ORANGE COUNTY VOICES : Time for All Californians to Join in Reviving the Business Climate

Last year, Gov. Pete Wilson invited me along with other members of the California Council on Competitiveness to develop a plan to revive California’s business climate and economy. I work in the aerospace industry, so I knew then, as I know now, there’s a lot to be done.

The governor had seen grim statistics about job losses in the hundreds of thousands, business fleeing the state, and defense cutbacks that would deal a severe blow to California, Southern California in particular.

So he acted. He created the council, appointed Peter Ueberroth as chairman, and asked us to help find solutions to the business crisis facing our state.

Several weeks ago, we issued our report that lays out the seriousness of the problem--much of it connected to exploding workers’ compensation premiums and the costly, Byzantine regulations that are suffocating small business and strangling entrepreneurial ideas.

The report provides guidelines for reforming workers’ compensation, streamlining regulations, creating economic incentives for private sector job creation, improving the education of our future work force and limiting frivolous lawsuits and their outrageous costs. It also explores the role our elected leaders can play in aiding critical California industries and small business.

The report is particularly important for Orange County for two reasons. First, the report’s focus on freeing entrepreneurs and lessening the burdens on small business should have a disproportionate positive impact on Orange County, as one of the most important economic hubs of our state.

Second, the report illuminates the inevitable and crucial link between our economy and what legislation comes out of Sacramento. Our economic needs can only be met by creative, innovative political leadership willing to act.

More than most California legislators, Orange County’s political leaders understand the needs of small business. I urge them to turn our report’s recommendations into positive legislation, and join Gov. Wilson in fighting to pass that legislation.

But it’s also imperative that we in the business community get involved. We’ve got to make our needs known to show that we support reform that improves the business climate.

If our companies are going to grow, if we’re going to create the new jobs needed to meet our population growth, we must have government that’s friendly to business. High-taxing, overregulating, adversarial government only means fewer jobs and fewer residents to pay the taxes that support our schools and public services.

It’s essential that our elected officials look after the state’s economic interests-- and that we hold them accountable for their actions.

Gov. Wilson brought together an extraordinary coalition of leaders from labor, business and banking to produce this report. Now it’s time for all of us, as Californians, to come together and join the governor in making sure that our recommendations turn into successful legislative action.