Bravo to the US Chamber’s California Campaign
In 2005, I wrote in a document titled, Creating a Business Friendly California, meant to energize the business community: "To achieve a business friendly California, the business community must speak directly to the voters. We must educate voters on issues of the economy, business, regulations, and taxes. It’s not enough to educate the elected policy makers. Voters are the policy makers, themselves, when they vote on initiatives. We have to show them that a business friendly California is good for everybody."
Finally, such an effort is coming about thanks to the United States Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber issued a report the end of last month on California’s economic troubles and offered suggestions on how to turn around our economy. You can find the full report here.
The Chamber plans to back up this report with a media campaign to get the word out along the lines of my proposal from years ago.
Don’t Make Mistakes With SB 375
California
needs high quality jobs, new manufacturing facilities and small
business growth. Rational state environmental policy, supported by
economic impacts analysis, will help us achieve these goals.
Unfortunately, the state is implementing another expensive
environmental program that drags the economy farther down. SB 375,
passed into law two years ago, seeks bold greenhouse gas emission
reductions by controlling regional planning policies.
As the lead agency, the California
Air Resources Board (CARB) has been charged with working with Regional
Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to determine reasonable and
achievable greenhouse gas targets to meet the goals of SB 375. The
substantial undertaking started out as a collaborative process but it
has turned into a disaster for the economy.
Prop 23 is Bad for Business
It
is no secret that two Texas oil companies have bought their way onto
the California ballot in an attempt to undo California’s clean energy
and clean air standards. The companies bankrolling Proposition 23,
Tesoro and Valero, are two of the largest polluters in our state. Their
intent: kill California’s job-creating clean air and energy standards
and cripple their clean-energy competition.
Their campaign, which has received more than 89 percent of its
contributions from out of state, deceptively frames Proposition 23 as a
"jobs" initiative and uses the word "suspend" rather than repeal. But
the trigger for resumption of the law would be when unemployment falls
below 5.5 percent for an entire year – something that has happened only
three times in 40 years, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
For any business, Prop 23 would create a climate of uncertainty and
cause chaos in the marketplace.
November May Determine Regional Winners
As the recovery begins, albeit fitfully, where can we expect growth
in jobs, incomes and, most importantly, middle class opportunities? In
the US there are two emerging "new" economies, one largely promoted by
the Administration and the other more grounded in longer-term market
and demographic forces.
The November election and its subsequent massive expansion of
federal power may have determined which regions win the post-bust
economy, but the stakes in November are particularly acute for some
prime beneficiaries of what could be called the Obama economy: the
education lobby, Silicon Valley venture firms, Wall Street, urban land
interests and the public sector. All backers of his 2008 campaign,
these groups have either reaped significant benefits from the stimulus
or have used it to bolster themselves from the worst impact of the
recession.
In a sense the Obama policies are designed to overturn the pattern
of economic dispersion -towards the exurbs, the south, the
intermountain West, and more recently the Plains – that has defined the
last half century. The biggest winner, in regional terms, is the
Washington area. Even as local governments cut back, the federal
establishment continues to swell. Federal employment, excluding the
postal service, remains roughly 200,000 larger than in 2008.