Governor, Chamber Chair Agree on Need to Improve Business Climate
(May 8, 2003) - “We are in this together,” Governor Gray Davis stressed to approximately 1,200 members of the business community yesterday at the opening of the California Chamber’s Business Legislative Summit.
The Governor’s address at the Sacramento Host Breakfast, which opens the summit, was preceded by remarks from Raymond W. Holdsworth, chair of the California Chamber and president of AECOM Technology Corporation.
The Governor and Holdsworth agreed on unifying themes, but differed on some details.
“Nothing better defines the precipice on which California stands today, where a torrent of laws enacted and proposed, could result in killing the goose that brings the golden eggs to the citizens of California,” said Holdsworth. “Jobs, the financing of education, and the immediate and future prosperity of our citizens are all endangered.”
The Governor agreed on the relationship between business and government, responding, “I understand that you are the golden goose, and that if you don’t succeed, we can’t succeed. If you do well, then we will do well, and we will have the resources to fund education, transportation, law enforcement, and meet our other obligations.”
However, when the discussion shifted to specifics, there were differences. Workers’ compensation was overwhelmingly cited by attendees of the summit as the biggest problem facing California, and was addressed by both speakers.
Holdsworth called on the Legislature to suspend recently enacted workers’ comp benefit increases until significant cost saving reforms can be enacted in an effort to keep costs from skyrocketing even further.
Davis cited deregulation in the 1990s as the underlying reason for the problem. He went on to say that the workers’ comp problem “is not the benefits we pay to workers, it’s all the middle men trying to get their hands on the workers’ comp premium you’re paying before it gets to the workers.”
In the end both speeches had more similarities than differences on the fundamental issues affecting the state’s business community.
“We need both [political] parties to understand the need to improve business conditions, respond to legitimate concerns for workers, and make this a good state in which to function, to live and to grow a business,” said Davis.
Holdsworth agreed, and ended his remarks with a call to action for the business community: “We must all be passionate about our state and our future. We can no longer be on the sidelines. The State Chamber will not be on the sidelines because business is the backbone of California, the people who deliver the golden eggs to the state.”
The Sacramento Host Breakfast, now in its 77th year, is hosted by a 20-member committee of Sacramento business leaders and since last year has served as the opening to the Chamber’s Business Legislative Summit. The Chamber presents its annual summit in partnership with the Western Association of Chamber Executives. Staff Contact: Dave Kilby |