California Business and Economic Outlook

1. California Business and Economic Outlook Survey of Executives’ Attitudes and Release of CA Economic Performance Scorecard June 5, 2008

2. Survey of Business Executives • Survey of 1,113 California business executives • May 12 – 21, 2008 • MOE @95% confidence is ±3% • Sample generally reflective of size, location, industry mix of California businesses

3. Generally speaking, do you think that things in California are going in the right direction, or do you feel things have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track? Right – Wrong = -53 Right Direction Wrong track

4. How would you currently rate California's economy?

5. What is your outlook for California’s economy over the next year? Get Better – Get Worse = -34

6. What is the outlook for your own business over the next year? Get Better – Get Worse = +15

7. Would you say it is easier or harder to do business in California than in other states? My company only does business in California Easier Harder About the Same Easier – Harder = -62

8. What would you say is the biggest challenge to doing business in California? 28 42 28 28 26 21 20 11 11 10 2

9. What would you say are the biggest advantages to doing business in California? 52 38 37 25 18 14 14 1

10. Overall, has your company added or reduced jobs in California over the past year?

11. Does your company plan to add or reduce jobs in California over the next year?

12. Please select the issue you think elected officials in Sacramento should be paying most attention to? 33 24 24 23 22 19 12 10 9 8 5 4 4 3

13. The state currently faces a very large budget deficit. How serious a problem do you think this is?

14. Do you think California state government should deal with the budget deficit through spending cuts, through tax increases, or through a mixture of both?

15. What do you think should be the highest priority state program to protect from budget cuts?

16. Which of these reforms would be your top choice for dealing with the California state budget? With approximately half the state budget going to education, reform our schools and how education dollars are spent by providing essential skills to students so they can succeed in the workplace, cutting bureaucracy and strengthening financial management, expanding teacher training, and paying higher salaries to teachers who improve student performance. 45 Ensure that whatever mix of new taxes and spending cuts is adopted, the end result is a balanced budget. 40 Eliminate annual program funding and salary increases in the budget that are automatically linked to inflation. 33 Ensure that any tax increases are temporary, broadly-based (not focused on any single industry or group of taxpayers), and least harmful to the state's economy. 31 Reform labor regulations governing overtime, wages, rest periods and benefits to provide more flexibility for employers and employees in the workplace. 27 25 Ensure that one-time revenues can never again be used to finance ongoing state programs.

17. California Economic Performance Scorecard • Goals: • Determine the most important public policy factors that influence economic well being • Assess how California performs on those public policy factors – leveraging advantages; reducing disadvantages • Develop a measurement to continually assess California’s progress on improving economic well being

18. Design of Scorecard • State’s economic performance measured along four dimensions: • Current conditions and future prospects • Economic output and quality of life • Economic output defined as employment • Quality of life defined as personal income plus poverty rate

19. California’s National Ranking • California’s economic performance ranked 38th among the fifty states. • Top states were Massachusetts, Minnesota and New Hampshire • Bottom states were Mississippi, Louisiana and West Virginia • California also low compared to competitor states

20. How Does California Improve? • Improve educational achievement • Increase size of the residential housing stock • Reduce crime rate • Maintain and increase number of high quality jobs • Reduce burden of state and local government

21. How Does California Match Up?Educational Achievement California is consistently one of the lowest performing states in the U.S. and is far below the national average.

22. How Does California Match Up?Housing Stock California has consistently maintained one of the lowest per capita housing ratios in the country

23. How Does California Match Up?Crime Rate Since 2002, California’s crime rate has been above the national average

24. How Does California Match Up?High Quality Jobs On average, California has more workers in high-tech and financial service occupations than the national average

25. How Does California Match Up?State and Local Tax Burden California’s state and local tax burdens tend to follow national trends. California’s tax burden is typically 1% greater than the national average.

26. Conclusions For California to improve its economic health and future competitiveness, the state must focus on five areas: • Dramatically improve the quality of education • Develop more housing stock • Reduce violent and property crimes • Maintain and create high quality (manufacturing, business services, finance) jobs • California needs to reduce state/local tax burdens