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Jessica Selva, from the SFV Business Journal, had this to say about the news, “The bill, introduced by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg on Feb. 8, would narrow the eligibility criteria of hard-to-hire employees, such as ex-offenders, that a business could claim for the hiring tax. It would also eliminate retro-active vouchering for the credit and would remove the credit’s focus on targeted employment areas. The bill is now being considered by the State Assembly’s Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy. If passed by the Assembly, the bill would take effect Jan. 1, 2011.”

Senate Bills

• SB 516 (DeSaulnier/Torlakson) Establish Voluntary Contribution For California Fund For Youth – Amended 06/15/10
• SB 1056 (Denham, et al.) Employer Credit/Wages Paid To Each Qualified Veteran – Amended 05/24/10
• SB 1071 (DeSaulnier) Prescription Drug Credit/Persons 55 Or Older – Amended 06/16/10
• SB 1316 (Romero) Low Income Community Investment Credit/Non-recognized Gain Doesn’t Include Out-Of-State Property Exchanges – Amended 06/16/10
• SB 1324 (Negrete McLeod) State Agencies Authorized To Impose Additional Fees For Requests Of Public Records For Commercial Use – Introduced 02/19/10
• SB 1425 (Simitian, et al.) California Public Employees’ Retirement System – Retirees Who Have Not Reinstated May Not Perform Services For State Until Separated From Service For At Least 180 Days – Introduced 02/19/10 & Amended 04/05/10 & 05/04/10
• SBX6 19 (Florez) FTB Compile Specified Corporation Tax Expenditure Information & Include On The State Reporting Transparency In Government Internet Web Site – Revised Introduced 05/26/10

Assembly Bills

• AB 1662 (Portantino, et al.) Disaster Loss Deduction/Excess Loss Carryover/August 2009 Los Angeles & Monterey County Wildfires & January 2010 Calaveras, Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Francisco, & Siskiyou County Winter Storms – Original Analysis Revised 01/19/10
• AB 1690 (Chesbro) Disaster Loss Deduction/Excess Loss Carryover/January 2010 Humboldt County Earthquake – Original Analysis Revised 01/27/10
• AB 1766 (Gaines) Disaster Loss Deductions/Excess Loss Carryover/August 2009 Placer County Wildfires – Original Analysis Revised 04/06/10 & 04/15/10;
• AB 1973 (Swanson) Jobs Tax Credit – Amended 05/28/10
• AB 1993 (Strickland) State Agency Written Reports Required To Be Submitted To The Legislature, Any State Legislative Or Executive Body Shall Include Signed Statement By The Head Of The Agency – Amended 05/11/10 & 05/20/10
• AB 2091 (Conway) Public Records/Exempts Public Agency Information Security Records From Disclosure – Introduced 02/18/10
• AB 2136 (Perez, et al.) Disaster Loss Deduction/Excess Loss Carryover/April 2010 Imperial County Earthquake – Amended 06/16/10
• AB 2666 (Skinner) Employer Tax Credits/Information Reporting/Failure To File Information Penalty/FTB Compile Information Received & Submit To State Chief Information Officer For Publication On The Reporting Transparency In Government Internet Web Site – Amended 05/28/10
• AB 2671 (Cook) Minimum Franchise Tax/Exempt Corporations And Limited Liability Companies Owned Solely By Deployed Member Of U.S. Armed Forces That Operate At A Loss Or Ceases Operation – Amended 06/16/10

Senate Bills

• SB 1426 (DeSaulnier, et al.) State Budget/Two-Year Spending Plan – Amended 05/26/10

Assembly Bills

• AB 1779 (Niello, et al.) Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Modification and Extension – Amended 05/03/10
• AB 1899 (Eng/Lieu) State Agencies Post Specified Audits & Contracts To The Reporting Transparency In Government Internet Web Site – Amended 05/28/10
• AB 2017 (Hall, et al.) California YMCA Youth And Government Fund – Amended 05/28/10
• AB 2041 (Villiness/Smyth) Health Savings Account Deduction Conformity – Amended 05/11/10
• AB 2126 (Garrick, et al.) Minimum Franchise Tax/Small Businesses That First Commence Business On Or After January 1, 2011, Exempt First Taxable Year And $100 Succeeding 9 Taxable Years – Amended 05/18/10
• AB 2148 (Tran/Portantino) Deduction For Physician’s Medical Services Performed Free Of Charge To Local Community Clinic Or Emergency Department Of General Acute Care Hospital – Amended 05/18/10
• AB 2403 (Strickland) State Agencies Post Specified Audits & Contracts To The Reporting Transparency In Government Internet Web Site – Introduced 02/19/10 & Amended 04/26/10
• AB 2528 (Knight) Exclusion/Payments Or Vouchers From Federal Consumer Assistance To Recycle & Save Act Of 2009 (aka “Cash For Clunkers”) – Amended 05/05/10
• AB 2559 (Perez, John A.) State Agencies/Prohibits Requiring Social Security Numbers For Benefit, Service, Privilege, Or Participation In Any Program – Introduced 02/19/10
• AB 2589 (Tran) Dual Renewable Energy Device Credit – Amended 04/08/10
• AB 2605 (De La Torre) State Property Sales Or Long-Term Leases – Amended 06/01/10
• AB 2630 (Emmerson/Cook, et al.) Jobs Tax Credit – Amended 05/18/10

Senate Bills

• SB 1008 (Padilla) Limited Partnerships & Foreign Limited Partnerships/Engineers & Land Surveyors – Amended 03/15/10 & 04/28/10
• SB 1391 (Yee) Employer Tax Credit/Reporting Information/New Credits Chaptered After January 1, 2011, Would Be Recaptured If Taxpayer Has Net Decrease In Full-Time Employees – Amended 05/19/10
• SB 1426 (De Saulnier, et al.) State Budget/ Two-Year Spending Plan – Introduced 02/19/10
• SB 1463 (De Saulnier) Corporate Flexibility Act Of 2010/Flexible Purpose Corporation – Introduced 02/19/10 & Amended 04/05/10
• SBX6 19 (Florez) FTB Compile Specified Corporation Tax Expenditure Information & Include On The State Reporting Transparency In Government Internet Web Site – Introduced 05/26/10

After seeing the success of the city’s local enterprise zone, Villaraigosa suggested that the new policy would help increase overall revenues for the city.

So what do the experts think about the policy? “The new policy will lead to the creation of up to 55,000 jobs and generate additional revenue for the city of Los Angeles,” said Charles Swenson, a USC professor who conducted research specifically for the initiative. “In addition, the multiplier effect of additional economic activity in the city nets a positive revenue impact.”

This announcement was posted by the LA Business Journal, you can read the full article by clicking here.

K. Lloyd Billingsley proposes the following ideas below:

An enterprise zone is an economically depressed area targeted for revitalization through tax and regulatory relief. Such relief attracts business, provides jobs, reduces poverty and generally improves conditions. California has 42 enterprise zones, recently criticized as “ineffective” by scholars David Neumark and Jed Kolko. That prompted some business owners to fire back.

“The Enterprise Zones scattered throughout the state are like a business-friendly oasis in the desert of high-cost and regulation that is California,” wrote Daniel Morrow in the February 12, 2009, Capitol Weekly. “The tax breaks for buying equipment and hiring people provide exactly the kind of incentive that is necessary to get business to stay in California in the first place and serve as an attraction for new businesses as well, one of the very few California has to offer.”

California could also use another idea favored by Jack Kemp, an advocate of the flat tax. This means everybody pays the same rate, instead of a more punitive (what “progressive” really means) rate for high-income workers. During an economic downturn, punitive rates make for revenue instability. In Ending the Revenue Rollercoaster (2008), PRI’s Robert P. Murphy made the case for a flat state income tax of 3 percent. Said Steve Forbes, “A 3 percent flat tax would trigger the biggest boom in California since the Gold Rush!” And a flat income tax would help prevent the boom from being followed by a bust, our current condition.