Bills to bring companies, increase competitiveness

By Rachael Myer
OpportunityGreaterPhoenix.com
Aug. 2, 2010

With economic recovery top of mind, several states nationwide have passed legislation that will enable them to create jobs and return more quickly back on their feet.

From Alabama, to Florida, to Connecticut, states that approved job creation bills did so to immediately boost their economy, improve their ability to attract quality jobs and reduce high unemployment rates.

Arizona wasn’t one of them.

The Legislature closed the session in April without approving House Bill 2250, a measure that would have revamped the state’s enterprise zone program to provide incentives to companies to more bring jobs here.

Arizona’s job loss has been substantial. The recession destroyed five years of job creation, pushing the state back to 2004 levels. About 300,000 jobs were lost since 2007. Unemployment hovers at 9.7 percent.

“Job creation legislation is the best method for improving Arizona’s long-term economic outlook,” said Barry Broome, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council’s president and CEO. “As we climb out of this recession, policymakers should think about what kind of recovery is best for Arizona. We need a recovery that accelerates the creation of high-paying jobs.”

Florida

As Florida slid into a recession with 12 percent unemployment earlier this year, Sen. Don Gaetz introduced legislation to improve the state’s competitiveness. The state has historically relied on visitors, retirees and real estate as economic engines, Gaetz said.

His Senate Bill 1752, called "Jobs for Florida,” invests more than $175 million in job creation and diversifying the state's economy. The bill includes tax incentives, grants, and sales tax caps to increase competitiveness in number of industries ranging from manufacturing to film to marine and boating.

He created a bipartisan select committee that held five televised hearings in the state. The committee also hired economists who studied competitiveness in the Southeast and developed a core set of initiatives.

“It was very much a bottom up process of political development and a cold, hard look at what our competition is doing,” said Gaetz, a Republican from Niceville in the northwest part of the state.

Gathering support from Democrats, Republicans and business leaders helped to assure the bill’s passage, Gaetz said.

“A package of business incentives and job creation ought to be bipartisan,” he said.

Bipartisan support, developing the package over 15 months, and listening to concerns helped the bill overcome hurdles, Gaetz said.

Alabama

In Alabama, Rep. Robert Bentley wanted to return unemployed residents to work. The state’s unemployment rate rose to 11.8 percent in January. The rate has since dropped slightly to 10.3 percent.

Bentley, who serves on the House Education Appropriations Committee, also wanted to improve education funding, which relies on income and sales taxes. More Alabamans needed jobs.

The Tuscaloosa Republican came up with a plan, called the “Reemployment Act of 2010,” to allow companies to take a deduction on the employer’s income tax return of up to 50 percent  of a previously unemployed person’s salary.

The company has to employ the person for a year at more than $14 an hour.

“If we put our people back to work, then they are going to pay taxes,” Bentley said.

Partnering with the Alabama Education Association, which sometimes opposes tax credits, was key to the Legislature approving the bill, Bentley said.
“Whoever is opposed to it, you have to sit down with them,” he said.

Bentley also released a 45-page paper on the state’s economy and the need for the bill about a month before the Alabama Legislature started the session on Jan. 12.

Connecticut

In Connecticut, the state’s jobs legislation includes a number of provisions to kick the economy into gear.

The law creates an angel investor tax break for high-tech start-up companies, provides small business loans, offers loan forgiveness for college students who work in “green” jobs, and provides technical assistance to companies seeking foreign markets.

Senate Democratic Majority Leader Martin Looney of New Haven organized a roundtable of academics, entrepreneurs, and business leaders to make recommendations for the bill.

The state’s loss of jobs helped gave the bill momentum, Looney said. Connecticut’s unemployment reached 9.8 percent in January and February.
“There was a broad sense of urgency,” Looney said.

Looney plans to look at additional tools to introduce in the 2011 legislative session after he takes stock of the economy in a few months.

“Economic development is going to be on the minds of states,” he said.