The Senate hearing just wrapped up.  As usual, there was spirited debate about the effectiveness of the EZ.  Businesses testified that they use the EZ credits to remain competitive against other states (e.g. Foster Farms).  The Black Chamber of Commerce testified that the EZ program helps minorities find jobs.  City leaders, chambers, and mayors testified about the EZ program creating jobs and the loss of jobs since the governor’s proposal to eliminate them.  

The unions response — each time — was the same:  ”VWR” moved union jobs into an EZ in Visalia and took the union jobs away.  Implicit in the union’s response was two important hidden insecurities:  First, once a union job, always a union job, i.e. an employer does not have the right to take away union jobs even if it means decreased productivity and increased prices, as long as the union dues are paid.  Second, reality doesn’t matter.   As Yolanda Benson pointed out, VWR merged with another company that chose to manufacture in an EZ because it could compete and not have to move those jobs out of state.  This was the same comment that Senator Huff made.  The unions are clinging to VWR, but that lifeboat is taking on water.

The other talking point that was distributed to all the union speakers was that the research proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the EZ program doesn’t work.  I won’t rehash this argument here and now, but the PPIC study was based on data that was predetermined to show no job growth and the CBP report swallowed whole the flawed PPIC report.  Despite no one being able to refute the criticisms of these reports, the unions continue to parrot the same ineffective, monotone idioms and tag lines.  If that’s the best they can come up with in the face of the overwhelming and true doses of reality handed to them by the businesses, city leaders, chambers and minority groups, not to mention the USC study, then it makes this debate that much clearer.

Tags: CAEZ, california enterprise zone, california tax law, CBP, Charles Swenson, Enterprise Zone Tax Credits, Enterprise Zones, governor, PPIC, Tax News, tax professionals

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 at 1:11 pm and is filed under Enterprise Zones, Tax News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.