Perhaps you’ve heard the radio ads. Texas Governor Rick Perry has taken to the airwaves (and airports) in his effort to lure California businesses to the Lone Star State. On February 12, he visited Haas Automation, a specialty metal fabricating company in Oxnard, presumably in an effort to convince Haas to expand, if not move, its business to Texas.
Perry claims that Texas offers a lower cost of living, and of doing business. However, while Perry claims that building a business in California is, in his words, “virtually impossible,” the reality is that the Golden State created 257,000 private sector jobs last year, the highest in the nation, and that relocating businesses account for just 0.03% of all job losses, according to the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.
“Ventura County Democrats hope that Texas Governor Rick Perry will learn from California’s recent success how he can improve his state’s dismal record on poverty, wages, education standards and social services,” said David Atkins, chair of the Ventura County Democratic Central Committee. “The Golden State has the most Fortune 500 companies of any in the nation, with over 100,000 new businesses started every year. We’re confident that despite Rick Perry’s effort to steal away the fruits of California’s labor to prop up the hollow Texan economy, California businesses will see past his empty promises and continue to enjoy California’s warm, prosperous and demand-driven economic climate.”
