Our
economy and job market are the keys to a successful future for California.  We have long been the home of innovators,
entrepreneurs and risk-takers who have revolutionized our world. Technology
born in California has changed the way we do everything from listening to music
and communicating with each other to running our businesses and keeping
ourselves healthy. In order to accelerate our state’s recovery and position us
as a competitive market in this complex globalized economy, we must ensure our
state has an environment that will attract and retain these innovative new-economy
jobs.

The
new economy is critical to California’s long-term success. Studies consistently
show green and technology sector growth outpacing the rest of our industries.
Embracing these sectors will create good-paying local jobs for Californians,
strengthen our economy and allow us to retain our place as a global leader for
innovation.

We
are ideally situated to be the global leader for innovation. California has
top-notch universities and research institutions, a robust venture capital and
angel investing community and entrepreneurial people whose creativity and
pioneering spirit can’t be matched.

Job
creation should be our highest priority. 
As an Assemblyman, I want to make sure we are doing everything we can to
help these companies succeed. This includes far-sighted government policy, a
well-trained workforce and access to lawmakers. 
That is why I’m proud to announce that I have been named the Chairman of
the Assembly Select Committee on Jobs for the New Economy.

This
committee is designed to highlight individuals and companies within and outside
of California who are succeeding and creating cutting-edge products and jobs. I
want to know what companies are doing, how they are doing it and how we can
make California more hospitable.

By
opening a dialogue with job creators, we can identify roadblocks at the state
and local levels and make recommendations to eliminate them. There is a lot of
talk about regulatory reform and making California more business friendly, but
very little action. This committee will pinpoint what is preventing large and
small businesses from investing and expanding in the state so we can empower
them to create jobs.

We
will also explore ways of attracting private investment in California’s new
economy, including public-private partnerships, creative districts, industry
clusters and other incubation strategies. We must make California a nurturing
place for start-ups and fledgling businesses.

It
is also critical that we probe the role of education in promoting the new
economy, looking at the primary, secondary and post-secondary levels of public
education. The world has changed, but the way we educate our kids largely has
not. Our schools should be giving students the kinds of tools they need to
compete in a complex, global economy. Companies in California should not have
to go outside the state for skilled workers who can think innovatively and
produce cutting-edge results.

From the gold rush
until today, entrepreneurial risk-takers have come to California to change the
world. They have developed a culture of collaboration that stitched together
entire new industries and revolutionized our world.

I
am looking forward to working with my colleagues in the Assembly and private
sector leaders on this important effort. I am confident we will come out of
this with a set of solid policy recommendations we can turn into law. It isn’t
often we get to improve California’s business climate, but this committee is a
promising first step.