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California Population Growth Lags

December 22, 2018 By Richard Rider 2 Comments

Most people think of California as the most desirable state in the union. Naturally it’s assumed that there’s heavy migration into the Golden State, with the population growing at a robust clip. But for quite a number of years, that has not been the case.

At the bottom of this article are the just-released 50 states’ population figures for this past fiscal year in chart format. The states are listed in order from fastest to slowest growth. Remember that the population growth of a state is the net total change considering births, deaths, migration between states and international migration.

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/estimates-national-state.html

Yes, the California population IS growing. But in spite of our state’s wonderful physical attributes, the growth is sub-par compared to the nation as a whole. In this latest 12 month period, the nation’s population grew 0.62%. California grew 0.40%. Stated differently, the country grew over 50% faster than California. I’ve been following this trend for years, and must report that this trend is not new.

The fastest growing state in this time frame was Nevada — growth that is heavily dependent on relocating Californians. In a related vein, I should mention when when it comes to departing California businesses, the #2 relocation city is Reno, Nevada. #3 is Las Vegas. (#1 is Austin, Texas.)

https://riderrants.blogspot.com/2018/12/in-2016-1800-ca-companies-disinvested.html

Idaho is in a virtual tie with Nevada for population growth. Both states’ population grew over 5 times faster than CA. Almost all the Idaho growth is in the Boise area. I think it’s fair to say that not a single Idaho arrival moved there for the weather.

The Texas population grew 1.34% — 3.35 times faster than California. For the last 15 years, Texas population has grown more than twice as fast as California.

Overall California’s population growth ranked 25th in the nation. Eight states actually LOST population this past year. California is not THAT bad.

Yet. …

Click here to read the full article from the Flash Report

Filed Under: Top Stories Tagged With: Population, Texas

California Taxes, Over-Regulation Force 1,800 Businesses To Relocate

December 21, 2018 By Randy DeSoto 12 Comments

California – notorious for high taxes and a stifling regulatory environment – reportedly saw 1,800 businesses either relocate or disinvest from the state in 2016.

Business relocation consultant Joe Vranich wrote concerning the results of a new study he authored that he is advising clients “to leave the business-hostile state because its business climate continues to worsen,” according to Investors Business Daily.

Vranich, president of Spectrum Location Solutions LLC, noted that the 1,800 “disinvestment events” that occurred in 2016 were the most since 2008.

Additionally, 13,000 companies left the state during that nine-year period.

“Departures are understandable when year after year CEOs nationwide surveyed by Chief Executive Magazine have declared California the worst state in which to do business,” Vranich said.

“The top reason to leave the state no longer is high taxes,” he said. “The legal climate has become so difficult that companies should consider locating in jurisdictions where they will be treated fairly.”

One business regulation Vranich cited was California’s new Immigrant Worker Protection Act, which fines companies for following federal immigration law.

The consultant pointed out the law creates a dilemma for business owners: face fines either from the state or from the federal government.

“Think about it. California may penalize someone in business who is a legal citizen operating a legal business that is in compliance with every federal, state and local law, who pays state and local taxes, and who creates employment – and all that counts for nothing in the state’s eyes,” Vranich said. “Signs are that California politicians’ contempt for business will persist.”

Vranich argued that it’s not just this new law, it’s the plethora of other laws and regulations California businesses must comply with and the concern of what may be coming down the line.

The American Tort Reform Foundation said California is among the nation’s worst “Judicial Hellholes” for businesses.

According to the Vranich, three previous California governors – Gray Davis, Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian – have cited earlier versions of his business climate study to raise awareness of why companies are leaving the Golden State.

The top states where businesses are relocating, ranked in order, are: Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Virginia.

The top 10 urban areas gaining from the California exodus are Austin, Texas; Reno, Nevada; Las Vegas; Phoenix; Seattle; Dallas; Portland, Oregon; Denver; San Antonio; and Scottsdale, Arizona.

Among the businesses that have left the state in recent years are Toyota, Occidental Petroleum, Chevron, Nestle USA, Carl’s Jr., Jamba Juice and Numira Biosciences, according to Chief Executive Magazine.

There was a net outflow of approximately 143,000 Californians leaving in 2016 over people moving in from other states, based on numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The only reason the state’s population is not decreasing overall is due to the 100,000-plus people per year immigrating into California from other countries and the birth rate exceeding the death rate in the state.

In addition to business regulations driving people from the state, The Sacramento Bee reported that California lawmakers are concerned about the wealthiest residents fleeing due to high taxes.

California has the highest top income tax bracket in the nation at 13.3 percent, and its treasury receives a disproportionate 44 percent of income tax revenues from the top 1 percent of wage earners.

Vranich said he is glad he took his own advice and moved his business from California to the Pittsburgh suburb of Cranberry Township.

“I moved for three reasons — taxes, regulations and quality-of-life,” he said. “First, I’ll have greater freedom in my business now that I’m free of California’s notorious regulatory environment and threats of frivolous lawsuits that hurt small businesses like mine.”

“Finally, we are enjoying a superior qualify-of-life here. We bought a house larger than what we had in California for about half the cost. We can afford to engage in more activities because the cost-of-living in Cranberry Township is 44 percent lower than in Irvine.”

This article was originally published by Western Journalism

Filed Under: Top Stories Tagged With: business, Nevada, Texas

Second-Largest CA Firm May Be Heading To Texas

November 20, 2018 By Chris Reed 25 Comments

California could be on the brink of one of its biggest corporate defections yet with the signs that McKesson Corp. – the pharmaceutical giant that is sixth on the Fortune 500 list – is preparing to move its headquarters from San Francisco to the Dallas area.

Apple is the only California company that’s bigger than McKesson, which has 75,000-plus employees and had $198 billion in annual revenue last fiscal year.

McKesson saw its profile increase greatly in 2017 after a joint investigation by the Washington Post and CBS “60 Minutes”alleged that the company had played a central role in the national opioid epidemic by failing to report “suspicious orders involving millions of highly addictive painkillers.” Yet it’s long been considered one of the 10 biggest companies “you’ve never heard of” by the InvestorPlace website and other business trackers.

Firm sold San Francisco headquarters

Now, according to a connect-the-dots report by the San Francisco Business Times, its days in the Golden State may be numbered. McKesson officially denied it was looking to move. But the newspaper noted a number of seemingly linked developments:

The remarks of an official with Irving Economic Development Partnership that hinted McKesson was considering an expansion of its already “major commitment” to Irving. McKesson’s $157 million regional headquarters opened in 2016 in the business-friendly suburb of Dallas that already has the headquarters of such corporate giants as ExxonMobil, Fluor Corp and Kimberly-Clark. The state of Texas provided $9.75 million in subsidies to encourage McKesson’s decision.
The announcement that CEO John Hammergren will retire on March 31, 2019, and be succeeded by McKesson executive Brian Tyler, who lives in Las Colinas, a posh Irving neighborhood. His possible relocation was not directly addressed.
McKesson’s 2017 decision to sell its San Francisco headquarters for more than $300 million in favor of an arrangement in which it leased offices at the facility.

Given how much cheaper it usually is for a company to own rather than lease a large headquarters, the sale looks in retrospect like a warning sign to city leaders that their richest company was preparing to move.

McKesson would be hardest hit by new ‘homeless tax’

Nonetheless, besides Mayor London Breed, the city’s political establishment offered relatively little pushback to a successful tax measure on San Francisco’s Nov. 6 ballot that will take its single biggest toll on McKesson – at least if the company stays in the city.

To fund increased programs for the homeless, Measure C imposes a gross receipts tax on San Francisco-based companies which have $50 million or more in annual revenue. With $198 billion in fiscal 2017, McKesson is by far the highest-grossing San Francisco-based firm. Measure C is expected to generate $300 million a year, boosting the $380 million that City Hall now spends on homelessness.

If McKesson does leave, it will join the more than 1,700 companies whose decisions to abandon the Golden State have been documented since 2008. The traditional corporate complaints about California having high taxes and heavy regulations have been expanded in recent years to include concerns about the high cost of housing making it difficult to attract and retain workers.

Among the most prominent departures: Toyota moved its U.S. headquarters from Torrance to the Dallas suburb of Plano; energy giant Occidental Petroleum moved its headquarters from Los Angeles to Houston; and the Nestle USA food conglomerate moved its headquarters from Glendale to Rosslyn, Virginia, in the Washington suburbs.

This article was originally published by CalWatchdog.com

Filed Under: Top Stories Tagged With: McKesson, san francisco, Texas

Did California save Ted Cruz?

November 13, 2018 By Jon Coupal Leave a Comment

Chuck DeVore is just one of thousands of former Californians who have moved to Texas. But DeVore is unique. Not only did he serve in the California Assembly, but he remains heavily engaged in policy issues as Vice President of National Initiatives at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a free market think tank based in Austin.

DeVore is a frequent guest on national television shows to speak on economic issues, including how progressive policies suppress economic growth. Moreover, he has firsthand experience with the movement of people and money between the two economic titans, California and Texas.

The migration of businesses from California to Texas is well-documented. Big names, like Charles Schwab, Campbell’s Soup, Burger King, Waste Management and other billion-dollar businesses severed their California connections for Lone Star liberty. In fact, it was entertaining to watch the sparring between then-Texas Governor Rick Perry — who frequented California to poach businesses from California — and the Golden State’s own Jerry Brown who tried to portray Texas as hick-country governed by a buffoon.

More than just businesses, it is people who have left California in numbers significantly larger than those coming in from other states. From 2007 to 2016, California has experienced net domestic out-migration of a million citizens, and the number-one destination? You guessed it. Texas. Of course, that doesn’t mean that California has lost population, in fact it has gained. But those gains have come from immigration – both documented and otherwise — and new births.

To read the entire column, please click here.

Filed Under: Top Stories Tagged With: Chuck DeVore, Jon Coupal, Ted Cruz, Texas

New Overtime Rules Burden CA Small Businesses

May 22, 2016 By Joel Fox 4 Comments

The Department of Labor’s new overtime rules come at a jarring time for California businesses which have seen recent changes in California laws to increase both the minimum wage and mandated leave. Small business employers can’t catch a breath before a new mandate comes down affecting their employees and ultimately their bottom line.

The Department of Labor’s new rule allows workers earning $47,476 annually time-an-a-half for every hour they work beyond 40 hours. The previous annual salary threshold for requiring time-an-a-half pay was $23,660.

National Federation of Independent Business California State Executive Director Tom Scott said in a release responding to the new rule, “We see this as particularly troubling here in California where the cost of doing business is already prohibitively high. Small businesses are still grappling with the news of a $15 minimum wage; now they have to go through each salary exempt position and decide which employees they have to shift to hourly workers. This will adversely affect workplace morale as many will view this adjustment as a demotion.”

However, there is a way for employees of all stripes to get a pay increase without affecting a businesses bottom line. Unfortunately, because of the increased burdens California businesses face more businesses are looking at this benefit for their employees: Move to a state with no income tax.

If an employee receives the same wage in, say, Texas or Nevada, which have no income taxes, more money stays in the employees’ pocket. It’s like a pay raise without the companies increasing payroll.

Too many California businesses are doing the math because of the constant attack on their bottom line.

Originally published by Fox and Hounds Daily

Filed Under: Top Stories Tagged With: business, Nevada, Overtime, regulation, Small business, Texas