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Below is a letter from CAEZ President Craig Johnson regarding Assemblyman Perez and AB1139:

Dear CAEZ Members and Friends of CAEZ,

As you can see from the article below, Assemblyman John Perez, the author of AB 1139, will become the new Speaker of the State Assembly. Assemblyman Perez also recently removed AB 1139 from the January 5th agenda of the Assembly Jobs & Economic Development Committee. Both of these developments should give us pause, as his intentions toward the Enterprise Zone program are at best, unclear at this point.

We will still have a fight on our hands to preserve and advance the Enterprise Zone program in 2010, as the Legislative Analysts Office has once again called for the abolition of the program.

I will keep you apprised as things develop and ask that you continue to provide CAEZ with your success stories. This effort is vital if we are to combat the onslaught of negative press that continues to appear in newspapers and Journals across the state. Legislators read! It is incumbnet upon us to share our successes with our Legislators in every part of the State. If we don’t do it, no one will.

Thank you for your continued support of the Enterprise Zone program.

CRAIG JOHNSON
President
California Association of Enterprise Zones

Perez emerges from speakership battle
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009
Assemblyman John A. Perez’s final opponent has bowed out, setting the stage for the first-term Democrat to be selected Assembly speaker today — the first openly gay man to hold the post.
After behind-closed-door talks this week with Perez and other political leaders, Assemblyman Kevin de Leon agreed to bow out and is expected to nominate Perez in an Assembly Democratic Caucus today, Capitol sources said.
It is not clear when a formal floor vote will be taken, but by uniting behind a candidate, Democrats need not rely on GOP votes.
De Leon’s decision ends one of the nastiest battles over the Assembly’s top job in recent history, with allegations of backstabbing, double crossing and political deceit.
Perez, cousin of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, will replace current Speaker Karen Bass, who will be forced out of the Legislature by term limits next year.
Democratic colleagues praised Perez, who has served this year as caucus chairman, helping steer the 51-member group through often bitter disagreement as California’s reeling economy forced billions in cuts to education and other public services.
“He’s fair, he’s inclusive, he’s articulate, he’s focused, he’s a team player, and he’s friends with everybody,” said Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Los Angeles.
Lowenthal said that Perez’s status as a first-year legislator was an asset because he can serve five years as Assembly leader before being termed out.
“I trust him,” Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, said of Perez. “If he says that he’s going to do something, I believe that he will.”
Republicans said that they differ markedly in political ideology from either Perez or de Leon, both labor-backed Democrats, so the selection of one over the other makes no substantive difference in prospects for GOP legislation.
Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia, said Perez has demonstrated a “great deal of integrity and steady handedness” and that Republicans must find a way to work with whomever Democrats choose because they hold 51 of the 80 seats.
“Candidly, what choice do we have?” Adams said.
Perez, who is chairman of the Assembly Democratic Caucus and was regarded much of the year as a potential candidate for speaker, entered the fray as a late-comer after being pushed by colleagues.
The final days marked a political whirlwind that apparently pulled the rug from under de Leon, who was regarded as the clear frontrunner but never won commitments from a majority of the 51-member Democratic Caucus.
Behind the scenes, the race appeared over shortly before Thanksgiving, when Villaraigosa hosted a private meeting of Perez, de Leon and former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, de Leon’s childhood buddy and lifelong friend, Capitol officials said.
The session ended over a bottle of wine, officials said, with de Leon expected to become speaker and Perez targeted to run with no major Democratic opposition for the Senate seat of Cedillo, who has long coveted a move to the Assembly once he is termed out next year.
Despite the apparent understanding, de Leon was not able to quickly muster the caucus majority necessary to secure the post.
Torrico said many Democratic colleagues simply felt that de Leon, chairman of the powerful Assembly Appropriations Committee, had not led committees focused on major policy issues and was not “up to the job” of speaker.
“Too many people believe that he didn’t earn his stripes, that Fabian Nunez did all the heavy lifting for him,” Torrico said.
Days after the late November meeting with Villaraigosa, Perez switched gears and opted to fight de Leon for the speaker’s job after being lobbied heavily to run by Assembly Democrats Jared Huffman and Fiona Ma, among others.
With Bass’ support, commitments quickly began swinging Perez’s way.
Torrico said he felt a turning point came with commitments by Ma and Los Angeles Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes to Perez.
“Once they came on board with Mr. Perez, basically the three most operational people in the Assembly were on the same team,” he said. “That was a force that could overcome a four-year head start that Kevin de Leon had over John Perez.”
Last week, Bass held a press conference to throw her support behind Perez, declare that a majority of the Democratic Caucus supported him, and to announce that she would begin working with Perez to set a timetable for transition.
Neither Perez nor de Leon commented publicly about the turn of events, but privately, de Leon’s camp continued to press the fight.
The same day that Bass told the media that Perez’s victory was imminent, 10 members of the Assembly’s 17-member Latino Caucus met at the Sheraton Hotel, after which seven declared their support for de Leon as speaker.
At the time, Assemblyman Pedro Nava, a Santa Barbara Democrat who supported de Leon, said the contest was far from over.
“I think that we have a large number of very independent-thinking people who are not going to be stampeded into making a decision,” Nava said.
Since then, Perez and de Leon, along with others, have been ironing out differences in private talks, leading to today’s conciliation.
Doug Herman, Perez’s political consultant, said he does not expect tension to linger between the two finalists for the top job.
“John would never double-cross Kevin,” Herman said. “I think they both want to be able to, and will be able to, work together.”

So far, the highlights of the show have been new HCD Branch Chief John Nun. He roused the crowd yesterday with his opening remarks focused on making the EZ program more transparent and efficient. He informed the audience that his job duties are focused exclusively on the EZ program. He has increased his staff by two members. Each staff member will be assigned to a number of zones that they will be responsible for and in fact intend to visit. John’s on hand’s approach was widely welcomed and highly praised by the audience and by CAEZ President Craig Johnson who gave his own rousing rally-the-troops speech this morning. The theme of these two speakers was the word “unprecedented” which Johnson had the audience recite with him. From lobbying, to public relations to statutory review and close collaboration with HCD, the CAEZ is taking shape and taking charge like never before. Yolanda Benson and Toni Symonds gave insightful presentations regarding current legislation, including AB 1139 and the schedule for the next few months. The legislative discussion seemed to come full circle to Johnson’s message that the audience get involved and continue to the wave of activism that is taking the EZ program to a whole new level.

Here’s an email I received from CAEZ president Craig Johnson about the two new hearings.

Dear CAEZ Members and Friends of CAEZ,

The Speaker of the Assembly has approved two additional Enterprise Zone hearings for the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy. The first is scheduled for October 8 in the Bay Area and the second will be held October 14 in Southern California. Each of the two hearings will have different topics, unknown to us at this time, as is the exact location of the hearings.

Your CAEZ leadership will be meeting with the Enterprise Zone Coalition to discuss strategy and potential speakers, once we know the topics to be discussed and the hearing format. If any of you are available to attend one or both of these hearings, there will be a public comment period where the public is encouraged to speak on any topic related to the Enterprise Zone program. It would serve CAEZ and the EZ program well, to have as many public comment speakers as possible speaking in support of the program. Your active participation in this process is critical to the continued success of the EZ program.

I will keep you apprised as more information is released.

Thank you for your continued support of CAEZ and the Enterprise Zone Program.

CRAIG JOHNSON
President
California Association of Enterprise Zones

Cal-Tax has been asked to participate as amicus before the California Supreme Court in support of respondent Dicon Fiberoptics, Inc. on the merits of Dicon Fiberoptics, Inc. v. Franchise Tax Board. In that case the lower court sustained the FTB’s demurrer in a tax refund lawsuit arising out of a claim for enterprise zone hiring credits. The FTB claimed that because the taxpayer could not produce underlying documentation in support of its vouchers entitling it to hiring credits, the taxpayer could not state a cause of action.

Dicon Fiberoptics appealed to the Second District, claiming that the FTB did not have the right to audit the voucher once issued. The court held that FTB was entitled to audit the voucher, but that the voucher was prima facie evidence that an employee is a qualified worker for the purpose of the hiring credit and the voucher shifts the burden to the FTB to prove that the worker is not qualified. The California Supreme Court has granted review.

This is an important case because the only other case on the issue is Appeal of Deluxe Corporation, a BOE decision that held the FTB has the authority to audit vouchers, and statutes granting FTB authority to examine and audit tax returns bear no exception for decisions by other governmental bodies, such as zone coordinators that issue vouchers. It is important that a Supreme Court decision on this issue be favorable to taxpayers and that it decline to rule that FTB has unlimited authority to require voucher documentation from the taxpayer.

Yesterday was the CAEZ quarterly meeting where a host of new faces were introduced to the EZ world. First, replacing Frank Luera at HCD will be Tom Bettencourt and John Nunn. Both men seem to be well suited for the role. Replacing Jeanne Harriman will be Jayme Mora and James Dudley. They have years of Enterprise Zone experience under their belt and seemed very inviting and helpful. James was even brave enough to give the group his email address. We look forward to a very supportive and beneficial relationship with both groups.

Toni Symonds, chief consultant for California State Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy briefed the group regarding AB 1139. Looks like there will be a public hearing on August 18, 2009 and the bill will likely reach the Committee on January 5, 2010. The discussion will focus on what is the purpose and goals of the EZ and whether the program achieves these goals.

Also, AB 1554, a little known bill, should be garnering support by the CAEZ. AB 1554 aligns the reporting period with the period that HCD was actually administering the program. There will be much more to come, especially regarding AB 1139.

Last, the CAEZ annual conference is coming up on November 4-6 in Fresno.

This morning, CAEZ president Craig Johnson announced that on July 21 & 22, members of the “CAEZ Board of Directors will have the opportunity to meet in Sacramento with members of the Housing and Community Development management team and representatives from the Franchise Tax Board, who will be assuming the position formerly held by our good friend Jeanne Harriman.” Frank Luera recently left his post as head of the HCD and Harriman recently left her post at the FTB. The new government liaisons for the Enterprise Zone program are eagerly anticipated.

Here is Craig Johnson’s recent retort in support of California’s Enterprise Zones. Enjoy the audio.

Dear CAEZ Members & Friends of CAEZ,

In response to the PPIC report, which was making it’s debut in Sacramento today, I appeared on San Francisco radio station KQED this morning along with one of the co-author’s of the study, Jed Kolko. The audio of the show is linked below.

Click for Audio

We will continue to face the slings and arrows of our foes throughout the remainder of the legislative calendar and I urge each of you to be prepared to share the many successes of our program.

Thank you all for your continued support of the program and CAEZ.

CRAIG JOHNSON
President
California Association of Enterprise Zones

CAEZ president Craig Johnson wrote this letter today to the local Enterprise Zone community:

Dear CAEZ Members and Friends of CAEZ,

Following the legislative hearing for AB 1139 on April 29, CAEZ pledged to work with Assemblyman John Perez and the sponsors of AB 1139. To that end, the attached letter was mailed this morning to Assemblyman Perez and all of the Members of the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development & the Economy. This letter addresses the numerous inaccuracies cited by the supporters of the bill, corrects the record about the program, it’s structure, mission and accomplishments.

CAEZ continues to monitor legislative activity in Sacramento that may affect our program, especially as the Legislature continues to grapple with record budget deficits. I will keep you apprised of any urgent matters that require a call to action of our Membership. Your response to AB 1139 assures me of your commitment to the defense of our program during perilous times.

Thank you again for your continued support of the Enterprise Zone program.

Sincerely,

CRAIG JOHNSON
President
California Association of Enterprise Zones