Governor Pete Wilson on Jobs & the Economy

Governor Wilson has made job-creation his first priority in
making California healthy again. As he often says, "jobs make all else
possible." When Governor Wilson first took office, California was sliding
into an economic crisis unmatched since the Great Depression. The
Governor immediately launched a two-track strategy for economic revival.
First, the Governor set out to reform a business climate that was chasing
jobs to other states and other nations. He scored major victories two
years later in 1993 with landmark reform of the state's workers'
compensation insurance system, sweeping reform of the state's tax system,
and critical reform of job-killing government regulation.
Second, the Governor launched an uprecedented economic
development campaign with the creation of the Trade and Commerce Agency,
TeamCalifornia, and the Red Team process. The Governor has also served as
what the Los Angeles Times called "the preeminent pitchman" for
California.
As a result of Governor Wilson's efforts, in the past six months,
some of the world's leading companies -- like Intel, Lego, and
California's Pac-Bell -- have announced major new investments in
California.

Highlights
* Workers' Compensation. In 1993, Governor Wilson signed landmark
reform of California's workers' compensation system, reducing costs by at
least $1.5 billion annually. Those savings are used to both reduce costs
for California employees and raise benefits for genuinely injured workers.

* Job-Creating Tax Incentives. Governor Wilson proposed and pushed
through the Legislature sweeping tax reforms to promote job creation.
These reforms enchanced the Research and Development Tax Credit, created
a capital gains tax credit for small business stocks, created a 6 percent
investment tax credit for the purchaseof manufacturing equipment, and
reformed the state unitary tax law to promote foreign investment.

* HIPC. Governor Wilson established the nation's first statewide
health care puchasing pool for small businesses. HIPC is a voluntary plan
that controls health care costs for business and expands access for
workers without imposing costly mandates on employers. After just eight
months in operation, HIPC already covered more than 2,200 businesses
serving 39,400 individuals, without costing the taxpayers a dime.

* NAFTA. Governor Wilson aggressively supported NAFTA, personally
lobbying members of Congress to vote for the agreement. NAFTA could mean
an additional 30,000 to 40,000 jobs annually for California. In his 1994
State of the State message, the Governor outlined a series of initiatives
to help California take advantage of the job-creating opportunities
offered by NAFTA.

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