BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 592
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Date of Hearing: August 21, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 592 (Lieu) - As Amended: August 13, 2013
Policy Committee: JEDE Vote:8-0
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Governor's Office of Business and
Economic Development (GO-Biz) to provide a port trade promotion
strategy to the Legislature by April 1, 2014 and convene a
statewide business partnership for port trade promotion.
FISCAL EFFECT
GO-Biz estimates that it would require $150,000 (General Fund)
to implement the provisions of the bill.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, the state has a compelling
interest in the success of ports because of the significant
economic benefit in terms of jobs, personal income, business
revenue and taxes. The author notes ports are the vital
interface between water and land transportation for trade with
the Pacific Rim countries and other trade. The author states
port activities employ more than 500,000 people in California
and generate an estimated seven billion dollars in state and
local taxes annually. It is estimated that nationwide over
two million jobs are linked to California's ports.
2)Background . Panama has begun a $5 billion project to expand
the Panama Canal making it deeper and wider, raising the
possibility of a significant impact on the flow of goods
coming into California's ports. The project will double the
capacity of the existing canal by adding wider, deeper and
longer locks on both the Atlantic and Pacific sides. The
expansion of the canal holds the potential for California
ports to lose as much as 25% of their cargo business, which
SB 592
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may in turn result in an impact of millions of dollars to
local economies and over 100,000 jobs.
3)Related Legislation .
a) AB 14 (Lowenthal) requires the Transportation Agency to
prepare a state freight plan and establish a freight
advisory committee. This bill is on the Senate Floor.
b) AB 311 (V. Manuel Perez) expands the role of the I-Bank
to include facilitating infrastructure and economic
development financing activities within the California and
Mexico border region. This bill was held on this
committee's Suspense File.
c) AB 337 (Allen) expands the state's international trade
investment strategy to include a specified port evaluation.
This bill is in the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic
Development and the Economy.
d) AB 886 (Allen) establishes a tax credit for importers
and exporters. This bill was held on this committee's
Suspense File.
e) AB 1081(Medina) integrates goods movement within the
states infrastructure planning including the Five-Year
Infrastructure Plan and the ITI Strategy. This bill is on
the Suspense File of the Senate Committee on
Appropriations.
Analysis Prepared by : Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081