Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

And the Bills Just Keep on Coming

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • And the Bills Just Keep on Coming

    CalTrade Report, CA
    March 10 2004


    And the Bills Just Keep on Coming...
    California Senate, Assembly bills cover a broad spectrum of
    trade-related activities

    SACRAMENTO - 03/10/04 - A juggernaut of trade-related legislation is
    ponderously clanking a path through California's Democrat-controlled
    legislature as Sacramento continues to re-define its role as a trade
    facilitator and promoter in a post-recall environment of dramatically
    reduced budgets and a new Republican governor at the helm.


    With the mismanaged and now-defunct California Technology, Trade &
    Commerce Agency a bitter memory and the state's overseas trade
    offices shuttered, Sacramento is taking a fresh look at the impact
    global business has on the state's economy and what part, if any, it
    should play in positioning the state in the global business arena.

    On the Senate side, almost a dozen bills covering a broad range of
    issues from promoting agricultural exports and tourism to trade
    promotion and maritime security are up for consideration, while the
    Assembly is pondering legislation affecting port congestion,
    environmental controls, export development, and food labeling among
    others.

    A sampling from the Senate and the Assembly...

    SB 1261 is a wide-sweeping, generic bill sponsored by Sen. John
    Vasconcellos (13th District) that would provide that the Department
    of Food and Agriculture "is the primary state agency for the
    promotion of California agriculture, fish, and forest exports, and
    for the administration of federal-state export programs for those
    products;" mandate that the Business, Transportation and Housing
    Agency fill a similar role "with respect to foreign investment,
    international public infrastructure projects, and support for
    California businesses in accessing international markets.

    The bill also directs that the state Air Resources Agency and the
    California Environmental Protection Agency assume the mantle of
    promoting "the international exchange of environmental protection
    technologies and the promotion of the transfer of environmental
    technology to and from the state."

    Authored by Sen. Jackie Spier (8th District), SB 1390 - the
    California Tourism Marketing Act - would budget at least $7.3 million
    a year to establish a California Travel and Tourism Commission "for
    the purpose of increasing the number of persons traveling to and
    within the state." The bill stipulates that the appropriation for the
    Commission would be appropriated from the General Fund.

    SB 1453 "would require any employer that outsources jobs that would
    result in the replacement of 20 or more workers in California to, not
    less than 60 days before the employer enters into a contract with a
    contractor or subcontractor located outside the United States to
    perform the outsourced job functions, give written notice of the
    contract to the Employment Development Department and the employees
    based in California whose jobs would be affected by the outsourcing."


    The bill was authored by Sen. Liz Figueroa (10th District).

    Sen. Betty Karnette, a Democrat whose 27th District encompasses much
    of the region adjacent to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, is
    the author of SB 1837 which would establish an Office of Trade
    Promotion in the Governor's office "to serve as the state's primary
    resource and focal point for all trade-related activities and
    inquiries" and "to faclitate collaboration among organizations that
    can provide complementary trade services." The bill stipulates that
    the proposed Trade Promotion Office would be funded from existing
    resources in the Governor's Office.

    The most controversial bill - SB 1857 - is an attempt to resurrect
    the state's shuttered network of overseas trade promotion offices. It
    calls for the establishment of a California trade promotion office in
    Yerevan, Armenia, and authorizes the Secretary of Business,
    Transportation, and Housing to "accept private sector moneys made to
    the state for the purposes of promoting international trade and
    investment, subject to specific conditions."

    The bill - authored by Sen Dennis Hollingsworth (36th District) -
    "would declare the intent of the Legislature to provide for trade and
    international trade offices on behalf of the state through
    public-private partnerships."

    On the Assembly side...

    Bay Area Democrat Leland Yee (12th District), seen by some as the
    Assembly's new "flag bearer" on trade-related issues, is the author
    of AB 2411, a broad-based bill "that would state the intent of the
    Legislature to enact legislation to create and maintain relevant
    organizational structures and procedures to support the
    implementation and growth of international trade and investment in
    California."

    Yee's AB 2524 would "enact" the California Export Development
    Corporation (CEDC) law and add provisions to establish the CEDC in
    the Business Transportation and Housing Agency. The bill would also
    authorize the guarantee of loans by the Corporation through the Small
    Business Loan Guarantee Program.

    Assemblyman Alan Lowenthal (5th District) is the author of several
    bills currently before the Assembly that could significantly impact
    the movement of goods in and out of California's deep-water ports.

    His AB 2041 would establish an as-yet undetermined charge for the
    "privilege" of transporting cargo by commercial motor vehicle into or
    out of the Port of Los Angeles or the Port of Long Beach between the
    hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, inclusive, Monday through Friday,
    inclusive. All revenues derived from the imposition of the charge
    would be deposited in a so-called Congestion Management Fund "and
    expended to fund certain projects to help alleviate congestion caused
    by scheduling shipments by commercial motor vehicles during the
    specified hours."

    Lowenthal's AB 2042 would "require that the Port of Long Beach and
    the Port of Los Angeles ensure that all future growth at each port
    will have a zero-net increase in air pollution," while AB 2043 would
    compel the state's ports to contribute "an unspecified amount of
    money" annually to fund a Maritime Port Strategic Master Plan Task
    Force tasked with approving ports' development plans.

    Assemblyman Keith Richman's AB 1911 "requires the Governor to
    instruct the Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing to
    establish, on a contract basis, an international trade and investment
    office in Israel," while AB 2206, authored by Assemblyman Marco
    Firebaugh (50th District), would "require the Secretary, to the
    extent that sufficient non-state funds are available...to develop a
    statewide collaborative alliance of public / private sector trade
    development organizations to achieve specified international trade
    and investment purposes..."

    The bill would also authorize the establishment of representative
    offices in foreign locations "subject to the availability of
    sufficient non-state funds for that purpose."

    AB 2887 - authored by Democrat Jenny Oropeza (55th District) - would
    require the Governor to notify the Legislature "subsequent to signing
    any document involving a foreign government."

    Under existing law, the Governor is the "sole official organ of
    communication" between the government of the state and any other
    state or of the United States."
Working...
X