Colorado Loves California, How Sweet (not really)

Everyone I talk to seems to be at least mildly aware that California is not the most business-friendly of states. And I’m not surprised, given our current state of budget imbalance, constant bickering, and general partisanship, that everyone knows this is a bad time to be a business in this state.

Other states, if they were smart, would definitely make a move to steal some of those businesses right out from under us. Well, last week Colorado finally got smart. Governor Bill Ritter declared last Friday to be, “Colorado loves California day!” Cute Bill, very cute. The announcement though was actually driven by the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp (MDEDC), and you can check out their Colorado loves California website right here: http://www.colovesca.com/

In an effort to take their message to the streets, 20 Colorado-ians dressed up as Cupid invaded downtown Los Angeles on Friday (wings and all) and handed out chocolates. (They call them “love ambassadors” at the MDEDC.) Here are some of the “auditions” (can we say so staged?) to become a cupid:

On a more serious note though, should California be seriously worried that business is going to start migrating elsewhere? Quite possibly. Joining Colorado’s campaign are several other states including Nevada and Arizona who claim that businesses have already reached out to them with questions about tax rates and other expenses.

Tina Sumner, an economic-development director from the city of Clovis even commented on meeting another economic-development official from Phoenix in a Sacramento Bee article last year, “One of the things that struck me was how enthusiastic he was about how easy the pickings were, for taking businesses from California and bringing them over to Arizona. He was kind of almost giddy.” (http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/1994615.html?mi_rss=Business) Yikes.

In fact, to make matters worse, non-profit organization The Tax Foundation ranked California in the bottom 5 (yea, we’re 47 out of 50) in their 2010 State Business Tax Climate Index (SBTCI). The index is based on five factors: corporate income tax rates, individual income tax rates, sales tax rates, property tax rates, and unemployment insurance tax rates (this last one is the one that really hit California where it hurts). To read more about the SBTCI check out their site: http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/25212.html.