A Capitol Trip to CLCA Legislative Conference
On Tuesday morning April 29 I flew from Burbank Airport to Sacramento for the 2025 CLCA Legislative Action Conference. In the early morning hours, Burbank Airport is very busy. The planes bound for Sacramento are full of elected officials, staff, lobbyists and Capitol visitors with different purposes.
Our first meeting in the State Capitol was at the Sheehy Strategy Group office very close to the capitol building. Tom Sheehy and his associate/wife Brena have been the CLCA legislative advocates for many years. Tom has a very impressive resume. He served under Governor Schwarzenegger as his appointee to the Department of Finance. He also has a BA in agriculture and worked as a soil expert after college. When I found myself alone with Tom and Brena, they proudly showed me photos of their gardens and their very impressive rose garden. The Sheehys seemed a very natural choice as our CLCA legislative advocates.
During this meeting we were introduced to members, several travelling some distance to the conference, including Lou Penning from Sonoma, State CLCA Legislative Director Megan Rios and CLCA President Lindsay Ono (both from Bakersfield), and Sandra Giarde, CAE, CLCA Executive Director.
Sandra took the lead as CLCA executives described the objectives, procedures and goals for the next two days. On the first day, each chapter representative had meetings scheduled with their local elected representatives. As an LA/San Gabriel Valley Chapter Member, I had the pleasure of meeting with State Senator Sasha Perez and Assemblymember Nick Schultz. During those brief meetings, I introduced the CLCA broad mission and responsibilities. I also described the importance of the network as a chapter like the LA/SGV has and its unique work on the ground. I also mentioned our support and opposition to certain legislation bills impacting our license, our work and our employees at large.
On the second day, two groups were formed. Megan Rios and I met four elected representatives or their legislative directors. We met with the staff members from Assemblymember Juan Alanis, State Senator Mike McGuire, and State Senator Tim Grayson. We are closely following a bill that Senator Tim Grayson authored. Senator Grayson was a general contractor before becoming an Assemblymember and then a Senator. He understands very well what our profession is about and should be an obvious friend. Fire prevention was part of the discussion and Senator Grayson invited CLCA to be part of a roundtable event that he is putting together in his district. Being invited to the table by a Senator is a big deal and CLCA is very well equipped to not only participate but be a major player in the solutions to big issues, statewide.
Our final meeting was with the staff of Assemblymember Phillip Chen. Our other CLCA advocacy group met with the staff of Bay Area Assemblymember Marc Berman, who authored the CORE program that many of us know and should have benefitted from. CLCA thanked the Assemblymember and requested additional funds for the CORE program to assist those who are transitioning to electric equipment. CSLB Deputy Director Mike Jamnetski and CSLB Legislative Director Rebecca May joined us for lunch and very informative discussions about the profession, achievements and future goals.
At the conclusion of the Conference, photos were taken with attendees and Conference VIPs in the State of California Assembly Chamber. Productive and hard work, going from meeting to meeting on different floors of the “swing space” where Assembly Members and Senators work, was highly rewarding. I strongly encourage all chapters to make legislation a priority and send their legislative representatives to the next CLCA Legislative Action Conference.
~Guillaume Lemoine – LA/San Gabriel Valley Chapter Legislative Director and Treasurer