This weekend we’ll celebrate Labor Day, traditionally the end of summer and the return of football and cool autumn temperatures. Fortunately, talk is finally heating up on a game plan to put California back on track toward a winning economy. Last week, Gov. Jerry Brown released a three-part California Jobs First Plan to spur companies to hire California workers. This is on the heels of Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Economic Growth and Competitiveness Agenda to lead California into the post-recession “Next Economy.” With fears of an economic relapse on the horizon, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce applauds both Gov. Brown and Lt. Gov. Newsom for putting plans on the chalkboard to make business investment and job creation the top priority for California lawmakers. 

Amazon.com has put forth a plan to avert the referendum to
overturn a new tax law that is ready to qualify for the next election. The
proposal probably falls into the "too-little-too-late" category for Amazon’s
political opponents to avoid a ballot battle. History of a similar referendum
from many years ago indicates the ballot fight will be hugely expensive.

First, to the negotiations: Amazon has asked for a two-year
suspension of the tax law requiring online, out-of-state retailers to collect
sales tax while Congress works on a national solution to collect taxes across
state lines. The company also offered to set up distribution centers in
California, which could create up to 7,000 jobs.

The initial response to the proposal from opponents lead by
the California Retailers Association is that the deal is unacceptable.
President of the association, Bill Dombrowski, said, "We don’t think it’s a
serious compromise."

It’s cloudy skies these days for the solar industry.

Especially for Solyndra, the California solar-panel maker who announced today they will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will lay off their remaining 1,100 employees.

Now, there’s nothing legally wrong nor in my view, morally wrong with declaring bankruptcy; it is a provision under the law for those who have experienced extreme circumstances. But when you are a business that has received hundreds of millions of dollars ($535 Million, to be exact) in so-called stimulus loan guarantees then files for bankruptcy, it should be “lights out” on the case for green jobs.

TheHill.com reports that the Obama Administration may not be learning from its failures. They report that the administration just approved another $852 Million loan guarantee last week to NextEra Energy, another California solar company. The Obama Administration’s solution seems to be if it fails, throw even more money at the problem!

Give
Governor Jerry Brown credit. He’s smart enough to recognize that imposing
massive property tax hikes on California’s struggling job creators will hurt,
not help, our state’s economy. And he’s willing to take heat from members of
his own party for his stand.

On August 16, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gave a speech to the
Sacramento Press Club urging "progressives" to "start thinking and acting big
again" in order to "invest… in our economy." He challenged Governor Brown to
have "the courage" to "strengthen" Proposition 13, an important taxpayer
protection measure approved by voters in 1978.

Lest anyone be confused, let me translate: Mayor Villaraigosa has no intention
of "strengthening" the property tax protections in Proposition 13. Instead he
wants to strip away those protections for business owners, including Main
Street mom-and-pop businesses like hair salons, hardware stores and
restaurants.

According the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, an organization that exists
to defend Proposition 13, prior to that measure there were no limits on
property tax rates and assessments. Taxpayers’ properties could be reassessed
50% to 100% in a single year and see their bills jump accordingly. As a result
many taxpayers lost their homes and businesses.

The Iranian hostage crisis, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, Lehman Brother’s collapse and the recessions that defined the 1980, 1992 and the 2008 presidential campaigns … these are the signal events that changed and then defined the last 30 years of American politics.

They are joined now by another signal event: The debt ceiling negotiation and its consequences.

Consumer confidence has dropped 15.8 points in two months and is now at its fourth lowest level since the survey began in 1952.

BOTTOM LINE:

As August comes to a close, the debt ceiling negotiation and its aftermath can now be put into an emerging context.

Three years ago, California legislators did something politicians are seldom brave enough to do: they recognized their limitations and gave away some of their power.

In passing landmark green chemistry laws, lawmakers admitted that they were no match for scientists when it came to sorting through the data, analyzing alternatives and making a rational chemicals management policy. Under the new laws, that would be left to scientists and regulators at the Department of Toxic Substances Control.

It was a truly courageous move. If only they’d meant it.

As the DTSC nears the end of three years of public hearings, written comments, sub-committee meetings and reports, and is about to release proposed green chemistry regulations, the Legislature appears poised to step back into the business of making chemical policy on their own.

"The lady doth
protest too much, methinks."

Hamlet, Act III, Scene
II

On the heels of the California Taxpayers Association releasing an excellent monograph on Understanding Proposition 26, the measure passed by voters last year to clarify what is a tax and what is a fee, the legislature is attempting to pass a tax on gasoline, which would require a two-thirds vote, as a simple majority vote "charge." SB 791 by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg "would authorize a metropolitan planning organization, subject to majority voter approval, to impose, for up to 30 years, a regional transportation congestion reduction charge on purchasers of motor vehicle fuel."

In Section 1 of the bill, from paragraphs f thru l, the author describes how this charge is not in violation of Proposition 26’s requirement for a two-thirds vote.

Seven paragraphs arguing the measure is not a tax! Methinks the Senator protests too much.

The oft-quoted phrase from the pen of Shakespeare is
defined as one can "insist so passionately about something not being true
that people suspect the opposite of what one is saying."

A couple years ago, I was talking to a small business owner who was venting his frustration about California’s broken political system: “Why should I get involved when my voice doesn’t even count?” I promised him at the time that the wheels were in motion to enact reforms in the state that would finally allow us to hold our politicians accountable. Part of those reforms, voter-approved Propositions 11 and 20, created the Citizens Redistricting Commission so politicians will no longer be in charge of drawing election districts to protect their jobs and the jobs of their friends. With fair election districts, politicians will actually have no choice but to listen to voters’ voices or lose their jobs.

The 14-member Citizens Redistricting Commission has just completed their work on legislative, Board of Equalization and congressional district maps. And, as promised to voters who approved redistricting reforms, the redistricting process was undertaken in fully-noticed public meetings throughout the state, allowing for, and welcoming, community input. Much of the proceedings, including the Commission selection process, were also provided for public viewing online. The National Federation of Business/California and our members around the state were involved throughout the process, providing input and recommendations. Last week, the final maps were approved by a diverse group of Commissioners with nearly unanimous votes.

In California, we head into Labor Day 2011 with an
unemployment rate of 12%, and 2,257,000 Californians counted as unemployed. This
is an improvement over Labor Day 2010, when unemployment was at 12.4% and 2,330,000
Californians were unemployed . But, as previously detailed in Fox and Hounds,
this economic recovery has been very slow, far slower than previous recoveries
in California, and predictions are for unemployment to continue over 10% for
some time. We have reached the Jobs
Perplex.

The past year has seen a small group of California industries
expanding employment.  Nearby my office,
in the South of Market area of San Francisco, hundreds of internet commerce and
social media start-ups are in active start-up mode, joining the established
Twitter, Zynga, and Salesforce.com  employment generators in the area.