BILL NUMBER: AB 32 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Lara
(Coauthor: Assembly Member V. Manuel Pérez)
DECEMBER 6, 2010
An act to add Section 65054.10 to the Government Code,
relating to entrepreneurship the Office of
Small Business Advocate .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 32, as amended, Lara. Entrepreneurship: economic
gardening. Office of Small Business Advocate:
entrepreneurship.
Existing law creates the Office of Small Business Advocate in the
Office of Planning and Research in the Governor's office. Existing
law creates the California Small Business Board for the purpose of,
among other things, advising the Governor and the Small Business
Advocate regarding issues and programs affecting this state's small
business community.
This bill would state the intention of the Legislature to
enact legislation require the Office of Small
Business Advocate to establish a program that supports
entrepreneurship as a form of economic development and job creation
in communities throughout this state. This legislation would
provide for research and assessment of urban and suburban
communities regarding their assets, skills, and needs, and utilize
that data to determine economic opportunities in those communities
and support access to capital for entrepreneurs in these communities.
The legislation would also, among other things, identify
opportunities for local and state agencies to remove barriers to make
siting, zoning, and licensing easier for small businesses, in order
to allow for entrepreneurial job creation, and promote the
development of entrepreneurial education curricula and programs.
This bill would require the program to accomplish
certain objectives related to encouraging entrepreneurship and small
business development, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Our state has been hit hard by the global economic recession.
Currently, the state faces a 12.4 percent unemployment rate, the
third highest in the nation, which puts over 2.2 million Californians
out of work. Further, this staggering loss of employment has
contributed to California's $26 billion budget deficit. In its third
quarterly report of 2010, the UCLA Anderson Forecast predicts "very
sluggish growth" for the foreseeable future for the United States
economy. For California, the forecast calls for "a difficult period
ahead" as California attempts to generate not only the 1.3 million
jobs lost during the recession, but also the "additional jobs needed
for new entrants individuals that have been
seeking entrance into the job market over the past two and a
half years."
(b) According to the November 2010 Report of the Employment
Development Department, currently Californians are employed largely
in service industry jobs, with trade, transportation, and utilities
ranking first, local government second, and professional and business
services third. It is imperative that California does everything
possible to maintain these jobs. However, the state also needs to
create an environment that fosters innovation and entrepreneurship in
order to reduce our high unemployment rate.
(c) California's rich tradition of supporting innovation and
entrepreneurial spirit led to great successes like Silicon Valley and
our cutting edge advances in green technology, such as biofuels and
hydrogen fuel cells. Over the past 20 years these
industrieshave this tradition has created jobs
for California while allowing the state to achieve huge advances in
air quality standards that safeguard the health and safety of
Californians.
(d) Despite California's many advancements, the state has suffered
a loss in manufacturing and technical service jobs to other states
and regions in the world overseas. In order to remain nationally and
globally competitive, California must focus on tangible
solutions and alternative solutions to our unemployment
rate.
(e) "Economic gardening" is an innovative economic development
model that embraces entrepreneurship as a driving force for job
creation and growth. It originated in 1987 in Littleton, Colorado,
and is based on the idea that a community needs an economic
development plan that utilizes its particular strengths. Rather than
solely relying on conventional models for attracting big businesses
to communities, it encourages job growth from within, by focusing on
small businesses and local entrepreneurs. In essence, economic
gardening allows communities to "grow their own jobs." This is
especially useful in communities that are not able to depend on
traditional business models because they lack the infrastructure or
land to attract and sustain large businesses in their regions. For
example, while large cities may be able to compete for global
businesses and capital, smaller communities may not be able to do so
and may find that concentrating on local businesses and growth is
more conducive to their needs.
(f) Economic gardening is based on research by David Birch of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who proposed that most new
jobs in any local economy were produced by smaller, local,
high-growth businesses. Since then, a growing body of research
suggests that small and local businesses are important drivers of
economic growth. The United States Census Bureau found that between
1990 and 2003, companies employing fewer than 20 employees accounted
for 79.5 percent of the net new jobs in the United States. Thus,
encouraging the growth of small businesses may lead to greater job
creation than trying to attract one or two large corporations to an
area.
(g) The Legislature has continually tried to make California's
youth and student populations marketable and well prepared for the
changing global job market. In addition to maintaining a competitive
job force, the state must foster local entrepreneurial education in
our colleges and universities.
(h) As California continues to suffer from double-digit
unemployment and a recurring and growing state budget deficit, it is
incumbent on the state to invest in regional, innovative approaches
to economic development that can create jobs and economic growth
during a recession and in difficult economic times.
SEC. 2.
It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation
SEC. 2. Section 65054.10 is added to the
Government Code , to read:
65054.10. Th e advocate shall create a
program that would support supports
entrepreneurship as a form of economic development and job
creation in communities throughout this state. This
legislation shall do all of the following: The program
shall accomplish all of the following objectives:
(a) Provide for regional research and assessment of urban and
suburban communities regarding their particular community assets,
skills, and needs, and utilize that data to determine economic
opportunities in individual communities.
(b) Support access to capital for entrepreneurs in these
communities, including, but not limited to, microfinance.
(c) Provide information on financial literacy, including
information that describes how to start a business and apply for
licenses, as well as education on taxation and business structure,
and ongoing support.
(d) Identify opportunities for local and state agencies to remove
legal barriers and burdensome paperwork to make siting, zoning, and
licensing easier for small businesses and startup companies in order
to allow for entrepreneurial job creation.
(e) Encourage cities and counties to provide opportunities for
retail space development that is accessible to, and affordable for,
entrepreneurial enterprises and housing that is affordable and
centrally located in cities and counties.
(f) Promote the development of entrepreneurial education curricula
and programs in the elementary and secondary educational systems and
invest in entrepreneurship training and education in the California
Community Colleges, California State University system, and
University of California system, in order to ensure that new entrants
into the labor market have the skills to compete and secure jobs or
create their own.