Join us on the 2012 Spring DC Advocacy Trip!
Save the Date: April 17-19, 2012
To register or for more details, please visit our Eventbrite page.
Each spring and fall, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group travels to Washington, D.C. with a delegation of member executives and public officials to deliver a federal policy agenda, focusing on U.S. jobs and competitiveness. These visits strategically occur with U.S. Senate and House Leaders and key Administration officials to discuss the keys ways that we can help drive forward policies in the areas of:
- Comprehensive Corporate Tax Reform
- Clean Energy
- Research & Development
- Skilled Workforce
- Free Trade
- Infrastructure
- Cybersecurity
Spring Trip: March 15-17, 2011
For the 7th Annual Spring Washington, D.C. Advocacy Trip, a CEO delegation of 60 executives, under the leadership of SunPower CEO Tom Werner, Brocade CEO Mike Klayko, City of San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, participated in more than 60 contacts. This year’s trip was co-sponsored by Microsoft and SunPower. The Leadership Group rolled out the “U.S. Manufacturing Jobs White paper” with specific suggestions on how to help improve the U.S. economy and Jobs outlook.
Key visits included:
- U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood
- U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke
- U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan
- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus
- Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer
- U.S. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy
- U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp
- House New Democrat Coalition
Fall Trip: September 20-22, 2011
During the follow-up trip in the fall, 40 participants including City of San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed connected with more than 50 legislators and administrations officials including White House senior officials – Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors Carl Shapiro, federal CIO Steven VanRoekel, federal CTO Aneesh Chopra, Deputy Economic Advisor Jason Furman, First Lady Obama’s “Let’s Move” team as well as many U.S. Senate and U.S. house legislative leaders. The trip was co-sponsored by Brocade and Synopsys.
Priorities included:
- Comprehensive corporate tax reform, including repatriation of foreign earnings
- H1B visa/green card reform to allow employers access to highly skilled talent
- Increased access to capital for renewable energy and energy efficiency, comprehensive federal energy and building efficiency legislation, and smart grid standards with third party access to data
- Basic research support in the STEM areas, including a permanent R&D Tax Credit
- Federal transportation funding for Bay Area Rapid Transit needed to support the transportation needs of one of the U.S.’ most dynamic tech hubs
- Support for passage of pending free trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia
