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Posts Tagged ‘hiring tax credit’

Enterprise Zones the One Bright Spot in an Otherwise Tough California Business Climate

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012 | Enterprise Zones, Tax News

 

In a recent survey, ”almost three-fourths (73%) of California firms that do business in multiple states say it is harder doing business in the Golden State than in other states, according to the 2012 business climate survey of the California Foundation for Commerce and Education.  That finding is higher than in 2011 (57%) or in 2010 (63%). The study of 699 businesses is sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce. No one in the 2012 survey said California is an easier place to do business.”

Respondents are “overwhelmingly unimpressed by California’s state government. Only 2% could name a state action in the past year that helped make it easier to run their business.  Among the action named were enterprise zone tax credits, worker’s compensation reform and minimum-wage increase failed.”

Read the full OC Register article.

Assemblyman Louis Alejo Introduces Bill to Save Expiring Enterprise Zones

Friday, February 17th, 2012 | Enterprise Zones, Legislation, Tax News

 

Assemblyman Louis Alejo, who has been a big supporter of the EZ program over the last few years, has introduced a new bill, AB 484, to address the operation of expiring zones.   Assemblyman Alejo’s district includes Watsonville which is set to expire.  HCD has indicated that it will not be renewing expiring zones or designating new ones for now.  Alejo’s bill seeks to extend the expiring zones until new zones are designated.

Dicon Case Set For Oral Argument

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 | Enterprise Zones, Legislation, Tax News

 

The California Supreme Court has scheduled oral argument in the Dicon case for Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. in San Francisco.

Brown’s Budget Claims It Will Reform Enterprise Zone Program

Thursday, January 5th, 2012 | Enterprise Zones, Legislation, Tax News

 

Brown’s budget released today only hints at future reform measures to the Enterprise Zone program.  Perhaps after getting rid of RDAs, the unions are a bit gunshy about outwardly attempting getting rid of another vehicle that has anything to do with jobs while the economy struggles.  Here is what the budget said about Enterprise Zones:

“The resulting stability from a balanced budget will give businesses the certainty and the reassurance they need to invest in California. In addition, the Administration will propose legislation to reform the enterprise zone program and move to a mandatory single sales factor for apportioning multistate business income. Such changes will allow the state to afford investments in manufacturing, business incentives, and other tax relief.”

San Bernardino EZ Expands

Thursday, December 1st, 2011 | Enterprise Zones, Tax News

 

Effective November 8, 2011, the SBVEC has expanded by about 4 square miles.  Read the full story.

Labor’s Attempt to Limit EZ Credits Fails in Committee

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 | Enterprise Zones, Tax News

 

In today’s Daily Journal:

A bill intended to close a loophole in existing law that lets companies relocate to another city within the state to gain lucrative tax credits failed to pass out of a legislative committee yesterday.

Assembly Bill 1278, authored by Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, was inspired by a company, VWR International, that is ditching Brisbane to relocate to an enterprise zone in the city of Visalia.

But Hill failed to get the four votes needed to move the bill past the committee stage.

“The bill was not supported by the chair. I thought I could do it now and was looking for one Republican to support it,” Hill said.

The state Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy is chaired by Manuel Perez, D-Coachella. Perez’s Assembly District includes Imperial County, which officially opposed Hill’s legislation.

***

Perez’s 80th Assembly District covers all of Imperial County and parts of Riverside County and the area’s high jobless figures prompted him to vote against Hill’s bill.

“Coming from a community with unemployment over 20 percent and that has historically suffered from a lack of private investment and jobs, I’m always concerned about the impacts of business closures on families and communities. My vote today does not reflect my lack of concern about this issue but rather the importance of pushing for a broader enterprise zone reform agenda,” Perez wrote to the Daily Journal in an email.

AB 1278 represented a piecemeal approach, which Perez believes would undermine efforts to reform the enterprise zone program.

“I initiated the reform conversation more than a year ago and the negotiation includes a number of issues such as business relocation and the tighter targeting of business incentives. Some of the reform proposals are in my bills, AB 231 and AB 1411. I hope my actions today will induce labor and business to come back to the table,” he continued in the email.

SBVEZ Exceeds Number of Vouchers Filed Last Year in Half the Time

Thursday, July 21st, 2011 | Enterprise Zones, Tax News

 

From today’s Highland Community News:

The San Bernardino Valley Enterprise Zone (SBVEZ) announced the businesses utilizing the zone have filed more than 2,000 hiring tax credit vouchers since Jan. 2011. The number of vouchers filed this year will soon exceed the total number of vouchers filed in 2010, in just half the time.

Last year, approximately 2,300 vouchers were filed by 182 businesses. This year more than 145 businesses have already taken advantage of the incentive. The zone has seen a significant jump in activity from businesses, suggesting that number of vouchers filed in 2011 will double the number filed last year.

“Each year we seem to double the number of vouchers filed from the previous year, and having already reached 2,000 vouchers is a good sign we will do it again this year,” said Wendy Clements, SBVEZ zone manager. “The continued growth of the program locally shows that our efforts to educate employers about the zone are paying off.”

The hiring tax credit is the most commonly used program incentive, which grants employers a tax deduction for providing a job to a local disadvantaged worker who faces barriers to employment. Common barriers include long-periods of unemployment, receipt of public assistance, lack of skills and education, and having a disability or a criminal history.

The 2,000 vouchers filed so far this year are estimated to produce $75 million in tax savings for these businesses during the five-year period they can claim the credit for a single employee. Reports also show that these cost savings have contributed to the creation of 14 new jobs and the retention of 1,998 existing jobs in the zone.

Designated in 2006, the SBVEZ includes the city of Colton, city of San Bernardino and unincorporated portions of San Bernardino County.

Governor Brown and Democratic Leaders Announce Majority Vote Budget Deal

Monday, June 27th, 2011 | Enterprise Zones, Tax News

The key words are “majority vote” which mean that Brown was unable to garner the two thirds vote necessary to eliminate or “reform” the EZ program out of existence.  The following is from the Sacramento Bee:

Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders announced today that they have reached an agreement on a new majority-vote budget plan.

“We’ve had some tough discussions, but I can tell you that the Democrats in both the Senate and the Assembly have now joined with the administration and myself and we have a very good plan going forward with the budget,” Brown said at a press conference in his office this afternoon.

The proposal, outlined in this post, assumes that the state will bring in an additional $4 billion in revenues in the upcoming fiscal year, based in part on higher-than-expected revenue figures in recent months. If those revenues fail to materialize, steeper cuts to programs including K-12 schools, higher education, public safety programs and In-Home Supportive Services would occur later in the year.

“We have severe trigger cuts that will be triggered and go into effect (without the projected revenues),” Brown said. “And those are real.”

Don’t Mess With (or Learn From) Texas

Monday, June 27th, 2011 | Enterprise Zones, Tax News

 

The California Legislature’s zeal for job creation is, shall we say, less than stellar.  The consequences are obvious.  They are also highlighted in this Sacramento Bee piece from Sunday.

Texas’ unemployment rate was 8 percent, two-thirds of California’s jobless rate, and its seasonally adjusted year-to-year job growth was a robust 2 percent (2.7 percent in private employment).

“We’ve added 92,300 jobs in Texas so far in 2011,” said TWC Commissioner Ronny Congleton. “That is a trend that we hope to continue until all Texans have good jobs earning good wages.”

Texas had fewer than a million unemployed workers in May while California had more than 2 million. Texas’ jobless rate was under the national average, while California’s was the second highest in the nation. Texas has accounted for nearly half of the nation’s job creation since 2009.

“Growth in the Texas economy is gaining steam,” says a recent analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Clearly, Texas and other states are emerging from recession while California’s recovery, if it exists, is decidedly weak, as several new economic reports note.

It means that millions of jobless workers and their families struggle to keep roofs over their heads and food on their tables.

It means that the state is paying out $600 million a month in unemployment insurance and its jobless benefit fund is already $11 billion in the red.

It means that state and local officials struggle with budget deficits and are slashing education, social and health services, police and fire protection.

California politicians are very defensive – even dismissive – about comparisons with Texas, but the economic differentials between the two states are too stark to ignore.

However they deal with the deficit-ridden state budget in the short term, Gov. Jerry Brown and legislators should move economic competitiveness to the top of their agenda.

Enterprise Zone supporters have long made the claim that the EZ program lowers the amount of unemployment claims the state has to pay by far more than the Program pays out.  California legislators can pay heed, or they can continue to ignore those states that do….and the consequences will be again be obvious. 

The Governor’s Proposed Enterprise Zone Reforms “are just another billion-dollar tax increase on businesses.”

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011 | Enterprise Zones, Tax News

 

So says Republican Assemblyman Allan Mansoor.  He calls the governor’s proposal to eliminate Enterprise Zones a breach of contract. 

Read his letter.

 
 
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