Political Action Committees

What is ChamberPAC?

ChamberPAC is a bipartisan political action committee (PAC) that makes direct contributions to candidates and state and local officeholders who promote and vote for an agenda of private sector job creation. Investing in ChamberPAC provides an avenue for like-minded employers who work hard to run a successful business to pool their resources to have a greater impact on legislative campaigns.

Since its formation in 1995, ChamberPAC has made it a priority to help elect state and local candidates who truly understand the need to support job growth and economic development – and defeat those who do not. Acting alone it is extremely difficult for an individual business to make a political impact. ChamberPAC offers the business community organized political action to elect candidates who advocate policies that ensure the economic certainty and stability for businesses interested in job creation.

How ChamberPAC Works

ChamberPAC was developed so that job creators could collectively impact legislative campaigns. We are bipartisan and members of the ChamberPAC Board of Directors, comprised of business leaders who are very familiar with the community’s concerns, decide to whom funds will be distributed. ChamberPAC also receives strategic advice and oversight from key board members serving on the California Chamber of Commerce Fundraising Committee.

We contribute to candidates based on their past and continuing support of the business community’s agenda and make our decisions with the ultimate goal of creating a strong and prosperous economy for the state and a better quality of life for all Californians.

Why Contribute to ChamberPAC?

We support elected officials who fight to protect your business from trial lawyer attacks, detrimental changes to workers compensation reform, costly workplace mandates, and other anti-business legislation so that California’s economic recovery stays on track. The job-killer agenda is heavily funded by personal injury lawyers and public employee unions, and we need your support to effectively oppose it. Since 1997, 824 bills have been labeled “job killers.”

CalChamber has defeated more than 92% of those bills, but the threats keep coming, making it vital for the business community to work together to support job defenders. By contributing to ChamberPAC you will be working with our 13,000 member businesses to elect candidates who support business friendly, job creating policies.

Even if a particular race is outside of a business’ own area, ChamberPAC provides a unique opportunity for the entire business community to work together to create a pro-jobs majority throughout California, a crucial step toward California’s economic turnaround.

How Do You Contribute?

It’s easy! Contact us or call (916) 444-6670 for more information. Under California’s campaign finance law, Proposition 34, individuals and companies are allowed to contribute up to $9,800 annually to a political action committee.

ChamberPAC contribution limit: $9,800 (ID #950352). ChamberPAC Small Contributor Committee contribution limit: $200 (ID#1275328).

ChamberPAC contributions are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

For more information, email us or call (916) 444-6670.

The California Chamber of Commerce issues political action committee, CalBusPAC, has been helping to qualify, support and/or oppose statewide ballot initiatives since 1976. Funds contributed to CalBusPAC are used for initiative campaign expenses, including polling research, message development and media execution. There are no limits to contributions to this committee.

Pro-Business Reforms Supported by CalBusPAC

• Ballot initiative reforming the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) to eliminate abuse by trial attorneys and provide a pathway for employees to pursue claims for wages and penalties, keeping 100% of the recovery. The initiative provided leverage for negotiations culminating in adoption of a PAGA legislative reform package. The business community (with the CalChamber in a central role), labor, and legislative leadership worked together to establish meaningful change that will curtail rampant PAGA lawsuit abuse while offering better outcomes for employees who have been wronged. Enactment of the legislative package allowed the initiative to be removed from the ballot (2024).

Anti-Business Proposals Defeated with CalBusPAC Support

• An initiative (Proposition 30) increasing the tax rate for high-income individuals to the highest in the nation to subsidize zero-emission vehicles and charging stations, thereby discouraging investment in California and adding to the volatility of income tax and state budget revenues (2022).
• A split roll tax initiative (Proposition 15) that would have enacted a $12.5 billion a year property tax increase—the largest in state history. The measure was riddled with flaws that would have hurt all Californians, particularly the small businesses that employ half of all California employees (2020).

For more information on how to help business prepare for future ballot battles, email us or call (916) 444-6670.

More information on current and past ballot measures