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JANUARY 2018 NEWSLETTER 
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Dear CAG Members:
Happy New Year!  It's hard to believe that 2017 is already behind us, as we now roll out our plans for this year. 

In 2018, the California Alliance for Golf (CAG) will focus on three key areas:
- Membership Support
- Legislative Advocacy
- Fund Development

All three areas serve as pillars for our organization and are critical to CAG's success as we help protect and advocate on behalf of the California golf industry. 

Special thanks are extended to our loyal donors who continue to provide financial support to our organization. However, 2018 will be the year when we dig deep and wide to grow our membership and donor base. If you and/or your golf organization has yet to contribute to The Alliance I encourage you to do so now. 

I look forward to all CAG will accomplish in 2018, and with your help and involvement we'll make it happen!
 
Yours in Golf,

Emmy Moore Minister
President
California Alliance for Golf


Membership Updates
Legislative Updates
Provided by Craig Kessler, SCGA

New Laws
New laws that directly affect the golf industry

  • The state minimum wage increased to $10.50 per hour for businesses with 25 or fewer employees and to $11.00 per hour for businesses with 26 or more employees. 
  • Locally, Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Santa Monica already have $12 minimum wages in place for large companies and $10.50 for small ones. Those rates will climb to $13.25 and $12 respectively on July 1 and reach the magic $15 rate in 2020 for large companies and 2021 for small ones. 
  • Small businesses with 20 to 49 employees will be joining those businesses with 50 or more employees in offering a full 12 weeks of unpaid maternity and paternity leave.  Larger businesses began offering it last year.
  • Employers are now forbidden from making inquiries of job applicants about past salaries- an effort to mitigate gender pay inequity. Those who start behind are never going to catch up if salaries are predicated upon past history. 
  • California has now extended to ALL employers of 5 or more persons a requirement to delay background checks about conviction records until after a conditional job offer is made. In a similar vein, the state now permits those arrested for or charged with a crime to have that expunged from the public record absent a conviction therefor.

New Bills

As we kick off a new legislative session in Sacramento, there are rumors of bills but no actual filings that would be of direct consequence to the golf industry. We expect to see a bevy of them in the coming weeks. The CAG Legislative Committee has its first meeting early next week and will provide an update to our membership of the discussion and initiatives established for 2018.

Voter Initiatives  

  • Three initiatives, all in their early signature gathering stages, seek to weaken the “Private Attorneys General Act,” a 2004 law that gives workers the right to sue employers on behalf of the state for Labor Code violations.
  • There are a couple of conservation Initiatives gaining steam. Last autumn the state legislature voted to place a $4 billion bond on the ballot to borrow money to fund new parks in low-income areas, perform Salton Sea remediation, repair old dams, and fund grants for climate change research. Conservation groups are gathering signatures for an $8.9 billion Initiative whose proceeds would be restricted to projects that expand water infrastructure, the devil of which will be very much in the details. To the extent it would fund water storage, replenishment infrastructure and flood management it would be a boon to the state’s golf industry; to the extent to which it would fund ecosystem infrastructure, while certainly a laudable thing not necessarily a direct assist to the golf industry.  
  • Expect to see another affordable housing bond, park bond, as well as Initiatives that seek to curtail and/or restrict the use of the new gasoline tax increases and divvy up cap-and-trade monies. The deadline for submitting the number of verified signatures necessary to get on the November ballot is the last week of April. 
Golf News

It was a good year for golf in the desert. No, really.
By Larry Bohannan, The Desert Sun

So, 2017 is finished in the desert, and in general, it was a pretty good year for golf in the Coachella Valley.

A great year? No. Most of the country is seeing golf just kind of tread water these days, hoping that the declines of the last decade or more have flattened out. For the most part, that was true in the Coachella Valley. But there might have been some better things about golf in the desert this year than in the rest of the country. Read the full story here.

CareerBuilder Challenge quietly builds strong field
By Larry Bohannan, The Desert Sun

If anyone is concerned that all the talk of concerts and food and wine is taking away from the focus of the CareerBuilder Challenge on the PGA Tour aspect of the tournament, they need to slow down for a minute. Because the tournament is quietly putting together one of the most competitive fields it has seen in years. Read the full article here.

In West Marin, sun setting on San Geronimo public golf course: ‘It’s a crying shame’
By Ron Kroichick, San Francisco Chronicle

Tom Faimali walked off the No. 18 green on a crisp, sunny day at San Geronimo Golf Course. Faimali lives in nearby San Rafael and savors his regular rounds with friends at the picturesque layout in west Marin. He especially savored this recent round, because San Geronimo will close Monday after a run of more than 52 years.

“We’re unhappy about it,” Faimali said. “Play is certainly down, but for a population this size, three public golf courses in Marin County doesn’t seem like a lot to me.” Read the full story here.


Additional Golf News

UPCOMING EVENTS
CareerBuilder Challenge
TPC Stadium Course at PGA West
La Quinta, CA
January 18-21
 
2018 PGA Merchandise Show
Orange County Convention Center
Orlando, FL
January 23-26
 
PGA TOUR Farmers Insurance Open
Torrey Pines GC
La Jolla, CA
Jan 25-28
 
2018 Golf Industry Show
Gonzalez Convention Center
San Antonio, TX
February 3-8
 
PGA TOUR AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-AM
Pebble Beach, CA
February 5-11
 
PGA TOUR Genesis
Riviera CC
Pacific Palisades, CA
February 15-18
 
37th Annual Nor Cal Golf Rep Industry Show
Thunder Valley Casino Resort
Lincoln, CA
February 26-27
Interested in joining CAG? Click here for more information!
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