BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 690|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 690
Author: Campos (D) and Medina (D), et al.
Amended: 8/11/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/23/14
AYES: Lieu, Wyland, Berryhill, Corbett, Galgiani, Hernandez,
Hill, Torres
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 1/29/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : State government: international relations
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill repeals and recasts provisions related to
the California-Mexico Border Relations Council (Council).
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/11/14 delete references to the
Office of California-Mexico Affairs.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Establishes the Council comprised of the Secretary of the
Natural Resources Agency, the Secretary for Environmental
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Protection, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the
Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Food and
Agriculture, and the Director of Emergency Services, with the
Secretary for Environmental Protection serving as Chair.
Requires the Council to coordinate activities of state
agencies that are related to cross-border programs,
initiatives, projects, and partnerships that exist within
state government, to improve the effectiveness of state and
local efforts that are of concern between California and
Mexico. Requires the Council to establish policies to
coordinate the collection and sharing of data related to
cross-border issues between and among agencies and make
recommendations to the Legislature.
2. Establishes the Governor's Office of Business and Economic
Development (GO-Biz) as the lead state entity for economic
strategy and marketing of California on issues relating to
business development, private sector investment and economic
growth.
3. Specifies that GO-Biz is the primary state agency authorized
to attract foreign investments, cooperate in international
public infrastructure projects, and support California
businesses in accessing markets, and requires the Director of
GO-Biz to develop an international trade and investment (ITI)
program attracting employment-producing direct foreign
investment to the state and provides support for California
businesses in accessing international markets and increasing
exports. Authorizes GO-Biz to establish ITI offices outside
of the U.S. according to certain requirements. Requires
GO-Biz to prepare an ITI strategy and provide a report to the
Legislature on or before February 1, 2014, updated once every
five years.
4. Provides that the State Controller shall not allocate any
state funds to GO-Biz for ITI activities unless the ITI
strategy has been submitted to the Legislature by May 1,
2014.
5. Establishes processes and accountability measures for GO-Biz
to accept private monies to fund, establish, and operate ITI
offices.
6. Specifies the role of stage agencies with respect to
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international relations.
7. Establishes a state point of contact (SPOC), within the
executive branch, to act as the liaison between the state and
the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on
trade-related matters. Provides that the SPOC is often
provided the opportunity to review and comment on ongoing
trade negotiations and must promptly disseminate
correspondence or information from the USTR to the
appropriate state agencies and departments and legislative
committees and work with the appropriate state agencies and
departments, and the Legislature, to review the effects on
the California environment, and California businesses,
workers, and general lawmaking authority, of any proposed or
enacted trade agreement provisions and communicate those
findings to the USTR.
8. Requires the Office of Planning and Research to maintain and
update a full and comprehensive list of all state agreements
made with foreign governments, updated within 30 days of the
effective date of each new agreement.
This bill:
1. Repeals and recasts provisions related to the Council.
2. Adds the Director of GO-Biz to the Council.
3. Makes legislative findings and declarations relating to the
Council.
Background
According to information provided by the author's office, Mexico
is California's number one export market. In 2012, California's
exports to Mexico were worth $26.3 billion. In comparison,
California exported $17.3 billion to Canada, $14 billion to
China, and $13.1 billion to Japan. By some estimates, trade
with Mexico in 2011 resulted in more than 250,000 California
jobs.
Increased Trade Equals Jobs - Despite the current economic
upturn, California continues to need job growth since there are
still 1.3 million unemployed Californians. Trade can be a major
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source of jobs. For example, the U.S. Department of Commerce
estimates that 11 new jobs are created for every $1 million of
increased trade activity.
California Lacks a Formal Structure for Trade with Mexico -
Since the 2004 closure of California's trade office in Mexico,
the state has not had a truly coordinated and comprehensive
approach to trade with Mexico and has lacked a dedicated and
formal structure or program focused on trade with Mexico.
The state eliminated the Mexico trade office and the 11 other
trade offices, including China, in 2004 because of concerns over
poor performance and state budget constraints.
GO-Biz is Now Responsible for the State's Trade Programs -
Responsibility for the state's trade programs were transferred
to the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency (BTH) until
2012. With the 2012 dismantling of BTH, they were transferred
to GO-Biz. Existing programs on California-Mexico relations are
not connected to GO-Biz. The state's two existing Mexico
related programs are the Office of California-Mexico Affairs and
the California-Mexico Border Relations Council.
Comments
According to the author, "AB 690 seeks to ensure that the
state's approach to trade and environmental issues with Mexico
is coordinated."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/12/14)
Los Angeles County Business Federation
San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The San Diego Regional Chamber of
Commerce writes, "AB 690 is crucial as it implements a formal
mechanism for trade development between California, Mexico, and
also the United States. Implementation of the legislation would
lead to better access to Mexican government officials, more
jobs, more economic gain, and would also improve and protect
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various California Industries by amplifying their ability to
compete on a global scale. ?By passing AB 690, California can
not only enhance economic performance, but also it can create
more jobs than the approximately 692,240 trade-related jobs it
already retains."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 1/29/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández,
Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Morrell, Mullin,
Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, V.
Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron,
Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Logue, Perea
MW:d 8/12/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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