States Economy

For the third year in a row, Colorado received top honors in a "report card" by the nonprofit Corporation for Enterprise Development, which grades states for their economic performance. Colorado was the only state to earn A's in each of three subject areas in the ninth annual report. Four other states--Idaho, Minnesota, Montana and Oregon--made the honor roll and seven--Delaware, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming--earned honorable mentions.

SACRAMENTO - Californians are more optimistic about the direction of their state and the condition of its economy than they have been in years, according to a new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California. The upbeat outlook comes weeks after Gov. Jerry Brown announced that the state's deficit had been wiped out with help from tax hikes approved by voters in November. In the poll, the governor received his highest approval rating since being elected in 2010. Fifty-one percent of those surveyed said they approved of Brown's job performance, up from 41% in September.

In response to "Can State No Longer Compete?" front page, Oct. 7: Your article begins, "A soy sauce maker quits Los Angeles County and opens up shop in Nevada. A Glendale fiber company shutters a 40-year-old factory and heads for Colorado. An Orange County auto parts firms plans it future over the border in Arizona." Wonderful! We need to thin out the population in Southern California. The idea that we must continue to expand, come hell or high water, will destroy us. The fact that some small and large businesses move out of the state is not the harbinger of doom for the state's economy.

SACRAMENTO - When Gov. Jerry Brown spoke to a crowd of beaming environmentalists and renewable energy advocates at the launch of a solar farm last year, he turned heads by praising another form of fuel: oil. It was a surprising pivot from the man credited with helping to usher in the modern environmental movement as California's governor nearly four decades ago. Back then, Brown enacted the nation's first energy-efficiency standards, signed strict...

Californians are more optimistic about the state economy and their own finances, although Bay Area residents are decidedly more upbeat than people in and around Los Angeles, according to a new survey. Almost two-thirds of Californians say their personal finances are improving, 52% think the state's economy is on the mend and 51% believe the jobs picture is brightening, according to the Citibank survey. Overall, according to the survey, nearly half of California residents say 2012 will be a better year than 2011.

Jess Bravin's commentary of Nov. 24 misrepresented the phrase "UC Means Business." It is the title of a report that explores the many economic contributions the University of California makes to the state and the nation. It is not about privatizing UC. UC, through its contributions to the state's economy, its job-generating capacity and its research developments, has been instrumental in helping California's recovery from the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. Among the report's findings were: UC generates three times as much money as the state invests in it. The university contributes to local economies, supporting neighborhood retailers, restaurants, hotels, construction firms and other businesses.

California's tech boom is bolstering the economy and new jobs are being created every month, but the state's employment gains in the last year could be largely lost should conditions in China and Europe worsen substantially. The quarterly UCLA Anderson Forecast, released Thursday, said an imploding Eurozone crisis and a further slowing of the Chinese economy, though not likely, are "not out of the question. " "What happens in Europe and China is not insignificant for California," said Jerry Nickelsburg, senior economist at the forecast.

TAMPA, Fla. - No state is more crucial to Mitt Romney's chances of winning the White House than Florida, and no issue here is more important than the economy. That dynamic played out recently when Vice President Joe Biden came to the perennial electoral vote battleground to promote the Obama administration's environmental record by riding an airboat through the Everglades. The Romney camp responded with a stinging assault on President Obama's "failed" economic policies. The targets: a Florida jobless rate that exceeds the national average, painfully high gasoline prices, rising healthcare costs and one of the worst housing collapses in the country.

As Californians savor their Thanksgiving feasts, the states' farmers are especially thankful. California's agriculture sector is on track for a record year, a rare bright spot in the state's economy. Prices for cotton, grapes and other crops are near all-time highs. Foreign buyers are gobbling California almonds, grapes, citrus and dairy products. Agricultural exports through September are up 16% over the same period last year. Net farm income is projected to post strong gains in 2011 after nearly doubling over the previous decade.

Members of Southern California's grocery union voted to ratify a new contract with Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons on Saturday night, bringing an end to labor negotiations that dragged on for more than eight months and brought tens of thousands of workers to the verge of a strike. The new contract, said union leaders, will help ensure workers at Ralphs, Albertsons and Vons and Pavilions will stay on the job, and prevent a potentially devastating blow to the state's already shaky economy.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System pumped nearly $12 billion into the state's economy last year through benefits paid to retirees and other beneficiaries, making it "a significant economic engine in most California communities," a new study says. The findings of consultant Robert Fountain, a retired Cal State Sacramento economics professor, help to show how important the country's largest public pension is to the state's economy, fund officials said. CalPERS, which released the study Monday, has been engaged in an ongoing public relations campaign to improve an image that has been battered by investment losses and corruption scandals.

California's film tax credit program is giving taxpayers a bang for their buck. So says a newly released study by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., which shows the state's tax credit program pumped $3.8 billion into the California economy and created more than 20,000 jobs in the last two years. Based on an analysis of expenditures from nine projects that received film tax credits from the state in the first two years of the program, the LAEDC found that for each tax dollar allocated, the local and state governments get back at least $1.13 in tax revenue and the total gross domestic product in the state increases $8.48.

In November, California voters will make a key decision about the state's climate change policy, with long-term impacts on our economic future. A ballot initiative, Proposition 23, would suspend California's Global Warming Solutions Act, better known as AB 32. The measure was enacted by the Legislature in 2006, with the strong support of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. AB 32 requires the state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, about 30% below projected emission levels if AB 32 were not in effect.