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To be sure, low-tax states such as Texas generally score well, while high-tax states such as California and Illinois flunk their tests. This may be because the kind of politicians who like high taxes also like bossing people around. But not always. Minnesota, a high-tax state, earns a respectable “B” for business climate, partly because it is easy to start a business there. Washington and Florida, both low-tax states, earn a “C” and a “C+”. Entrepreneurs fault Washington’s harsh zoning laws and gripe that in Florida new firms must jump through hoops like dolphins at SeaWorld.

A higher minimum wage raises wages of low-wage workers, and even though most evidence points to job losses from higher minimum wages, the evidence doesn’t point to widespread employment declines. Thus, consistent with a recent Congressional Budget Office report, many more low-wage workers will get a raise than will lose their jobs. But that argument is about low-wage workers, not low-income families. Minimum wages are ineffective at helping poor families because such a small share of the benefits flow to them.

America’s states and cities have traditionally tried to attract businesses by offering them tax breaks and other cash incentives. Yet there may be a more effective way, and one which puts no strain on stretched budgets: make life simpler.

The Legislature went home for a month Thursday, but not before handing aerospace giant Lockheed Martin Corp. a controversial $420-million tax break.

Branded as a sweetheart deal for Lockheed, the bill sailed through the Assembly and Senate — but only after critics forced state officials to pledge that they would seek a similar incentive for aerospace rival Northrop Grumman.

Democratic fissures over California’s cap-and-trade mandates deepened on Thursday, with a key moderate Democrat introducing a bill to push back a looming rule expected to cause a spike in prices at the pump.

Lawmakers, including State Senators Mike Morrell, R-Rancho Cucamonga, and Norma Torres, D-Chino, spoke out against a program they say would amount to a new gas tax at a press conference held at the Pacific Mountain Logistics facility in Ontario on Wednesday. They were joined by representatives from areas of business, including Gayle Covey, executive director of the San Bernardino Farm Bureau, and Tracy Rafter, CEO of the Los Angeles Business Federation.

The Senate Finance and Governance Committee approved the measure, Assembly Bill 2389, but only after adding amendments to limit its effect on the state’s treasury, which proponents said could undermine hopes of gaining the project in competition with other states and companies.

In a conference call with oil industry analysts in late 2012, Mike Wirth, a Chevron Corp. executive, took stock of California’s greenhouse gas reduction policies and warned that the state’s plan to expand its controversial cap-and-trade program to vehicle fuels in 2015 would result in higher prices at the pump.

Seven of the lowest rated cities in the country were found in California – of 82 cities rated, San Jose was #68, Santa Rosa #70, Riverside #71, Los Angeles #74, Oxnard #76, San Diego #78, and Sacramento #82. Sacramento was rated the worst city in the country for small business.

In the recurring rhetoric of business vs. labor, the measures either protect workers or destroy work. The measures sit on the “job killer” list, published each year by the California Chamber of Commerce, that previews where business interests will play defense against the Democratic-controlled Legislature. All three have emerged from the Assembly and are advancing through the Senate.

In the business of seaports, competition for ships to dock and move cargo is tough.  In California, new environmental rules make it even tougher.  So the Port of Long Beach will soon offer shipping companies two new incentives — both of which aim to boost business while reducing air pollution.  

Last year, Steinberg got a bill passed that bent the CEQA rules to expedite the proposed new arena in downtown Sacramento. Two years before, the billionaire owner of Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles also got legislative relief for his proposed and still-unbuilt football stadium.

If Steinberg wants to leave an economic legacy larger than Musk’s battery factory (which, again, we support), he would use this opportunity to get CEQA fixed – not just for billionaires and sports teams – but for everyone.

California lawmakers and the Brown administration introduced legislation Thursday morning that seeks to lift regulatory and financial barriers to lure a proposed $5 billion Tesla Motors factory to the Golden State.

Thirteen California Indian tribes announced this week that they had struck a compromise to legalize online poker in California, but a successful law is not guaranteed because the powerful Morongo Band of Mission Indians is opposed.

It’s fine to talk about government programs to help the poor, but wouldn’t it be better to alleviate the high living costs they face every day, and to create an economic climate that would give them more opportunities to climb the ladder through better jobs?