LEGISLATIVE ACTION COMMITTEE (LAC) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

PURPOSE:

The purpose of the Legislative Action Committee (LAC) is to identify, study, analyze, hear testimony on legislative and public policy issues which concern the business community; and, when deemed appropriate, to recommend a Chamber position on these issues. The LAC builds and maintains a relationship with elected officials and/or government staff members to insure that the LAC has available to them the best information on issues and agendas of local legislation.

MEMBERSHIP:

The LAC shall be made up of 19 chamber members with one elected official each from City and County, the Chairman of the Board and the President/CEO as ex-officio members (total of 23).

The composition of the 19 voting LAC members shall be:

The composition of the 4 non-voting LAC members shall be:

Chamber members in good standing are welcome to attend LAC, as are guests of Chamber members.

SELECTION AND REQUIREMENTS OF LAC MEMBERSHIP:

A Nominating Committee made up of the incoming and current Chair of LAC, one member of the current Executive Committee and one member of the current Board of Directors; with the President/CEO serving ex-officio, shall convene in October.  Potential nominees must agree to serve, if appointed, and to adhere to the policy of attending two-thirds of the LAC meetings. The Committee's nomination slate will be presented to the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors for final approval at the November meetings.

Term of service will be for one year (January-December), with reappointment eligibility; but not for more than three consecutive years (Chamber officer positions not withstanding).  Members must attend two-thirds of all scheduled meetings to be considered for reappointment. Past-Chairs of the Chamber Board may serve as many terms as desired.

MEETING DATES AND FREQUENCY:

The LAC will meet every two weeks, the second and fourth Wednesday at 8:15 AM for approximately one hour.  Special meetings may be called by the Chair, with at least 24 hours written or electronic notice to the members of the committee.

A quorum of the LAC will require 50% of the voting members to be present and accounted for.  Proxies shall not be allowed. The Chamber's President/CEO shall be responsible for writing and distributing minutes of each meeting and all documentation required of the LAC.

PROCEDURES:

ISSUE SELECTION – Any member of the Chamber may bring an issue to the President/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Executive Committee or the LAC Chair for consideration. Depending on the issue’s appropriateness and timing, the issue will be forwarded to the appropriate committee. Public agencies and non-members should contact the President/CEO to submit requests for issue review.

ESTABLISH CHAMBER POSITION - Once an issue is fully reviewed and is deemed necessary or appropriate for a Chamber position to be recommended to the Board or Executive Committee, a majority vote of attending voting members must be achieved. 

Following the establishment of a position on an issue, a Position Paper shall be written by the appropriate LAC member, or the LAC Chair, along with the CEO.  Included in the document shall be the vote as taken, and a minority report if the vote was less than unanimous.

The LAC shall forward the Position Paper to the Board of Directors, or in an emergency situation, the Executive Committee, for final approval.  Recommendations as to what actions should be taken shall accompany the Position Paper. Electronic voting may be allowed in situations of great urgency, if the Chairman of the Board, LAC Chair, VP of Advocacy and the President/CEO deem the matter, and the Chamber’s position on the issue, to be of significant importance and if the timing is a factor for relevancy, efficiency and credibility of the Chamber.

OFFICIAL SPOKESPERSON(S) - The Chairman of the Board, Chair-Elect or the President/ CEO (at the direction of the Chairman of the Board), exclusively, shall be the official spokespersons for the Chamber.

(NOTE: When possible, one LAC member who may be considered the most knowledgeable on the issue being dealt with, may be asked to make a presentation before the Board of Directors, or in the situation of emergency, the Executive Committee, to insure that the issue is fully explained.)