Lowell King, John Mirau, Dan Murphy, Vikki Ostermann, Cid Pinedo, Michael Rivera, Elizabeth Romero, Khalil Saba, Kristine Scott, Paul Shimoff, Steve von Rajcs and Hassan Webb.
Guests: Ben Benoit
Announcements: 1) The printed material for D.C. has been e-mailed to the trip participants. The printed material will be available at the Hotel Palomar. An organization meeting will be held at the Hotel Palomar lobby on Monday, March 20, 2017 at 8:00 a.m. The schedule of appointments will be distributed at that time. Group briefings from Best Best & Krieger, Potomac Partners and Innovative Federal Strategies will follow our meeting on Monday. We have been invited by former Redlands Police Chief Jim Bueermann to meet with his colleague at the Police Foundation (an organization that provides research, technical assistance, and communications programs regarding police organizations). The meeting will be at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, March 20, 2017. On Tuesday March 21, 2017 Congressman Calvert’s office has arranged for us to use a meeting room from 2:00-4:00 p.m. in the Rayburn House Office Building. Members of Congress are scheduled individually during that time to join us. The Inland Action reception on Tuesday evening will be held from 5-7:00 p.m. An evening tour of the Capital by Congressman Pete Aguilar will immediately follow the reception.
M/S/P: Minutes from March 7, 2017
Chairperson Kristine Scott asked Committee Chairs to present their respective issues.
Economic Development
- Support HR 161 (Hastings), Services for Ending Long-Term Homelessness Act.
- Support reinstatement of HUD cuts to FHA mortgage insurance premiums to help potential lower- and middle-income home buyers.
- Support a change in HUD’s loan limit rules to give fairer treatment to both new home development and to homes in submarkets that are much higher price points than other submarkets in the same market area.
Education
- Support restoration of year round Pell Grants to help more Inland students complete college and earn degrees faster.
Environment
- Support HR 857 (Cook/Aguilar Co-Sponsor) California Off-Road Recreation and Conservation Act of 2017 and S. 32 (Feinstein) California Desert Protection and Recreation Act of 2017.
- Support HR 497 (Cook/Co-Sponsor Aguilar), Santa Ana River Wash Plan Land Exchange Act and encourage other of the Inland Empire delegation to co-sponsor the bill.
- Support CA WaterFix to upgrade California’s aging water infrastructure.
- Support the Sites Reservoir Project in California, a State-wide solution for water resources.
- Support excluding water conservation subsidies from gross income.
Healthcare
- Urge that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Replacement plan be well vetted and in place prior to any repeal of the current ACA.
- Support efforts to increase the cap on the number of primary care residency slots funded by Medicare.
Transportation
- Support the Trump Administration Infrastructure Plan for spending up to $1 trillion on restoring infrastructure and a separate component for goods movement infrastructure.
- Support legislation to clarify that FAA’s interpretation of aviation fuel tax. The FAA cannot divert locally approved transactions taxes from transportation projects to aviation improvements.
- Encourage the Inland Empire Congressional delegation to develop a strategy to avoid the loss of transportation funding and to develop a coalition with other regions of the country which will be impacted by EPA proposals to adopt more stringent standards for ground-level ozone.
- Inland Action encourages an enhanced federal role in reducing emissions from Intrastate and International Goods Movement Vessels. Support TIGER Grant funding for SANBAG’s Rail-to-Redlands Project.
- Support the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority application for TIFIA financing for the I-10 Express Lane Project.
Discussion of issues ensued. The group decided that the following will be the Federal Priorities:
- Urge that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Replacement plan be viable, well vetted, and in place prior to any repeal of the current act.
- 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.
- Support HR 161 (Hastings), Services for Ending Long-Term Homelessness Act. Nationally, on any given night, there are approximately 83,000 people who are experiencing chronic homelessness.
Meeting adjourned at 8:35 a.m.