Uncategorized

Business Climate Under Fire in SoCal

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) sent a list to California lawmakers documenting 80 businesses and 13,000 jobs which have left or are leaving the state due to what the LAEDC says is an increasingly unattractive business climate, particularly in terms of uncompetitive tax, regulatory and employee benefit costs.
The LAEDC says analysis of the list reveals a threatening business shift. In the past, the jobs departing the region have been middle class jobs. Now there seems to be a shift to headquarters and research and development activities.
“What the Legislature doesn’t seem to understand is the tax revenue impact of the job loss,” said Jack Kyser, senior vice president and chief economist, LAEDC. “A $40,000 job contributes around $5,000 annually to State and local government and schools through the State income tax and sales taxes generated by the employee. The loss of 13,000 jobs at this level costs our public sector some $65 million annually.”
Harrington says the LAEDC recommends that a task force be appointed to consider changes in California’s tax and employment laws to improve the business climate and attract and retain successful, growing companies.
“At the same time the Committee should also be asked to develop recommendations for new ways to enhance the State’s revenues that do not add to business costs so that we can grow businesses and jobs and address our growing needs for infrastructure, education and other services,” he said.
The LAEDC is a private, non-profit organization established in 1981 to attract, retain, and grow business and jobs in Los Angeles County. For more information, visit www.laedc.org.

  • To return to the current issue, click here.
  • For more of the latest news, click here.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button