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.

Here’s a piece from today’s KHTS News in Santa Clarita:

The city of Santa Clarita has received state approval to expand their Enterprise Zone designation, which offers California tax credits for businesses who meet certain standards of hiring or purchasing.

The Enterprise zone was first granted by the state to our area in 2007, and the latest addition will qualify businesses in Bridgeport Marketplace, Granary Square, and Baywood at Bridgeport.

“The Enterprise Zone continues to be one of Santa Clarita’s most successful business retention and attraction tools and we are thrilled that our expansion request was approved by the State,” said Santa Clarita Mayor Laurene Weste. “We encourage all businesses in the new expansion areas and throughout the City to take advantage of this opportunity to realize significant tax savings.”

So far over 150 businesses are taking advantage of tax credits through the program, however since 98% of all local non-residential businesses qualify, the City is pushing for more participation. This expansion was first approved by the City Council in April, and it was part of a two-pronged attack to promote and grow the program as part of a larger 21-point economic stimulus plan.

“One of the points of that was to make sure that every business that can take advantage of this enterprise zone, does,” said Jason Crawford, economic development director for Santa Clarita. “And also expanding the enterprise zone to reach as many businesses as possible, so that everyone can take advantage of the benefits.”

Enterprise zones offer a variety of benefits to businesses, including hiring tax credits, sales and use tax credits, income tax credits for employees, and more. Click here for full benefits list.

Amid the celebration for City Hall comes some potentially sour news. Newly appointed Speaker of the California Assembly John Perez has introduced AB 1139, which proposes restricting enterprise zones’ qualified wage tax credits. If passed, the bill would only allow businesses to accept the tax credit if they pay for 80% of their qualifying employees’ healthcare plans and those employees work over 35 hours per week.

Crawford says that adding such a restriction would be harmful to our economic recovery.

“To me, this is absolutely not the time to be doing that. What we need to see is businesses expanding, being successful, hiring people…that’s what’s going to get us out of the economic times we’re in,” he said. “Doing things that hamstring the enterprise zone is not going to get us there.”

The bill is still in Assembly committee and has not yet been brought to a vote.

The Santa Clarita Enterprise Zone covers 97% of all commercial, business, and industrial zoned land within the City of Santa Clarita. July 2008 marked the 1 year anniversary for the Santa Clarita Enterprise Zone which received its official designation from the State of California back on July 1, 2007.

Are You in the Zone?

If your business is located in the City of Santa Clarita or you plan to move your business to Santa Clarita, you should check to see if you are within the Santa Clarita Enterprise Zone boundaries – making your business eligible for significant savings through tax credits and deductions.

Please review the Santa Clarita Enterprise Zone map or list of street ranges to determine if your business is located within the qualified area.

Want to Learn More about the Available Benefits?

The Enterprise Zone program offers special tax incentives to businesses located within the Zone. Click here for information on available benefits including hiring tax credits, sales and use tax credits, business expense deductions, net interest deductions, and net operating loss carryover deductions.

Want to Know if an Employee is Eligible for the Hiring Tax Credit?

Companies located in the Enterprise Zone can receive a tax credit for hiring individuals meeting certain qualifications.

For employee vouchering instructions please click here for the Complete Employer Voucher Application Packet which includes instructions and a sample Hiring Tax Credit Voucher.

Where Are the Santa Clarita Targeted Employment Areas (TEAs)?

To determine if an applicant resides in one of Santa Clarita’s TEAs, please click here

Local businesses in San Francisco may soon find themselves being able to take advantage of new state tax credits. Many people don’t realize that the San Francisco region is already an Enterprise Zone, however the city is considering applying for an expansion for 2010. One of the main areas that would benefit the most from an Enterprise Zone designation is the old Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, which has re-development plans for new stores, restaurants, etc. to bring life back into the area.

These plans are following up on the 2007 EZ expansion that increased the size of the zone to nearly 6,000 acres throughout the city.

For more information on the Yuba-Sutter proposed Enterprise Zone expansion program, click the link below to download the full document:

Appearance – Resolution – Y-S Enterprise Zone Boundaries

Happy New Year from C & I Tax Consultants

Porterville has the distinction of being one of California’s first Enterprise Zones. The Enterprise Zone boundaries are roughly described as Highway 65 east to Plano Street, from Olive Avenue south to Gibbons Avenue.  Companies located in the Enterprise Zone are eligible to receive the following tax credits and benefits:

• Hiring Credits
• Sales or Use Tax Credit
• Business Expense Deduction
• Net Operating Loss Carryover (NOL)
• Net Interest Deduction for Lenders
• Preference Points on State Contracts
• Preference Points on Industrial Development Bonds
• Expeditious processing of plans and permits
• 10 year, 0% payment plan for permits and development fees

BUSINESS INCENTIVE ZONE

California’s only targeted tax area, Porterville is part of Tulare County’s Business Incentive Zone (“The BIZ”).  BIZ boundaries encompass the entire City of Porterville and offers many of the same benefits available through the Enterprise Zone program.  Businesses qualify for BIZ advantages based on the Standard
Industrial Codes (SIC).  Qualifying SIC codes are as follows:

2000 – 2099 Food Processing
2200 – 3999 Certain Other Manufacturing
4200 – 4299 Motor Freight Transportation & Warehousing
4500 – 4599 Transportation by Air
4700 – 5199 Transportation Service & Wholesale Trade

So why did Downey get the new Tesla plant over Long Beach? See below for Gerrie Schipske’s view on the situation. This article was what she posted on her blog:

Gerrie Schipske, councilwoman for Long Beach’s fifth district, has been outspoken in her desire to keep alive the possibility of Tesla Motors locating its plant in Long Beach.

She personally contacted Elon Musk, President of Tesla to ask him what the City of Long Beach was doing to encourage his company to locate there. She also mounted a letter writing campaign called “Long Beach — We Can Do Better Than Downey.”

She used her blog to prod Long Beach officials to actively market the City to get Tesla here. So today upon learning that Tesla has signed a letter of intent with Downey to locate a plant which will manufacture 20,000 electric vehicles and produce 1,000 jobs she issued the following statement:

“The taxpayers of Long Beach deserve a full explanation about who or what killed the deal to bring Tesla to Long Beach. How did we lose this revenue producing opportunity to Downey? Long Beach has so much more to offer to a business than most southern California locations — we have manufacturing space at the Boeing site, nearness to freeways, an airport, a port, railroad, convention center, training programs at our local community college and most importantly a workforce ready and willing to work. We also have an enterprise zone that provides tax credits for employers. And just recently the City announced it won the ‘Most Business Friendly City Award’ in Los Angeles County.

So what went wrong?

Anyone who has worked in corporate America knows how important it is to develop positive relationships in order to do business, which is exactly what the City of Downey did and the City of Long Beach did not do.

Unlike the City of Downey, which marshaled its Mayor and Council to actively court Tesla through calls, letters, ads and personal outreach, Long Beach apparently treated Tesla as a ‘second-class citizen’ according to comments made to me and to the press by Tesla President, Elon Musk. (It would be interesting to examine how much time and effort was really expended by Long Beach officials and staff in recruiting Tesla.)

I would like to congratulate the City of Downey for getting Tesla, and thank them for helping to keep these important types of jobs in the region.”

Here’s a piece from the San Bernardino Sun from a few days ago:

Enterprise zone program succeeding

Patrick J. Morris
Posted: 12/21/2009 08:35:27 PM PST

It is no secret this is one of the most challenging budget years for California. It is understandable that a thorough review of the state’s expenditures is taking place.
One such expenditure under review – the California Enterprise Zone Program – is directly tied to the success of many of our small and medium-sized businesses. The changes in policy being discussed could increase the cost of doing business for many local companies and put jobs at risk.

The San Bernardino Valley Enterprise Zone is our local zone in this program. It is a 42-square-mile region that includes the cities of San Bernardino and Colton plus portions of county property, and contains 4,000 businesses. These businesses are eligible for tax credits and business incentives if they meet certain specifications. These incentives not only serve to attract businesses to locate to the zone, but also allow companies to reduce the cost of doing business. This leads to greater and more stable employment in the enterprise zone.

California’s Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy is reviewing and considering revisions to the California Enterprise Zone Program statewide, and recently completed a series of pubic hearings in the process.

These hearings, held in San Diego and San Jose, were attended by a number of businesses from enterprise zone areas that shared and identified ways the program is helping to stimulate their local economy and keep their businesses stable.

The Assembly Committee heard them and I hope their testimony will be considered.

Some of the feedback received from businesses in the San Bernardino Valley Enterprise Zone also makes a strong case in support of this zone and its impact to help our local employers continue to thrive and employ residents.

It is difficult to argue with evidence of an employer that is not just surviving, but thriving in this difficult economy.

For example, Brithinee Electric, a manufacturer of industrial electric motors, wind generators and custom motor control centers, has utilized the enterprise zone program for nine years, and as a result, has doubled its work force. The tax credits allowed Brithinee Electric to hire local residents, and the savings produced by the tax credits funded additional technical skills training for these new hires.

According to Tom Lund, director of operations for Isolatek International, a leading manufacturer of passive-fire resistive materials for commercial construction, the enterprise zone was an additional incentive to move to San Bernardino in 2007. The company has filed hiring tax credits and will file for sales and use tax credits on equipment purchased, which will increase their savings. Now in the process of hiring an additional 20 employees, the incentives are helping make the company more competitive and employ more people.

These are two examples of how effectively this program is working in our local economy, and there are many more similar stories.

Unfortunately, not all the businesses located in the zone are taking advantage of these incentives. In an economy like this, no company should be leaving money on the table.

Businesses located in the San Bernardino Valley Enterprise Zone may reduce state income tax by more than $35,000 per qualified employee over a five-year period. Another incentive helps enterprise zone businesses by allowing a tax reduction for property and equipment that is purchased and used within the boundaries of the zone. For our small and medium-sized businesses, these incentives can make a difference between profit and loss.

I urge all businesses located in the enterprise zone to take advantage of these incentives that will reduce their business costs. The process is not complicated and more information can be found at www.sbvez.com.

I also encourage legislators considering revisions to the enterprise zone program to avoid removing any incentives that may increase the cost of doing business for our local employers. This program is helping to sustain our struggling businesses and keeping our residents employed during these challenging times.

Patrick J. Morris is mayor of San Bernardino.

Click here for the original article.