Artesia News

Local governments respond to State of the State Address

In response to the Governor's State of the State Address, Chris McKenzie, Executive Director to the League of the California Cities, and John Shirey, Executive Director of the California Redevelopment Association, issued the following statements on Jan. 31.

Chris McKenzie - "The Governor said his intention is to make California a leader again in job creation, yet his proposal to abolish redevelopment will kill more than 300,00 private sector jobs annually."

McKenzie continued, "Killing redevelopment will provide very little financial benefit to the State or any local entities. Yet, it will permanently destroy the source of more than $40 billion in economic activity annually, more than $2 billion in tax revenue to the State and local governmetns each year, and hundreds of thousands of jobs."

"We believe the Governor is presenting a false choice," said McKenzie. "Califonia can and must ahve a strong economy AND adequately fund our schools, healthcare services and other State obligations. In fact, economic growth and job-creation will provide the State the revenues we need to restore our core services."

John Shirey, of the CRA, said, "The Governor emphasized the citizens' right to vote and the need fo ra legislative 'check-in' with the voters. Yet, just three months ago, the voters overwhlemingly voted to stop State raids of local funds, including redevelopment. More than 61 percent of voters gave clear direction to Sacramento politicians.