The Senator Reports

December 17th, 2009

California Continues Scoring at the Bottom of the ‘Business Class’
By Senator Mark Wyland (R-Carlsbad)

For the last 14 years the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council has released their “Small Business Survival Index.” The study rates states on how friendly they are to small business. The factors range from taxes and various regulatory costs to government spending and property rights.

This year, California ranked 49th. This comes on the heels of numerous other business-friendly studies that also have our Golden State ranked toward the bottom. If this isn’t a wake-up call for lawmakers to stop regulating and start producing more business friendly policies, I don’t know what is.

The Legislature must stop imposing unnecessary and unreasonable restrictions that encourage businesses to pack up and move out of California for a better deal elsewhere. Until that changes, we can’t expect businesses—and most importantly the jobs they create—to stay put in California. It’s time for the Legislature to match their actions to their rhetoric when it comes to supporting small business.

Senator Mark Wyland represents the people of the 38th Senate District, which includes cities in north San Diego County and the south Orange County cities of San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano.

Senator Mark Wyland
1910 Palomar Point Way, Suite 105
Carlsbad, California 92008
760.931.2455 Office
email: senator.wyland@sen.ca.gov

Our Education System Needs Real Reform
By Assemblyman Martin Garrick

Last week, the Assembly had an opportunity to pass meaningful reform for our battered education system. Unfortunately, special interests and political power plays derailed those efforts.

California is in line to compete with the rest of the nation for federal “Race to the Top” funds, a program designed to provide vital resources to our schools provided they meet certain criteria. Several pieces of legislation emerged over the last few months that would have met the federal requirements and significantly reformed our education system. In fact, I was happy to co-author Senate Bill 5x I that would have done just that.

Unfortunately, the Assembly Education Committee chose instead to bow to the pressures of the unions and special interest groups and introduce a watered down version of the bill – Assembly Bill x5 8. Instead of empowering parents, encouraging charter schools, and requiring accountability, the bill focused on creating new bureaucracies and restricting parental choice.

Should the Governor make good on his promise to veto the bill, I stand ready to readdress the situation and finally pass the reform our parents and children deserve.

Assemblyman Martin Garrick serves the communities of Carlsbad, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Rancho Santa Fe, San Marcos, Vista, and portions of San Diego, Escondido and Oceanside as the Assemblyman for the 74th District.