Assembly Republican Leader Martin Garrick just released his weekly radio address…  The transcript is below, and below that is a player if you would prefer to listen to his remarks…

Hello, I’m Martin Garrick with this week’s radio address from the State Capitol.
 
This week, I want to share with you a story that illustrates a problem that many job-creating businesses are having in California.  A recent article in Forbes magazine highlighted the challenges faced by McAfee, a company that is a shining example of a California success story. McAfee is headquartered in Santa Clara and is a leader in the computer security software business.
 
Life should be good for McAfee these days. Over the past four years, they have doubled revenue and hired hundreds of new workers.  But even though McAfee started in California and is headquartered here, they are expanding elsewhere.  Why?  Because state government has made it too expensive for them to grow here.
 
McAfee blames high taxes, high housing costs and poor public schools as the main reasons why they are sending jobs out of California.  In recent years, McAfee moved 1,000 jobs from California to Texas.  They were lured by lower costs and a supportive state government that actually welcomed their business.
 
McAfee actually wanted to expand research and development in Silicon Valley.  They applied for research and development tax credits 9 times – but were turned down by the state every time. So they decided to expand research labs in Oregon and Canada instead.  These are job opportunities that out-of-work Californians are counting on so they can provide for their families.
 
California cannot sit back and allow this to happen any longer.
 
Next week, the Legislature will have a chance to right this course.  As part of our California Jobs First package, Assembly Republicans have proposed new tax incentives for research and development in California.  This will encourage more companies to conduct ground-breaking research in the state.  And keep high wage, high tech jobs right here in California where they belong.
 
It’s up to Democrats to do the right thing and join with Republicans to pass this common-sense measure and protect California jobs.  We need to make California the ideal home for both research and development and manufacturing.  And show companies like McAfee that California wants their business and the jobs they create to stay here in the Golden State.
 
I’m Martin Garrick.  Thank you for listening.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 30th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.