California's business climate may not be on life support, but it remains in critical condition.
Governor Schwarzenegger deserves credit for helping turn the economy around. He's whittled away at our structural budget deficit. But, we're still hopping around on one sore leg when we should be sprinting with two healthy ones.
Overtaxation of businesses and consumers is a huge drag on the economy. And overtaxation is directly tied to the runaway spending that always seems to devour whatever new tax revenues are generated.
We need an appropriations limit that controls this runaway; a spending limit not directly subject to annual shifts in the political winds. The old "Gann Limit" was effective at that task. Therefore, I am introducing a constitutional amendment very similar to the one that Sen. Tom McClintock and I jointly authored in 2004, SCA 16. It would index the expenditure limit to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
California needs a major infrastructure overhaul, roads, power plants and transmission lines, water storage, schools, etc. The Governor recently expressed his vision for infrastructure renewal. It's an investment we desperately need, but we must be careful how we fund it because over reliance on bonds threatens our state's economic health. Our debt-service ratio has fluctuated from three to 5.5 percent in recent years, but already is projected to shoot as high as six and seven percent during the next few years.
I'm also dedicated to blocking the growing campaign to reverse the hard-earned bipartisan workers comp reforms of 2004. The reforms have helped tremendously even if they were not as comprehensive as I would have liked. A Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) reports that, for employers, the average cost per $100 of payroll fell to $4.42 during the first nine months of 2005 – the lowest since early 2002 when the rate stood at $4.39. (In comparison, the WCIRB has reported that rates peaked at $6.46 per $100 of payroll in July 2003, the highest in the nation.)
According to filings with the Department of Insurance, carriers plan to cut rates by an average of 15.03 percent this winter. Insurers have slashed rates a cumulative 37.8 percent since the reforms took effect in early 2004.
Should we throw out those reforms and again encourage other states to headhunt our best employers and employees? Over my dead body.
However I am optimistic that we'll continue moving forward with a positive agenda. Everything Californians want is premised on a sound economy and healthy business climate.
Governor Schwarzenegger deserves credit for helping turn the economy around. He's whittled away at our structural budget deficit. But, we're still hopping around on one sore leg when we should be sprinting with two healthy ones.
Overtaxation of businesses and consumers is a huge drag on the economy. And overtaxation is directly tied to the runaway spending that always seems to devour whatever new tax revenues are generated.
We need an appropriations limit that controls this runaway; a spending limit not directly subject to annual shifts in the political winds. The old "Gann Limit" was effective at that task. Therefore, I am introducing a constitutional amendment very similar to the one that Sen. Tom McClintock and I jointly authored in 2004, SCA 16. It would index the expenditure limit to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
California needs a major infrastructure overhaul, roads, power plants and transmission lines, water storage, schools, etc. The Governor recently expressed his vision for infrastructure renewal. It's an investment we desperately need, but we must be careful how we fund it because over reliance on bonds threatens our state's economic health. Our debt-service ratio has fluctuated from three to 5.5 percent in recent years, but already is projected to shoot as high as six and seven percent during the next few years.
I'm also dedicated to blocking the growing campaign to reverse the hard-earned bipartisan workers comp reforms of 2004. The reforms have helped tremendously even if they were not as comprehensive as I would have liked. A Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) reports that, for employers, the average cost per $100 of payroll fell to $4.42 during the first nine months of 2005 – the lowest since early 2002 when the rate stood at $4.39. (In comparison, the WCIRB has reported that rates peaked at $6.46 per $100 of payroll in July 2003, the highest in the nation.)
According to filings with the Department of Insurance, carriers plan to cut rates by an average of 15.03 percent this winter. Insurers have slashed rates a cumulative 37.8 percent since the reforms took effect in early 2004.
Should we throw out those reforms and again encourage other states to headhunt our best employers and employees? Over my dead body.
However I am optimistic that we'll continue moving forward with a positive agenda. Everything Californians want is premised on a sound economy and healthy business climate.