The Orange County register has an interesting article today about a different type of political campaign–governors’ campaigns targeted at California businesses (particularly in my home base of Orange County), wooing them to their states. And these governors have plenty to talk about with respect to their states’ comparatively business friendly environment. Here is a key excerpt from the article:
Unlike Gov. Perry, the Utah and Virginia governors do not plan an ad campaign in California. Perry’s highly-publicized visit was accompanied by a radio ad in which he declared, “I hear building a business in California is next to impossible.”
Gov. Jerry Brown dismissed Perry’s overture as “not a serious story” and mocked journalists who “run like lapdogs to report it.”
Lucy Dunn, president and CEO of the Orange County Business Council, responded to the new poaching effort with tough talk. “Orange County is a great place to do business,” she said. “And California has two big things those other states don’t: the best climate in the world and the largest market in the U.S. with 38 million people.”
Dunn, however, acknowledged that the recruitment efforts amount to “a wakeup call. There’s no question California has a very high corporate and income tax rate.”
The Washington D.C.-based Tax Foundation reported this week that California’s personal income tax is the sixth highest in the nation, and its corporate tax is the fifth highest. The state’s excise taxes and property taxes, however, are among the lowest in the country.
Real reform is needed in California to make it a place that is as easy to do business.