Advocacy

BOMA Silicon Valley

BOMA Silicon Valley's Government Affairs Committee members oversee City and County legislative activity and participate in BOMACAL, the state political arm of BOMA. BOMA Silicon Valley members receive periodic Legislative Alerts which call attention to important legislative issues that need action immediately. Members also receive ongoing updates of legislative activities and articles on important issues in the BOMA Silicon Valley newsletters.

BOMA California

BOMACAL represents each local Building Owners and Managers Associations and provides direction to BOMA California staff working in the State Capitol and at regulatory agencies to preserve and promote the interest of California commercial real estate professionals through legislative and regulatory advocacy.Through individual action and strategic alliances, BOMA California has accomplished the following:

• Legislation:  BOMA California tracks and directly engages legislators on legislation which would have significant impact our members.
• Energy:  BOMA California is the only organization representing the commercial real estate industry full-time in front of key energy regulatory agencies. Their efforts before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) led to significant rate reductions in Northern and Southern California, a historic agreement to allow owners to submeter tenants’ electrical usage, and stopped mandatory Demand Reduction proposals such as Critical Peak Pricing.  It is estimated that these efforts directly saved members upwards of $43M in Northern California alone on their energy bills.
• Regulatory/Taxation:  BOMA California protects commercial property owners’ interests on a wide variety of issues including AB 32/Greenhouse Gas regualtions, forced access by telecommunications companies, energy deregulation, mandatory statewide fire sprinkler retrofit requirements, split roll property taxation, toxic mold liability, extreme new disabled access requirements, and much, much more. BOMA California is directly engaging in the process that will produce a set of "green" building codes, making California the first state in the nation to adopt such standards.

2010 Legislative Wrap-up
In the 2009-2010 Legislative Session, BOMA California legislative staff followed more than 500 bills that could have had an impact on commercial real estate. Green building, energy issues, changes in tax policy, sprinker systems, and worker's comp were all on the agenda this year.
Click here to see a summary of the most significant pieces of legislation in 2010

BOMA International

BOMA International is constantly monitoring and responding to legislative, regulatory, and codes and standards initiatives as part of its mission to advocate the interests of building owners and managers in the various model code and standards setting organizations. Through comprehensive, timely and practical publications and guides, BOMA strives to educate the office building industry on the implications of new laws and regulations.

For more information, visit BOMA International at www.boma.org.