Silicon Valley Leadership Group

History

The group was founded as the Santa Clara County Manufacturers Group (SCCMG) by David Packard in 1978, later becoming the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group. Like the Bay Area Council, it focused on regional politics. In the 1980s, it became the dominant business advocacy group in the Silicon Valley region, eclipsing chambers of commerce such as the San Jose Chamber of Commerce. By 1982, it counted 85 of the region's largest employers as members. In March 2005, it changed its name to Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Carl Guardino served as CEO from January 1997 through July 2020. On July 23, 2020, Ahmad Thomas was named the new CEO effective August 10, 2020.

Issues

San Francisco Bay Area tax measures

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group was a key supporter of Regional Measure 3, a $3 per-trip toll increase per vehicle to cross San Francisco Bay Area bridges, approved in June 2018 by 55 percent of Bay Area voters. SVLG is now a key partner along with the Bay Area Council and SPUR in proposing a $100 billion "mega tax" for November 2020 ballots, to pay for high-cost highway and transit projects paid for over 40 years by a one-percent sales tax increase in all nine Bay Area counties. Like RM3, the mega tax, called "Faster Bay Area" by proponents, would require state legislation to authorize the multi-county ballot tax measure. SVLG also supports another multi-county Bay Area 2020 tax increase, a 1/4-percent sales tax for further improvements to Caltrain service, which would apply in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties.

Santa Clara sales tax measures

The SVLG has been heavily involved with a number of sales tax increase measures in Santa Clara County; specifically 1996, 2000, and the failed June 2006 measure. In June 2006, SVLG and the South Bay Labor Council outspent their opponents $1.2 million to $50,000 in an effort to raise the county sales tax further. In spite of this huge discrepancy SVLG lost.http://www.sccgov.org/elections/results/june2006/ June 2006 Election Results: 1115/1115 100.00% Vote Count Percent NO 153,592 57.13% YES 115,239 42.87% Total 268,831 100.00%

At the same time SVLG was campaigning for increasing the local sales tax, they were en route to Sacramento on a lobbying junket to push for two bills - SB 1291 and AB 2218 - that would have exempt companies from state sales taxes for purchasing equipment used in manufacturing and research.

Immigration reform

SVLG advocates immigration reform in the United States, claiming there is a growing lack of skilled labor in Silicon Valley that could be closed by immigration. Specifically, the SVLG advocates increasing the number of H-1B visas and easing access to green cards.

U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office

SVLG has supported San Jose in its bid for a regional patent office. In 2012, the group claimed the confirmation of San Jose as a host of one of the four regional offices a "big win".

Electrification of Caltrain

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group has worked in coordination with local leaders to fund the electrification of Caltrain. In May 2017, the Federal Transit Administration approved a $647 million grant for the project. SVLG CEO Carl Guardino described the confirmation of the federal grant as "the major holidays wrapped into one with a beautiful Caltrain bow around it.” In July 2017, a group including Guardino, Caltrain's CEO, elected officials and business leaders celebrated the official groundbreaking of the Caltrain project.

Local philanthropy

Starting in 2004, the Group has sponsored an annual charity "Turkey Trot" run, with the proceeds going to local charities. The annual target is $1 million of contributions.

References

References

1. Justine Burt. (July 18, 2011). "Highlights of Silicon Valley Leadership Group's June 2011 Energy Summit". Triple Pundit.
2. "The Silicon Valley Leadership Group - About Us".
3. Wolpern, Steven F.. (May 2013). "Suburban Reformers: Progressive Reform Movements and the Making of Silicon Valley, 1880–1980". [[Pennsylvania State University]].
4. (3 May 2018). "Peninsula leaders split over transportation measure". Palo Alto Online.
5. (8 June 2019). "Mega-measure: $100 billion traffic-busting tax plan for the Bay Area taking shape". The Mercury News.
6. (25 March 2019). "Bay Area voters: 'Yes, we'll pay to fix traffic' but middling support for housing plan". The Mercury News.
7. (10 October 2017). "Governor signs off on Caltrain sales-tax measure". Palo Alto Online.
8. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071026211634/http://www.svlg.net/about/staff/guardino.html] Silicon Valley Leadership Group Bio for [[Carl Guardino]]
9. [http://www.svrtc-vta.org/top10questions.asp] VTA page talking about defeat of June 2006 Measure A
10. [http://www.sworddance.com/blog/2006/03/25/how-to-get-sued-by-the-big-boys] Blog entry about No on June 2006 Measure A being sued
11. [https://vtawatch.blogspot.com/2006/03/svlg-operative-files-suit-to-hide-its.html] Reporting about attempt to silence June 2006 [[Santa Clara County]] Measure A opponents
12. "Letters to the Editor".
13. (April 19, 2006). "Silicon Valley Leadership Group wants support for sales tax exemptions for larger businesses}}{{dead link". San Jose Mercury News.
14. [http://leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=sb_1291&sess=0506 SB 1291], [[Elaine Alquist]]
15. [http://leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_2218&sess=0506 AB 2218], [[Alberto Torrico]]
16. Jennifer Martinez. (1 Aug 2013). "Tech and agriculture industries team up to lobby for immigration reform". The Hill.
17. Jeremy Quittner. (26 Nov 2013). "Immigration Reform Pressures Mount". Inc.com.
18. Greg Baumann. (2 Apr 2014). "If you want to see immigration reform in 2014, contact John Boehner". Silicon Valley Business Journal.
19. Lauren Hepler. (5 Apr 2014). "Tech amasses lobbying clout on immigration". Silicon Valley Business Journal.
20. "Silicon Valley Leaders Propose San Jose as a Satellite Location for U.S. Patent Office".
21. "Regional Patent Office for Silicon Valley; Big Win for the Leadership Group and Its Partners".
22. "Accomplishments".
23. (2017-05-22). "Feds approve $647 million grant for Caltrain electrification project". The Mercury News.
24. "Historic Groundbreaking for Caltrain Electrification".
25. (November 20, 2019). "Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot celebrates 15 years of family, friends, fun, fitness & philanthropy".