BOMA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

The BOMA California Board of Directors held its first board meeting of 2009 in conjunction with the BOMA International meeting in Indian Wells. Among other things the board held a substantive discussion about issues related to Climate Change policy initiatives in California, including the AB 32 Scoping Plan targets for our industry, market-based strategies to incentivize energy efficiency in commercial buildings, the upcoming green building codes process, and energy efficiency measures being proposed by the California Energy Commission and Public Utilities Commission.

The Board also set the direction for the policy staff in Sacramento as we face another Legislative Session. Despite the dire budget situation, legislators are introducing bills, many of which could have a major impact on the commercial real estate industry. BOMA representatives expect measures on property taxes, energy efficiency of new and existing buildings, solar and photovoltaic policy, and much more.

BOMA California is a federation of all eight metropolitan BOMA local associations and serves as the collective membership through its mission of “preserving and promoting the interest of California commercial real estate professionals through legislative and regulatory advocacy.”

BOMA California is headquartered in Sacramento and has a full time presence at the Capitol and regulatory agencies. Each local association nominates up to five of its members to represent that association on the BOMA California Board of Directors. Therefore, every BOMA member in California has a voice in the setting of policies of BOMA California vis-à-vis their local association representation on the state association's governing board. For more information click here.
 

INDUSTRY DEFENSE FUNDS PROVIDED TO BOMA CALIFORNIA

BOMA California has been awarded two major grants from the BOMA International Industry Defense Funds to further positive policy initiatives of the past few years. Both grants allow BOMA California to partner with BOMA International on issues unfolding in California that will eventually impact members across the nation.
 

CLIMATE CHANGE IDF GRANT

The first grant will help technical engagement and representation on climate change policy issues as part of the AB 32 process in front of the California Regulatory Agencies – Air Resources Board, Energy Commission, Public Utilities Commission, Integrated Waste Management Board, and Office of Planning and Research; and to fund an Existing Building Energy Efficiencies Strategies study to provide objective data to regulators about the most cost-effective and technologically feasible measures to reduce the carbon footprint of existing buildings.

The real estate sector is part of the second largest target for greenhouse gas reductions (second only to vehicle emissions). It remains to be seen if California will incentivize energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reductions in this sector through market-based programs (such as carbon credits) and cost effective programs (such as subsidized retrocommissioning), or through expensive command-and-control mandates that may not even be technologically feasible.

ELECTRICITY RATES IDF GRANT

The second IDF request is to continue funding for electrical rate case advocacy at the California Public Utilities Commission. Funds will be used to represent the interests of BOMA members throughout California in negotiations before the CPUC, which governs electricity rate-settings for each of the three Investor Owned Utilities presently operating in the state. Funds will supplement local BOMA and BOMA California funding for BOMA’s lobbying on “Rate Parity” – our attempt to rectify the economic burden borne by our industry that results from a rate-setting scheme which fails to fairly approximate utility pricing for our members with the cost to service them, vs. the service costs and rates of other customer classes. Past work in this area has generated tens of millions of dollars in savings for large commercial customers.

THANK YOU BOMA INTERNATIONAL!

Such funding opportunities from BOMA International are extremely important to assuring that important state level work can be done for the benefit of all members. We appreciate the opportunity to compete for IDF monies and thank BOMA members from throughout the nation for funding this innovative program. Keep your fingers crossed that we are successful in our request!
 

CEQA GUIDELINES AND GREENHOUSE GASSES

The Governor’s Office of Planning & Research (OPR) has drafted amendments to the CEQA Guidelines for greenhouse gas emissions as required by Senate Bill 97 (SB 97). OPR will be holding two workshops to present the amendments and obtain input from the public. The workshops will include a presentation by OPR and the Resources Agency staff, an overview of the Preliminary Draft CEQA Guideline amendments, and the process for adopting the regulations by 2010.

Workshops will be held on January 22, 2009 in Los Angeles and on January 26, 2009 in Sacramento.

Click here to view the workshop agenda.
Click here to view the Preliminary Draft CEQA Guideline Amendments.

It is extremely important that our industry engage in this process. Your company/firm is highly encouraged to analyze the proposals, attend the workshops, and submit comments. This proceeding will change the template for the environment review process and must be informed by those with practical knowledge on the topic.

CBPA has led an effort to draft comments and assemble a large coalition of business and industry groups to help provide guidance to the ARB. Click here to read the industry comments.

THE STATE OF THE STATE IS…

Governor Schwarzenegger gave a short and somber “State of the State” speech yesterday. The speech which had been delayed in hopes of some good news surfacing lacked a sunny outlook. "The $42 billion dollar deficit is a rock upon our chest and we cannot breathe until we get it off…. It doesn't make any sense to talk about education, infrastructure, water, health care reform and all these things when we have this huge budget deficit. I will talk about my vision for all of these things -- and more -- as soon as we get the budget done." Uplifting. Capitol Weekly has the whole story here.
 

STATE PAYMENTS DELAYED

State Controller John Chiang has announced that the state's cash-flow, or lack thereof, will only allow him to make school, college and some welfare payments this month, but he will be unable to issue checks for $3-plus billion in other payments, including those for state income tax refunds and many health and welfare programs.
 

CBPA NEW LEGISLATOR LUNCHEON & BOARD MEETING

If you have not already done so, please RSVP for the bi-annual CBPA New Legislator Luncheon on February 18 in Sacramento. This is your opportunity to meet with new Assemblymembers and Senators in a relaxed atmosphere to discuss issues of importance to the commercial, industrial, and retail real estate sector. The luncheon follows the first meeting of 2009 for the CBPA Board of Directors. As an affiliate member of CBPA, BOMA California holds a seat on its board and members are welcome to attend. We expect a very good showing of legislators to the luncheon. Contact Melissa Martinez, 916-443-4676, for more information or to RSVP.
 

BOMA CALIFORNIA 2009 CALENDAR

FEBRUARY 2009

February 18— [note date change]
CBPA NEW LEGISLATOR LUNCHEON
Sacramento (Hyatt)

 

MARCH 2009

March TBD (Late March)—
BOMA/INDUSTRYWIDE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE MEETING
TBD (in Southern California)

March 23-24—
BOMA INTERNATIONAL, NATIONAL ISSUES CONFERENCE
Washington D.C.

 

APRIL 2009

April 3—
BOMA CA BOARD MEETING/LEGISLATIVE REVIEW
San Diego (exact location TBD)
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.