Craig Johnson’s article in this weekend’s Long Beach Press Telegram highlights the importance of the Enterprise Zone in a recessed economy.  He cites Cal Worthington Ford as the classic example of what can happen without the EZ as a tool to retain California businesses.  Here’s the link to the article.

This article appeared in this weekend’s Hesperia Star.

This Newsletter piece about the West Valley Cities application for one of the upcoming EZ designations sheds light on how important cities view the Enterprise Zone program to their economic development.

Less than 24 hours before the JEDE committee was set to vote on Steinberg’s SB 974, Steinberg pulled the bill from the committee.  According to the JEDE committee, because the bill is a lax levy, it is not subject to July 2, 2010 deadline.  The bill may resurface later, but we can only assume that Steinberg had a good reason to pull the bill just before the vote.

In today’s Daily News, Austin Beutner, LA’s first deputy mayor and CEO of the Office of Economic and Business Policy, issued a strong statement in favor of the expanded LA Enterprise Zone. More importantly, he backed the general tax policy underlying the EZ Program, i.e. tax credits bring in business and thus more than pay for themselves with other tax revenue and job creation. This is directly contrary to the unions and others who currently oppose the EZ Program.  Beutner had this to say:

Indeed, proof of sincerity on the part of City Hall once was a hurdle in bringing Los Angeles’ economy back to life. But no more. Ronald Reagan used to joke that the scariest words in the English language are: “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” Well, the lesson of this “L.A. Story” is that the city government can and will continue to help businesses, including those already here, that want to be a part of our comeback.

There is constant debate on both sides of the aisle concerning the fate of the California Enterprise Zone. In a state with double digit unemployment numbers, you would think that the state politicians wouldn’t even consider getting rid of the last true vestige of state funded job creation, however some lawmakers still see the lost revenues from the EZ program as more valuable than the jobs they have helped to create. Jay Prag, from Capitol Weekly, had some interesting points on both sides of the argument:

Several recent economic studies have attempted to measure the true impact of California’s Enterprise Zone program. The results are, as they say, mixed. This has led some to call for elimination of the program in order to recapture the “lost tax revenues.” Though these studies provide a thorough hindsight view, it is important to include a forward looking perspective of the business climate that California faces before considering any changes to California’s enterprise zones.

There’s an old cliché about not seeing the forest for the trees. You can extend that perspective a bit like this: If you use a magnifying glass to carefully analyze a single oak tree in the forest for several days at a time, you won’t see it grow. Your conclusion would then be that the tree isn’t growing and by extrapolation, there is no hope for the tree or the forest. Sometimes you need to back up a bit.

Looking forward and not back, California has double-digit unemployment now and likely will for many years to come. States all around the country are competing for employers. The tax advantages of our enterprise zones are one of our very best and most effective tools for bringing employers to the state. As the biggest state in the union, we need the most jobs. Anything that worsens the business climate and job picture in California – and that includes even talking about eliminating the enterprise zones – is, to be blunt, insane.

After a year-long battle, the Century Boulevard corridor in Los Angeles has been approved to be included in the California Enterprise Zone program.  SCPR reported on the development,

State officials have approved the Century Boulevard corridor that leads to and from Los Angeles International Airport as a new part of the “State Enterprise Zone” program. The City of Los Angeles’ bid to add the corridor to the program had stalled in Sacramento for almost a year. But recently appointed Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner stepped in to give it a push.