New Jobs Bills Get Major Thumbs up

Assembly Bill 93 and Senate Bill 90, which together are meant to kickstart California's economic development both passed easily Thursday afternoon.

Luis Alejo, whose District 30 includes Gilroy, issued the following statement on the passage of the legislation:

“I have been a strong proponent of the Enterprise Zone Program but also for the need for reforms to the program during my tenure in the State Assembly. I have advocated and attempted to bring compromise on reform efforts.

“I believe California Economic Development Initiative to be that compromise. 

“This Initiative maintains the original purpose of the Enterprise Zone Program, to incentivize business in the most economically distressed areas of our state. 

“Since NAFTA in the mid-1990s, the central coast has had a very difficult time attracting companies to invest. Many companies left the area after NAFTA to move their businesses to Mexico. It devastated our economy and left hundreds of workers unemployed, many of them union workers who had worked in food processing plants for years.

“AB 93 and SB 90 give the Salinas Valley and the Pajaro Valley an opportunity to compete again with the manufacturing tax exemption, the hiring credit in our most impoverished areas of the state, and the California Competes Credit to better incentivize businesses to invest in here and hire our workers.

“My support of this Initiative is consistent with my top legislative priority to bring good jobs back home to improve our quality of life.”