Democratic Strategists File Statewide Ballot Initiative to Bring Manufacturing Jobs Back to California
Billions in State and Local Government Budgets to Be Spent On American Products Instead of Those Made Overseas
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Democratic strategists Jim Gonzalez, Bill Zimmerman, and John Thiella have filed The Bring Manufacturing Jobs Back to California Act of 2012 with the California Attorney General for title and summary, prior to circulation as an initiative measure for the November 2012 election.
"The Tea Party gridlock and paralysis in Washington and Sacramento requires middle-class voters to take action to bring back jobs," stated Jim Gonzalez, a proponent of the initiative, and a former finance chair of the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors. "The Bring Manufacturing Jobs Back to California Act would end the decline of manufacturing jobs that is at the root of our economic crisis," Gonzalez continued.
The Bring Manufacturing Jobs Back to California Act would:
- Beginning January 1, 2014, require the State of California and all local government entities to purchase or lease manufactured tangible personal property, or materials or structural components to be incorporated into real property, only if they are manufactured in the United States.
- These manufactured items would also have to be made substantially from materials produced in the United States.
- The Legislature could provide exemptions only for "specifically identified and particularly described" items.
- The initiative would exempt spare parts for equipment currently owned or leased by the State of California or by local governments.
- Also exempted would be books or media intended for libraries, or artwork or artifacts intended for museums.
"Between 2001 and 2011, California lost 612,000 manufacturing jobs, equal to over 32% of our state's industrial base. For every manufacturing job created, an additional 2.5 jobs are created in the broader economy," stated John Thiella, a co-proponent of the measure, and former Chief Deputy to members of the State Board of Equalization, California's elected tax commission. "The Bring Manufacturing Jobs Back to California Act would create a market for new manufacturing contracts based upon the unified purchasing power of the State of California and our state's counties, cities, districts, and local government agencies," Thiella continued.
"The Bring Manufacturing Jobs Back to California Act is about simple economic justice in an economy being destroyed by outsourcing and long term unemployment," said Bill Zimmerman, a co-proponent of the initiative, and the campaign manager of numerous successful citizens' initiatives, including medical marijuana (Proposition 215) and the millionaire tax for mental health services (Proposition 63). "The decline of our industrial base, and the loss of high wage manufacturing jobs, has led to suffering for unemployed workers and frustration for consumers who can't find good "Made in America" products in stores. The Bring Manufacturing Jobs Back to California Act is an opportunity to end this continuing injustice," concluded Zimmerman.
(A copy of the Bring Manufacturing Jobs Back to California Act of 2012 can be found on the California State Attorney General's initiative website at the following link.)
SOURCE Bring Manufacturing Jobs Back to California Act
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