Trade Group Has Its Agenda Ready
With Orange County’s Curt Pringle running the state Assembly, executives of local high-tech companies attending this week’s California Caucus in Sacramento are a bit more giddy than in the past.
The caucus, which is today and Wednesday, is an annual schmooze-fest with legislators. The event is sponsored by the American Electronics Assn., a trade group that represents thousands of high-tech companies. Leading Orange County’s contingent at the caucus this year is Gordon Bernhard, chief executive of Elpac Electronics Inc., an Irvine-based company that makes power supplies for computers.
One of the objectives this year, Bernhard said, is to encourage state legislators to support Proposition 201, a measure on the March ballot that would make it tougher for investors to file shareholder lawsuits in state court. Technology companies, whose stock prices tend to fluctuate wildly, are favorite targets for such suits.
The high-tech lobby has been effective in the past, Bernhard said. “We feel we were one of the key groups to help stimulate workers’ compensation reform in 1993,” he said.
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