Craig Johnson wrote this letter of praise for the efforts in opposing AB 1139 which apparently pushed the bill off track.  It won’t be reheard until January 2010.  Johnson also encouraged businesses to keep working to oppose this terrible bill.  Here is the text of his letter:

Dear CAEZ Members and Friends of CAEZ:

Yesterday, AB 1139 was heard in the Assembly C ommittee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy (JEDE).  GOOD NEWS!—–the bill was held in Committee and won’t be back until 2011, which was a huge victory for us.  Although the bill now becomes a two-year bill, we will continue to be on alert, as the onerous provisions in this bill could still be incorporated into another bill this year.

CAEZ was the lead in providing testimony in opposition of the bill, as Lydia Moreno, CAEZ Board member and Community Development Coordinator for the City of San Diego and I provided testimony.  Cindy Schock, who owns a business in Lodi, provided compelling testimony describing how the Enterprise Zone program is providing her company with the opportunity to expand, grow and hire new employees.  Thanks to Fran Aguilera of the San Joaquin Enterprise Zone for connecting us with her.  The hearing room was packed with opponents of the bill and numerous individuals lined up to express opposition to the bill.  My thanks to all those who took time out of their very busy schedules to be there in support of the Enterprise Zone program.

The testimony in support of the bill was filled with significant inaccuracies and outdated information about the program.  The program was portrayed as one overrun with problems, ineffectiveness and abuse and consultants who assist companies claim the tax credits were described by the labor union lobbyist as “poverty pimps”.  So much for civil discourse.

Committee members Mary Salas (Chula Vista), Jim Beall (San Jose) and Marty Block (San Diego), provided supportive comments about the Enterprise Zones in their districts, with Assemblymember Salas also expressing specific concerns about the proposed elimination of the TEA and retroactive vouchering.  Committee Chairman, Manuel Perez, who represents the Coachella Valley, Calexico/Imperial County and Imperial Valley Enterprise Zones, encouraged the opponents of the bill to work with the author to effect any needed changes to the EZ program.

Our next steps will include working with our opposition coalition members, (Cal Chamber, CEON, Cal-Tax, Cal Bankers, CMTA, League of Cities, City of San Jose & others), to prepare a letter addressed to the Committee members, correcting numerous inaccuracies stated about the EZ program during the hearing.  I will share this letter with you, which will help prepare all of you to respond to attacks on the program going forward.

The CAEZ Government Affairs Committee will continue to follow this bill and work closely with the Coalition.  Continued education of Members of the Legislature will be the order of the day and I encourage all of you to regularly communicate with your Legislators about your Zones, your businesses and clients and how they make a difference in your communities.

Our letter writing campaign was incredibly successful, contributing to the 200+ letters of opposition received by the Committee Consultant.  To read the consultant’s analysis and see the opposition list, click on this link.  There was also a supplemental list distributed at the hearing that listed an additional 22 names in opposition!  Your response to this call to action is greatly appreciated and no doubt persuaded the author to describe his bill as “a work in progress”.  Our goal is to eventually describe this bill as DEAD!!

We’re working to get the audio of the hearing posted on the CAEZ website, so please check the site regularly for this and other updates (an updated legislative report will be posted shortly).

Thanks you again for your tremendous response to this outrageous attack on California’s Enterprise Zone program.

CRAIG JOHNSON
President
California Association of Enterprise Zones
Click Here for Full Text

Tags: AB 1139

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