The findings announced yesterday by Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor on AB 32’s impact on unemployment in California confirmed what many of us have known for a long time – the regulations imposed by AB 32 will cause California to lose more jobs. With California facing its worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression, we don’t have the luxury of a wait-and-see approach to AB 32, the greenhouse gas law that will smother job creation, raise costs for consumers, and destroy businesses across our state. It’s time for decisive action to correct AB 32, a law that will only make it harder for California families to make ends meet.
That’s why I support the California Jobs Initiative. This initiative, which is currently seeking signatures to qualify for the ballot, will stop all rulemaking and regulation under AB 32 until California’s unemployment rate declines to the level it was when AB 32 was adopted. I am proud to be the only candidate for governor that has endorsed this initiative and called for AB 32 to be completely halted until our economy is back on track and Californians are back to work.
AB 32 sent a message to every business and every manufacturer that it’s going to cost you more to do business in the state of California. And the law is going to be particularly hard on small business, the lifeblood of our economy. Small business accounts for over half of the total private sector employment in California and over 90% of new job creation. But AB 32 will crush small businesses under a mountain of new regulations and costs, hobbling our recovery and keeping people out of work. Put simply, AB 32 is one of the greatest threats to new job creation in California.
My opponent in the Republican gubernatorial primary, Meg Whitman, often points to the clause in AB 32 that allows the governor, in times of economic crisis, to delay implementation for up to one year. She suggests that all of AB 32’s flaws can be addressed through this provision, by imposing a one-year moratorium on the law and taking a “fresh look” at the law’s impact.
In fact, we’ve already gotten a good look at the devastation that AB 32 will cause in California. It’s clear to me that what we need is not dithering and handwringing, but a bold and dramatic change of course.
The recent work from the Legislative Analyst’s Office shows that AB 32 is going to make unemployment worse by costing the state even more jobs. A regulation that does that would be unjust at any time. But in the current jobs crisis, with four million Californians unemployed or underemployed, it borders on unconscionable.
A one-year moratorium on AB 32 won’t save those jobs. With our economy in the depths of turmoil, we don’t have the luxury of waiting while people struggle to get by. And California businesses don’t have the luxury of wondering whether the governor will impose a moratorium on AB 32 in any given year—to create jobs and invest in our economy, they need the certainty that only the California Jobs Initiative will provide.
More jobs lost during the worst economic crisis in generations. If you don’t think that is reason enough to stop AB 32 outright, maybe you’re like Meg Whitman, and have been spending too much time writing $300,000 checks to the environmental group that co-wrote and co-sponsored AB 32.
California isn’t an environmental or economic island. AB 32 won’t boost California’s economy with “green” jobs. Instead, it will drive businesses to competing states, where they don’t have to deal with idiosyncratic regulations. The sooner we admit that, the sooner we can get on with a real recovery.
We just witnessed a year of dithering on jobs in Washington, D.C. Unemployment just kept getting worse. If we try to fix California’s problems with the same approach, we’re going to see more jobs lost and tougher times for our families. The next governor needs to have an unapologetic commitment to bringing jobs back to our state.
We can’t fix AB 32 by sitting on our hands and taking a “fresh look,” as Meg Whitman has argued. We have to take concrete action to bring jobs back to California and fuel the economic recovery. That means putting a stop to AB 32 regulation and enforcement until our unemployment rate is back down where it should be. The California Jobs Initiative will do just that, and I’m proud to stand behind it.