Take Home Messages From A California Legislative Hearing
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
Since the February 2nd start of the 75th Session of the Nevada Legislature, I’ve been sitting through two to three legislative hearings a day, Monday through Friday. I didn’t go to the Nevada Legislature on Friday, April 24th but I attended one of the most interesting legislative hearings of the year.
The hearing was held in Reno and was the Assembly Republican Working Group from the California Legislature. They came to Nevada to find out first-hand, from businesses which left California to come to Nevada, what they needed to do in order to reverse the trend of ABC (Anywhere But California).
It’s too bad that the hearing couldn’t have been held in Carson City at the Legislative Building, with the members of the Nevada Legislature sitting in the audience, taking notes on what the California legislators were told. The themes that were presented could and should be concepts that our state lawmakers figure out as they proceed to implement here what California has created to their own detriment.
The principle reasons given for business enterprises pulling up stakes in California and migrating (with their jobs) to Nevada were:
The anti-business climate in general is what could be given the major credit for the migration from California to Nevada. Another significant factor is that when companies escape California they become the best recruiters Nevada could find, encouraging those back in California to get away too.
Those testifying before the California legislative group didn’t pull any punches in spelling out the details of crappy treatment and being un-appreciated for having business operations that were employing people.
They also indicated that location, location, location was a key factor in coming to settle here. Nearly all still did significant amounts of business in California and Nevada provided the best place to be without being in California…kinda like having the advantages without all of the headaches.
One legislator drew on a paraphrase of an observation he said was made by Winston Churchill, the former Prime Minister of England – “Some people believe that business is like a wild tiger to be caged. Others think of it as a cow to be milked. The wise understand that business is like a horse which pulls the whole load.”
We’re not yet, what California has evidently become, but many of the themes taking shape in the Nevada Legislature this session are just cause for concerns. The interests who think that they are the reason the last election turned out the way it did, seem to be very convinced that their involvement should be rewarded with full measure of installing components (and worse the attitudes) of what was at the central core of what the California legislators were told by former California businessmen and employers.
If Nevada’s legislators don’t figure out and take to heart the lessons learned at this hearing, will we soon have to go to another state, perhaps Wyoming to hold a fact-finding hearing on how to get our jobs back?
Since the February 2nd start of the 75th Session of the Nevada Legislature, I’ve been sitting through two to three legislative hearings a day, Monday through Friday. I didn’t go to the Nevada Legislature on Friday, April 24th but I attended one of the most interesting legislative hearings of the year.
The hearing was held in Reno and was the Assembly Republican Working Group from the California Legislature. They came to Nevada to find out first-hand, from businesses which left California to come to Nevada, what they needed to do in order to reverse the trend of ABC (Anywhere But California).
It’s too bad that the hearing couldn’t have been held in Carson City at the Legislative Building, with the members of the Nevada Legislature sitting in the audience, taking notes on what the California legislators were told. The themes that were presented could and should be concepts that our state lawmakers figure out as they proceed to implement here what California has created to their own detriment.
The principle reasons given for business enterprises pulling up stakes in California and migrating (with their jobs) to Nevada were:
- regulation,
- high worker comp. insurance rates,
- business hassles created by bureaucrats (local and state) intent on nit-picking and harassing
- quality of life advantages to be found on our side of the Sierra Mountains (without all the people who are in the way)
The anti-business climate in general is what could be given the major credit for the migration from California to Nevada. Another significant factor is that when companies escape California they become the best recruiters Nevada could find, encouraging those back in California to get away too.
Those testifying before the California legislative group didn’t pull any punches in spelling out the details of crappy treatment and being un-appreciated for having business operations that were employing people.
They also indicated that location, location, location was a key factor in coming to settle here. Nearly all still did significant amounts of business in California and Nevada provided the best place to be without being in California…kinda like having the advantages without all of the headaches.
One legislator drew on a paraphrase of an observation he said was made by Winston Churchill, the former Prime Minister of England – “Some people believe that business is like a wild tiger to be caged. Others think of it as a cow to be milked. The wise understand that business is like a horse which pulls the whole load.”
We’re not yet, what California has evidently become, but many of the themes taking shape in the Nevada Legislature this session are just cause for concerns. The interests who think that they are the reason the last election turned out the way it did, seem to be very convinced that their involvement should be rewarded with full measure of installing components (and worse the attitudes) of what was at the central core of what the California legislators were told by former California businessmen and employers.
If Nevada’s legislators don’t figure out and take to heart the lessons learned at this hearing, will we soon have to go to another state, perhaps Wyoming to hold a fact-finding hearing on how to get our jobs back?
Posted by Doug Busselman at 4/24/2009 3:53 PM 
Categories: Nevada Legislature
Tags: Nevada Business Climate Nevada Legislative Policy Anti-Business Attitudes
Categories: Nevada Legislature
Tags: Nevada Business Climate Nevada Legislative Policy Anti-Business Attitudes
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