In what was mostly a redux of the AB1139 hearings a few months ago, the JEDE held the first in what will likely be a series of hearings relating to AB1139. Being pushed hard by the unions, AB1139 is set for vote by the Committee in January 2010. The Committee heard testimony from the usual players. Proponents of the Enterprise Zone program seem to have the upper hand in the presentations by presenting lucid, relevant data and testimony illuminating the EZ benefits. Opponents seemed to repeat the same talking points that have held little traction over the past year with legislators. At one point, a union representative began to berate the EZ consultants prompting Committee Chair Perez to sternly talk him down and ordered him to stick to the facts of his presentation. Over the next few weeks, I will post several of the articles and studies from the hearing as we gear up for more hearings and the eventual vote in January. Below is the Committee’s statement about its goal in examining the EZ program:

The Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy (JEDE) is initiating a comprehensive examination of the California Enterprise Zone Program and the other state programs related to geographically-targeted economic development areas (G-TEDAs).

It is the Committee’s objective in undertaking this review to provide Members of the Legislature and the public with a more comprehensive understanding of where the state’s resources are being expended and the value these types of expenditures have for local communities. Given the current state of the economy, it is imperative that the Legislature ensure that economic and workforce development programs are best used to meet the immediate and longer term economic recovery needs of the state.

The Committee currently plans to hold three public hearings between August 18 and October 17, 2009. Stakeholder meetings are planned for the latter part of October and possibly into early November 2009. A reform proposal is expected to be sent to the Office of the California State Legislative Counsel in early November 2009. Copies of draft amendments will be available through the JEDE Office in early December 2009. Legislation arising from these hearings will, most likely, be heard in the first two weeks of January 2010.

If you are like most of the readers of this blog, you follow California tax law very closely, and you will be very interested to know thatAB 1452 describes the new tax code changes that appear like they will be taking effect shortly.   If you want to know how this affects you or your clients, you can call us directly at (314) 550-1666 and we can help navigate you through how we can help you take full advantage of your available tax credits.  The official AB 1452 quote is below:

3. Limit business tax credits in 2008-09 and 2009-10: Limits the amounts of business incentive tax credits that can be used to reduce tax liability in 2008-09 and 2009-10. Use of credits will be limited to 50 percent of the taxpayer’s liability, and this increases General Fund revenue by $890 million in 2008-09 and $415 million in 2009-10. Taxpayers with net business income of less than $500,000 will be exempted from this change. Various tax credits are included in these amendments, including the Research and Development credit, the Enterprise Zone credit, and Low-Income Housing credits. Beginning in 2010, these amendments liberalize the use of credits such that businesses could assign credits to any affiliated corporation. This increases the use of tax credits in 2010, and thereafter, resulting in a loss of General Fund revenues.