Reoccurring Debate on California’s Tax Burden
That old debate over California’s tax burden is making its
familiar reappearance due to a couple of articles I read recently.
First came Dan Walters’ Sacramento Bee column last Friday titled, "Just the Facts on California’s Tax Burden." Walters acknowledged that,
"Sorting through the tax rhetoric is not easy." He produced data compiled by
The Tax Foundation,
using the measure of taxation as a percentage of personal income, which ranks
California as sixth-highest in the nation based on 2008 figures.
Walters notes this calculation occurred before the 2009
temporary tax increases in the Golden State that the governor hopes to extend.
However, he acknowledges other states have also raised taxes during the
recession and concludes that, "California has one of the nation’s highest
state-local tax burdens."
Taking the politics out of regulatory reform
President Obama and Senate leader Darryl Steinberg have each floated reform of
the government regulatory process as key elements of economic recovery. They’re
right. But for California now comes the hard part: putting meat on the bones of
an important but flexible political talking point.
The good news for policy makers is that the state’s
Little Hoover Commission, a bipartisan citizen panel appointed by the Governor
and legislative leaders (and to which I was recently given the honor of a
reappointment), is in the midst of a comprehensive study on how the
state can improve its regulation approval process. Spurred by a bipartisan
request from Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes and Senator Bob Dutton, the Commission
is examining, in its words, an:
Regulatory Relief on the Way?
It seems like the stars might be aligning
in California when it comes to regulatory reform for our state.
Last week, President
Barack Obama announced in a Wall Street Journal column that he is signing an
executive order directing government agencies to review rules and regulations
to ensure they do not unnecessarily hinder economic growth. Governor
Brown indicated earlier this month that he also favors taking a look at the
regulatory climate in California to make it more business-friendly. And more recently, Senate President pro Tem
Darrell Steinberg announced that he would support legislation forcing state
agencies to review all regulations and recommend reviewing the states
regulatory processes. In his words, "Government
needs to be more nimble."
As a small business owner who owns an electrical engineering
company in Bakersfield recently told me, "Regulations are strangling small
businesses out of existence in California." Whether it is onerous diesel
regulations, a pending AB 32 cap-and-trade system, or other restrictive labor
regulations such as the daily overtime requirement, small businesses and their
employees are being bombarded by costly regulatory mandates.
Water Rising Higher at Ports
The news from the waterfront last week was reassuring. The Port of Los Angeles said it handled 16 percent more cargo containers last year than in the previous year. And next door, the Port of Long Beach reported it handled 24 percent more – its biggest increase ever.
But what’s not so reassuring is this: The ports’ future still remains a bit tenuous.
That’s because the reconstruction of the Panama Canal continues. When the bigger and better passageway opens in 2014, it can begin handling huge container ships that haul all those consumer goods, automobiles and other stuff from China and the rest of Asia.
Now, those cargo ships are more or less forced to come here, which is why the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have become America’s No. 1 and No. 2 ports, respectively. But in about three years, those ships will be free to sail to the Gulf and East coasts – and ports in those areas are beefing up now to lure those ships.
“We have a bull’s-eye on our back,” Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told the Business Journal last week.