Roundtable Discussion with Assemblyman Joel Anderson
Last week, BIOCOM hosted Assemblyman Joel Anderson at our Legislative Roundtable series. Assemblyman Anderson represents Assembly District 77, which encompasses East San Diego County, including all or portions of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee, Jamul, Lakeside, Ramona, Alpine, Borrego Springs, and the City of San Diego. The assemblyman is the Vice- Chair of the Governmental Organization Committee. He also sits on the Banking and Finance Committee and the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. Assemblyman Anderson discussed some grim aspects of the current situation in Sacramento, such as the budget and water dilemmas. He believes that the budget problem is attributed to a cash flow problem-- the legislature needs to stop raising taxes and passing bills that cost us money. The assemblyman also shared that unless the budget problem is solved, he thinks the state will run out of money in the next 60 days.
The water crisis is an issue that Assemblyman Anderson understands intimately, as he was formerly the president of the Padre Dam Municipal Water District. Due to his background the assemblyman has been involved in the water discussions on behalf of the Republican Caucus. He understands that water is a critical component of the life science industry and does not want California to lose jobs because of water restrictions. He thinks that the key to ensuring a reliable water supply to our region will be achieved by uniting the Southern California delegation, which he feels may happen in the near future as our water shortage causes significantly increased water rates in other parts of Southern California. Water infrastructure improvement needs to get done but cannot be accomplished without a 2/3 vote of the legislature.
Although Assemblyman Anderson did not have uplifting news to report, he told members: “You hate to waste a good crisis.” He believes that our state has a unique opportunity to get a great deal done during this difficult time as people are more willing to work together to find solutions.
BIOCOM would like to thank the assemblyman for taking the time to speak with our members. As a benefit of membership, these meetings offer a way for our members to have an informal conversation with elected officials in a casual environment. If you would like more information on upcoming Legislative Roundtable please contact Faith Picking at fpicking@biocom.org.
Improving America’s Health V— a survey of the working relationship between the life sciences industry and the FDA
BIOCOM and PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”) are pleased to announce that they are moving forward with conducting a 2009 FDA Survey, entitled “Improving America’s Health V—a survey of the working relationship between the life sciences industry and the FDA.”
As you may recall, our survey results over the past decade show an evolution of valuable insight into the relationship between life sciences companies and the FDA. The report that results from our 2009 survey are expected to provide an in-depth understanding of the interaction and communication between the FDA and the life sciences industry, as well as provide recommendations that can be implemented for improvements around the working relationship between the Agency and the industry.
We believe your participation in this survey will be highly valuable, to your organization, the FDA and to the life sciences community as a whole. BIOCOM urges you to get involved. Please send an email to PricewaterhouseCoopers.and.BIOCOM@us.pwc.com with “Life Sciences FDA Survey” in the subject line to obtain more information on how to participate. Thank you