Here is a statement from the Governor’s office about his job creation goals in 2010:

State Of The State 2010:

The Governor’s Number One Priority Is Creating Jobs And Getting California’s Economy Back On Track

“First, you will receive a $500 million jobs package that we estimate could train up to 140,000 workers and help create 100,000 jobs.” (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, State of the State Speech, 1/6/10)

Governor Schwarzenegger’s  proposals to foster a more business-friendly economy and create new jobs will:

1. Create 100,000 New Jobs And Train An Additional 140,000 Californians With A New Job Creation Initiative
2. Streamline Regulations To Get Shovels In The Ground Creating Jobs And Spurring Economic Activity
3. Extend The Home Buyer Tax Credit To Encourage Homeownership
4. Eliminate Sales Taxes On Green Tech Manufacturing Equipment To Increase Investment In California’s Fastest Growing Economy
5. Eliminate Frivolous Lawsuits That Punish California’s Small Businesses

The Governor will introduce a package of five bills for legislative approval, called the California Jobs Initiative, which will create or retain at least 100,000 jobs. The Employment Training Panel (ETP) will partner with Community Colleges and other workforce development organizations to deliver training focused on green jobs and other key industries prioritized by ETP. These include manufacturing, goods movement, biotechnology, information technology services, multi-media, healthcare and construction.

• The Governor’s initiative provides up to $200 million to employers to pay for training new employees or retraining an existing employee for a new job. Employers will be reimbursed for training expenditures through the ETP after the person has been gainfully employed for three months.  The average reimbursement for each employee is approximately $1400.
• An additional $300 million will be available to employers for every individual they train who was previously unemployed. Employers will receive $3,000 for each unemployed worker who completes ETP training and stays on the job for nine months.

The combined funding for training and new hire grants is equivalent to the State paying half the payroll tax for each new employee for a year. The California Jobs Initiative will result in up 100,000 new or retained jobs created and to provide training to 140,000 individuals to enable.

• It will be funded by a loan from the Unemployment Compensation Disability Fund, which currently has a surplus sufficient to fund this program after covering claims and will not include general fund allocations. Employers will be reimbursed after the ETP has confirmed nine months of continuous employment.

“Second, you will receive a measure to streamline the permitting of construction projects that already have a completed environmental report.” (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, State of the State Speech, 1/6/10)

The Governor’s proposal would grant the Business, Housing, and Transportation Agency the right to select a specified number of projects that have completed environmental impact reviews (EIRs) and deem those projects as approved and not subject to legal challenge – expediting the ground breaking of these projects and creating jobs. Jumpstarting construction projects create jobs and boost local economies. Statewide, projects are ready to break ground but become delayed due to unnecessary litigation surrounding EIRs.

Too often, projects that have completed an EIR are delayed because of frivolous lawsuits challenging the validity of the EIR. The new NFL stadium in Los Angeles County is an example of such a project. Despite years of environmental review – and despite a design that makes the stadium the “greenest” in the country – the project was held up by needless lawsuits brought by a tiny group of individuals. Legislative intervention was necessary to get the project approved and put 18,000 Californians to work.

This proposal will not exempt projects from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and will expedite shovel-ready projects that have followed environmental law, not provide a way for projects to circumvent California’s strong environmental protection law.

“Third, to stimulate other construction jobs, you will receive a proposal for homebuyer tax credits of up to $10,000 for the purchase of new or existing homes.” (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, State of the State Speech, 1/6/10)

To continue encouraging homeownership among Californians, the Governor will propose to extend and expand the $10,000 homebuyer tax credit to include the purchase of existing homes in addition to new residences for first-time homebuyers. The buyer must not be a dependant and must be purchasing a home that does not belong to a relative. Under the Governor’s proposal, the Franchise Tax Board will extend the credit to buyers who purchase homes until $200 million dollars in tax credits have been granted to eligible.

“And fourth, since we want California to be the dynamo of green technology, I ask you to pass our proposal exempting the purchase of green tech manufacturing equipment from the sales tax.” (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, State of the State Speech, 1/6/10)

California leads the world in environmental technology. Our state is home to 10,209 clean tech companies and home base to the innovative minds and year-round sunshine powers the clean technology industry. To maintain our competitive edge the Governor will continue to support providing a sales tax exemption on the purchase of manufacturing equipment for advanced transportation, renewable energy and other clean technology projects.

Assembly Bill 1111, co-sponsored by the Governor and the Treasurer and authored by Assemblymember Sam Blakeslee, will codify the existing authority of the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (CAEATFA) to exempt zero emission vehicle manufacturers from sales tax on the purchase of new manufacturing equipment.

This targeted sales tax exemption for the purchase of clean-tech manufacturing equipment would not cost the state precious tax dollars; it would increase revenue by expanding the number of clean technology manufacturing companies that locate in California.

Reforming The Legal Climate For California’s Businesses

To foster an atmosphere where businesses can thrive, the Governor will propose a series of changes to regulations governing class action law suits, products liability suits and seek to cap punitive damage awards. Unfair and frivolous suits impact where companies locate or expand. California’s current litigation laws lead to large settlements with little value to consumers but become worth millions to lawyers at the expense of California businesses. Current statute also impedes growth by holding businesspersons liable for defective products – even if the seller had no knowledge or control over the defect – and allowing for punitive damage awards that are wildly unpredictable among similar cases.

The Governor will propose a set of statutory changes that will set forth clear guidelines for class action lawsuits improve California’s litigation climate by allowing defendants to appeal class action certifications and by requiring the plaintiff rather than the defendant to pay for notification to other potential class members.  In addition, these reforms will provide for limitations on the scope of damages assessed against business persons for defective products and eliminate unreasonable and excessive noneconomic and punitive damages awards.

Tags: governor, job creation goals, job news

This entry was posted on Monday, January 11th, 2010 at 4:27 am and is filed under 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.