Enterprise Zones Boost the California Economy
California’s
economy needs all the help it can get. It is barely growing. Its unemployment
rate, at 12.5%, is the second highest in the nation. Yet in his
budget-balancing proposal, Gov. Jerry Brown includes a money-saving idea that,
if adopted, would kill a program that keeps more than 1 million Californians
working and generates millions in tax revenues. He claims this program doesn’t
significantly contribute to the state economy. The governor is wrong.
Begun in
1986, the state’s Enterprise Zone Program offers tax breaks and other
incentives to more than 100,000 companies doing business in any of 42
designated areas with high unemployment and poverty rates. The zones range in
size from 1.7 square miles to 671 square miles. And they boost local economic
activity.