BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 53
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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 53 (John A. Pérez)
          As Amended  May 24, 2013
          Majority vote 

           ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT   6-3      APPROPRIATIONS      12-5        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Medina, Daly, Fong, Fox,  |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra,         |
          |     |V. Manuel Pérez, Weber    |     |Bradford,                 |
          |     |                          |     |Ian Calderon, Campos,     |
          |     |                          |     |Eggman, Gomez, Hall,      |
          |     |                          |     |Ammiano, Pan, Quirk,      |
          |     |                          |     |Weber                     |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Mansoor, Linder, Melendez |Nays:|Harkey, Bigelow,          |
          |     |                          |     |Donnelly, Linder, Wagner  |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           
          SUMMARY  :  Requires the Governor's Office of Business and  
          Economic Development (GO-Biz) to lead the preparation of the  
          California Economic Development Strategic Plan (ED Strategy), as  
          specified.  In addition, the bill requires a copy of the Worker  
          Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice be  
          provided to GO-Biz and that it be posted on the Employment  
          Development Department (EDD) Web site.  

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Establishes GO-BIZ within the Governor's Office for the  
            purpose of serving as the lead state entity for economic  
            strategy and marketing of California on issues relating to  
            business development, private sector investment and economic  
            growth.   

          2)Requires a copy of the federal WARN notice be provided by a  
            covered employer to specified state and local government  
            entities 60 days prior to initiating a mass layoff,  
            termination, or relocation.

             a)   Covered employers include those that have employed more  
               than 75 individuals during the prior 12-months. 









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             b)   State and local government entities include the EDD, the  
               local workforce investment board (WIB) and the chief  
               elected official of each city and county government within  
               which the termination, relocation or mass layoff occurs.

             c)   A mass layoff is defined as any 30-day period in which  
               50 or more employees at a covered establishment are  
               separated from the business for a lack of funds or a lack  
               of work.

             d)   Relocation is defined as the removal of all or  
               substantially all of the industrial or commercial  
               operations in a covered establishment to a different  
               location 100 miles or more away.

             e)   Termination is defined as the cessation or substantial  
               cessation of industrial or commercial operations in a  
               covered establishment.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, implementation of this measure will result in  
          significant costs to GO-Biz in the hundreds of thousands of  
          dollars for the development of a statewide economic strategic  
          plan.  

           COMMENTS :  This measure proposes the development of a strategy  
          to guide the state's economic development activities.  Just like  
          a business strategy, a state strategy provides the big picture  
          that shows how all the individual activities are coordinated to  
          achieve a desired end result.  As the ninth largest economy in  
          the world, California's lack of a strategic plan impedes the  
          state's ability to communicate clear priorities on key issues  
          such as infrastructure development, workforce preparation, and  
          support for emerging and dominant industry sectors with the  
          state's nine regional economies.  

          The policy committee analysis includes additional information on  
          the advantages of a strategy, the interrelationships between  
          state planning and funding, and the role of GO-Biz.  

          What a strategy could accomplish:  There are eight key drivers  
          of the California economy:  capital, infrastructure, labor,  
          business, education, consumers, nonprofits, and government  
          actions.  Each of these drivers has its own unique  








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          characteristics, as well as qualities that they share in common.  
           In addition, each of the drivers is inextricably linked within  
          the overall economy.  A weakness within any one of the drivers  
          affects the others.  

          As an example, California's aging infrastructure limits the  
          state's ability to move products from farm to factories and on  
          to foreign and domestic markets.  These delays in moving goods  
          and the higher costs of transportation impacts businesses all  
          along the supply chain resulting in less job growth, lower  
          discretionary income, and ultimately less tax revenues.  While  
          the impacts of poor quality infrastructure are known, addressing  
          this challenge requires a coordinated and comprehensive approach  
          by both public and private stakeholders.   

          The ED Strategy would serve as a single document for identifying  
          important economic issues, engaging appropriate stakeholders in  
          the development of solutions, and the prioritizing of key state  
          actions.  

          Up until August 2011, existing law required the state to have a  
          two-year state Economic Development Strategic Plan,  
          substantially similar to the ED Strategy proposed in this bill.   
          This bill re-establishes the mandate for a comprehensive  
          strategy to guide state actions related to job creation,  
          business development and attraction of private sector  
          investment.  
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Toni Symonds / J., E.D. & E. / (916)  
          319-2090 


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