San Diego, CA….Taking action to help create jobs and grow California’s economy, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. joined businesses and working Californians from throughout the state in San Diego to sign legislation that revamps the state’s economic development program.

“This legislation will help grow our economy and create good manufacturing jobs,” said Governor Brown. “Through our great university system and through the companies we have, California can build on the strength of intellectual capacity. Let’s get to work!”

The legislation (AB 93 and SB 90), which received broad, bipartisan support in the Legislature, establishes the Governor’s Economic Development Initiative. The Initiative will help bolster California’s business climate and put Californians to work by establishing the following:

• Sales Tax Exemption: A statewide sales tax exemption on all manufacturing equipment and research and development equipment purchases for biotech and manufacturing companies;
• Hiring Credits: Hiring credits for businesses in areas with the highest unemployment rate and poverty; and
• California Competes Investment Incentives: The opportunity for California businesses to compete for available tax credits based on the number of jobs to be created and retained, wages paid in those jobs and other factors.

The Governor joined business leaders, legislators and workers today at San Diego-based Takeda California, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Japan’s largest pharmaceutical company and one of the top 15 pharmaceutical companies in the world.

“By providing a hiring tax credit and a state sales tax exception on innovative tools, the new law will allow Takeda California to pursue staffing levels and collaborations with local universities that we would not have been able to afford otherwise,” said Takeda California President and Chief Science Officer Dr. Keith Wilson.

“With the signing of today’s bills, California now has real economic development programs in place that create new jobs,” said California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski. “And not just any jobs. Good jobs, middle class jobs, jobs that build communities and rev up our engine of economic growth.”

“The Governor’s economic package signed into law today will be invaluable to enabling small and mid-size California life science companies to be more competitive in the global market,” said BIOCOM President and CEO Joe Panetta.

The new Initiative will be funded by redirecting approximately $750 million annually from the state’s outdated and ineffective Enterprise Zone program.

The legislation garnered widespread support among businesses and labor organizations, including: Northrop Grumman Corporation; IBM; Advanced Micro Devices Inc.; Bay Area Council; Bay Bio; Biocom; Bloom Energy; California Healthcare Institute; California Labor Federation; California Teamsters Public Affairs Council; Genentech; Gordon Biersch Brewing Company; Intel; International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; International Longshore and Warehouse Union; International Union of Operating Engineers; PhRMA; Silicon Valley Leadership Group; State Building & Construction Trades Council of California; Unite Here!; United Food and Commercial Workers; Utility Workers Union of America; Webcor Builders and the Wine Institute.

For more on what supporters have said about the Governor’s Initiative, click here.

The Governor’s Economic Development Initiative follows a strong record of pursuing regulatory changes and legislation to improve the state’s business climate. Since taking office in 2011, the Governor has approved legislation to modernize the workers’ compensation system, the regulatory and fee structure for the timber industry, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance requirements and the facility inspection process for the life sciences industry. In addition to these legislative actions, Brown has established the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) as the state’s lead economic development office to advance business opportunity in California and enacted administrative changes to streamline the oil and gas drilling permitting process.