As the California Legislature returned to Sacramento last week, Assembly Speaker John A. Perez (D-Los Angeles) was busy addressing the Governor's budget plan, raising the issue of revising the Enterprise Zone program and commenting on the challenging issues for the year ahead.

TALX is actively monitoring legislation and will continue to do our best to keep you updated on the status of the California Enterprise Zone Program.

The following are tell-tale signs that 2012 promises to be an active, interesting and promising year!

Pérez made the following statement on Thursday regarding the Governor’s budget plan:

"The Governor's budget plan reflects the fact that even though California's economic recovery is gaining strength, we still face a year of difficult choices. His plan underscores the need for new revenues to avoid cuts that will be a major drag on the recovery, and I am looking forward to working with the Governor and my colleagues to produce an on-time budget that reflects California's values by our June 15th deadline."

Pérez addressed the Enterprise Zone program in an interview with John Myers:

A second look will also no doubt be taken at the issue of local economic development in the wake of the California Supreme Court ruling that abolishes more than 400 local redevelopment agencies next month. Speaker Perez dismissed any notion that actual RDAs will be recreated by the Legislature; instead, he emphasized the need for ways to promote job creation and economic stimulus that doesn't favor one region over another. And he suggested that the scrapping of RDAs could reignite his the effort of many Democrats to revise the state's enterprise zone program.

Maureen Schneider