CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
Disaster Relief Supplemental Moving In Senate
Bay-Delta Delegation Letter Circulating
One More Day to Sign R&D Dear Colleague
Letter
CALFED Releases Three Bay-Delta Restoration
Alternatives
Senate Judiciary Holds Hearing On Privacy
and Encryption Usage
Semiconductor Industry Releases Report Showing
Its Major Contribution to U.S. Economy
Cox Unveils Revised Internet Tax Moratorium Bill
With Approval of Governors and Mayors
“House that Congress Built” — Half of California
Delegation To Participate
2 Brownfields Showcase Communities Awarded
to CA
Renewal of Nation’s Child Nutrition Programs
Renewal of Higher Education Act Advances in
House
Court Oks Shipment of Nuclear Fuel rods Through
Concord
State Auditor Report on Child Support Computer
Failure
Four California Counties are Top Population Gainers
New California Unemployment Figures Released
DISASTER RELIEF SUPPLEMENTAL MOVING IN SENATE
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved
two separate supplemental appropriations bills by a 26-2 vote. The
House and Senate leadership had previously decided to split the supplemental
into two bills in an attempt to move the disaster aid portion quickly without
extraneous and controversial issues that may slow down the other bill.
The disaster relief supplemental contains a total
of about $2.4 billion in additional funding. Disaster relief to states,
such as California and Florida, hard hit by El Niño’s storms, would
receive $610 million, that includes $259 million for highway repairs, $109
million for national parks cleanup, and about $117 million to growers and
ranchers for damages to crops and livestock. The balance of the funding
in the bill would go for Bosnia peacekeeping efforts and activities in
the Persian Gulf. Although exact figures on how much of the new funding
California would receive are not yet available, the State has already identified
$296 million in transportation infrastructure damage because of El Niño.
The bill does include $69 million for assistance to military bases throughout
the state that have suffered damages.
The second supplemental, which will probably be
considered after the first, gives an additional $17.9 billion to the International
Monetary Fund to allow it to continue to provide assistance to those Asian
countries experiencing economic crises.
The House Appropriations Committee is expected to
take up its bill next Tuesday. In addition to splitting the package
into two bills, the House may include about $921 million in the second
bill to pay for United Nations dues that are in arrears. However,
that money may be tied to prohibitions on the use of U.N. money for groups
that perform or advocate abortions, a provision which may draw a presidential
veto. The Senate Appropriations Committee did not include any funding
for arrearages to the U.N.
BAY-DELTA DELEGATION LETTER CIRCULATING
A California Congressional Delegation letter to
Rep. Joseph McDade (PA), Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee
on Energy and Water Development, is being circulated by Reps. George Radanovich
(Mariposa), Cal Dooley (Visalia), Jerry Lewis (Redlands), and Lucille Roybal-Allard
(Los Angeles). The letter thanks Chairman McDade for his support
of FY98 funding for the Bay-Delta restoration project and urges him to
include the full $143 million funding level in the FY99 appropriations.
The President’s budget also requests $143 million, which represents one-third
of the authorization approved by Congress to be funded over a three year
period.
Last year, the House appropriations bill funded
only $120 million for the project, and the Senate bill only $50 million.
The appropriations conference agreed to split the difference and fund the
Bay-Delta at $85 million for FY98. A similar letter last year garnered
the signatures of 48 delegation members.
The San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Estuary (the “Bay-Delta”) is a 700 square-mile region of waterways, sloughs,
and islands where the San Francisco Bay meets the states two largest rivers.
The Bay-Delta supplies some or all of the water needs for two-thirds of
the state’s homes and businesses and over four million acres of agricultural
land. It is also the home of millions of birds and over 53 species
of fish. In its 1994 report California Water Plan Update, the California
Department of Water Resources warned that California’s water users (domestic,
industrial, agricultural, and environmental) face growing water shortages
beginning in the year 2000, as well as increased deterioration in the Bay-Delta’s
ecological health, because of reduced supply and increased demand.
The CALFED consortium of ten federal and state agencies was created in
1994 to address the Bay-Delta problems in a collaborative way with extensive
public and stakeholder participation.
Members wishing to sign the letter should contact
Tricia Geringer in Rep. Radanovich’s office at x54540 or Mark Kramer in
Rep. Dooley’s office at x53341. The deadline for signing the letter
is Wednesday, March 25.
ONE MORE DAY TO SIGN R&D DEAR COLLEAGUE
LETTER
Forty-one members of the California congressional
delegation (21 Republicans and 20 Democrats) have now signed the
Dear Colleague letter being circulated by Reps. Wally Herger (Marysville)
and Bob Matsui (Sacramento) on the R&D Tax Credit. The
letter addressed to Ways and Means Chair Bill Archer (TX) and Ranking Member
Charles Rangel (NY) supports the permanent extension of the credit (formally
known as the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit), which is set to
expire this June 30.
The credit is extremely important to California’s
high technology and biotechnology industries which must invest a significant
percentage of their revenues in R&D in order to stay globally competitive.
The deadline for signing the letter is Friday, March 20. Members
wishing to sign should contact Dave Olander in Rep.Herger’s office (x53076),
or Francis Grab in Rep. Matsui’s office (x57163).
CALFED RELEASES THREE BAY-DELTA RESTORATION
ALTERNATIVES
As expected, on Monday CALFED, a federal-state partnership
established to develop a plan to restore the San Francisco Bay-Sacramento/San
Joaquin Delta, released three alternative plans to “fix” the estuary.
Each of the alternatives contained in the draft report, called the Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement and Report (EIS/EIR), comprehensively addresses
the four main problems with the Bay-Delta system: ecosystem degradation,
water supply reliability, water quality, and levee system integrity.
According to CALFED, the major difference among the three plans is the
manner in which water within the Bay-Delta system would be moved and stored.
The draft and its 11 appendices consist of over
2,400 pages of technical information, studies, analyses, and related information.
The public will have until June 1 to comment on the EIS/EIR and CALFED
hopes to select the “preferred alternative” by the end of the summer, although
that time frame may prove to be too optimistic. As the agricultural,
urban, and environmental stakeholders in the CALFED process begin to pore
over the details in the report, everyone is applauding the hard work that
CALFED has put into the process and urging continued cooperation among
the various parties. Nevertheless, the consensus currently seems
to be that the three alternatives are works in progress that will require
more work before any preferred alternative can be agreed upon.
CALFED will begin gathering public comment with
an orientation session on April 3 in Sacramento, and has a dozen public
hearings scheduled throughout the state in late April and May.
The entire report, as well as an executive summary
and other documents, can be accessed through CALFED’s website at: http://calfed.ca.gov.
Hard copies can be ordered by calling 800-900-3587.
SENATE JUDICIARY HOLDS HEARING ON PRIVACY
AND ENCRYPTION USAGE
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on
Tuesday entitled “Privacy in the Digital Age: Encryption and Mandatory
Access.” The hearing focused on the privacy interests affected by
controlling the use of encryption technology in electronic communications
and transactions.
The Committee heard from Robert Litt of the Department of Justice who
argued that the Administration, including its law enforcement agencies,
wanted a balanced approach to controlling encryption use to enhance law
enforcement activities without hampering the ability of law-abiding citizens
to use encryption to protect the privacy of their electronic activities.
Mr. Litt stated that, despite last year’s action to the contrary by the
House Intelligence Committee, the Administration does not support controlling
the domestic use of encryption technology. He also testified that
the Administration is not wedded to the idea of mandating a key recovery
system in encryption products and software, but would rather work with
private industry to reach a consensus solution.
The Committee also heard from a panel of constitutional
experts on the privacy interests affected by government control of encryption
technology. Kathleen Sullivan, Professor of Law at Stanford University
Law School, testified that a mandatory government-controlled key recovery
system turns the First Amendment on its head. In effect it inverts
the constitutional precept that all speech is presumed free until
there is probable cause to the contrary to the notion that all speech is
presumed relevant to government interests until proven otherwise.
Moreover, Prof. Sullivan stated that the government’s attempt to reach
a consensus solution with the industry may not satisfy the First Amendment,
because “cooperative solutions are not necessarily constitutional” solutions.
Testimony from the witnesses may be accessed through
the Committee’s website at: http://www.senate.gov/~judiciary.
SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY RELEASES REPORT SHOWING
ITS MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO U.S. ECONOMY
The Semiconductor Industry Association unveiled
a major report this week during its Washington convention detailing the
significant contribution that the semiconductor industry makes to the U.S.
economy. The report, America’s Semiconductor Industry: Turbocharging
the U. S. Economy, was prepared by Nathan Associates Inc. It finds
that since 1987, the semiconductor industry has soared from the 17th largest
industry in terms of value added to the economy to become the largest manufacturing
industry in the country. In 1996, the report found that the industry
created $41.6 billion of value for the U.S. economy, far outstripping the
second-place motor vehicles parts and accessories industry’s $34.7 million
share.
Industry employment, according to the report, reached
257,000 people in 1996, and has a growth rate of 4.3 percent per year since
1991, which is 8.6 times faster than all other manufacturing employment.
The industry must also invest significant sums on new plants and equipment
each year to deal with the rapid growth in technology. With spending
in these areas reaching $9.5 billion in 1996, new capital spending by the
industry almost equaled that of all other high-tech manufacturers combined.
Moreover, R&D expenditures accounted for five percent of the growth
of all industry-funded R&D since 1987. Although may industries
are either capital intensive ore research intensive, the report concluded
that none are as research and capital intensive as the semiconductor industry.
For a copy of the report, contact the Semiconductor
Industry Association at 408-436-6600.
COX UNVEILS REVISED INTERNET TAX MORATORIUM BILL
WITH APPROVAL OF NATION’S GOVERNORS AND MAYORS
Rep. Chris Cox (Newport Beach) will introduce a
modified version of his Internet Tax Freedom Act that has garnered the
approval of the National Governors’ Association and the National League
of Cities. The bill imposes a three-year moratorium on new state
and local taxes on Internet access charges and online services. The
previous version, H.R. 1054, would have imposed a six-year moratorium.
In addition, the new bill grandfathers in state and local taxes on access
and services that were in place as of March 1, 1998.
The new version will also establish a Commission
on Electronic Commerce composed of state, local, industry, and taxpayer
advocates who will make recommendations to Congress two years after enactment
on whether the Internet ought to be taxed and, if so, how taxes can be
applied without subjecting Internet and electronic commerce to special,
discriminatory, or multiple taxation. The bill also calls on the
Administration to urge foreign governments to keep the Internet free of
taxes and tariffs.
H.R. 1054 had been favorably reported by the
House Judiciary Committee’s Administrative Law Subcommittee last year,
but ran into strong opposition from the nation’s governors and mayors as
impinging on the ability of state and local governments to tax Internet
sales transactions.
REP. LEWIS LEADS BIPARTISAN “HOUSE THAT CONGRESS
BUILT” DRIVE; HALF OF CALIFORNIA DELEGATION TO REPLICATE ACROSS STATE
Last June, Rep. Jerry Lewis (Redlands), House Speaker
Newt Gingrich (GA), Rep. Louis Stokes (OH), Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development Andrew Cuomo, and more than 30 members of Congress met in Southeast
Washington, D.C. to start construction on two single-family homes for local
families. Rep. Lewis, other members, the families, and many volunteers
continued building the homes throughout the summer until they were completed
and dedicated last September.
This year, that successful effort is being expanded
nationwide. On February 21, 1998, Rep. Lewis, working in partnership
with the High Desert Habitat for Humanity affiliate in his district, participated
in the first groundbreaking of the 1998 House that Congress Built effort
to help build decent, affordable homes for low-income families across the
United States.
To kick off National Homeownership Week this June,
241 Members of Congress from every region of the country will participate
in home building efforts in their own congressional districts in participation
with Habitat for Humanity on the weekend of June 6-7.
So far, 25 California Representatives plan to build
homes in their districts: Reps. Jerry Lewis (Redlands), Frank Riggs
(Windsor), Wally Herger (Marysville), Vic Fazio (West Sacramento), Lynn
Woolsey (Petaluma), George Miller (Martinez), Pete Stark (Fremont), Anna
Eshoo (Atherton), Sam Farr (Carmel), Gary Condit (Ceres), Elton Gallegly
(Simi Valley), Brad Sherman (Sherman Oaks), Buck McKeon (Santa Clarita),
Howard Berman (N. Hollywood), James Rogan (Glendale), David Dreier (San
Dimas), Esteban Torres (West Covina), Juanita Millender-McDonald (Carson),
Steve Horn (Long Beach), Jay Kim (Diamond Bar), George Brown (San Bernardino),
Ken Calvert (Corona), Chris Cox (Newport Beach), Brian Bilbray (San Diego),
and Bob Filner (San Diego).
Please contact Dave LesStrang at 225-5861 in Congressman Lewis’
office for more information.
TWO BROWNFIELDS SHOWCASE COMMUNITIES AWARDED
TO CA
Vice President Gore announced on Tuesday that East
Palo Alto and Los Angeles would receive a share of $28 million in federal
money and technical assistance from 15 federal agencies to clean up brownfields
in those areas. Fourteen other communities throughout the nation
will also receive assistance through this federal clean-up effort.
The Administration estimates that there are approximately 450,000 brownfield
sites nationwide.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
(EPA) definition, brownfields are abandoned, idled or underused industrial
and commercial properties where expansion or redevelopment is complicated
by real or perceived environmental contamination from previous industrial
use. The Administration says the designation of Brownfield Showcase
Communities is meant to demonstrate the benefits of cooperation and collaboration
among multiple federal agencies and local resources to clean-up and revitalize
the land.
Nine California sites (or about 7.5% of all selected
sites) — East Palo Alto, Emeryville, Oakland, Pomona, Richmond, Sacramento,
San Diego, San Francisco, and Stockton — were previously selected by EPA
as one of either the 64 national or 57 regional brownfields pilot programs
under the Administration’s broader two-year, $300 million Brownfields National
Partnership. For 1998, Congress appropriated $25 million for the
Brownfields Redevelopment Program, and the President has requested $50
million in his FY99 budget proposal. The money is used for competitive
grants and as leverage for loan guarantees, in addition to tax incentives
available to brownfields projects within designated enterprise and empowerment
zones.
For more information about the Administration’s
brownfields initiative, the East Palo Alto or Los Angeles community project
proposals, or any of the brownfields programs, see the EPA’s web site at
http//:www.epa.gov.
RENEWAL OF NATION’S CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS
Recently, the Senate and House convened hearings
to discuss issues surrounding the renewal of the nation’s child nutrition
laws. Some of the programs governed by these laws and administered
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) — National School Lunch Program
(NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Summer Food Service (SFS), Child
and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), Nutrition Education and Training Program
(NET), and WIC will expire at the end of the 1998 fiscal year.
Earlier this year, the Clinton Administration submitted a child nutrition
reauthorization proposal.
On Wednesday, the Senate and House Committees discussed
the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children,
commonly referred to as WIC. Demonstrated to be one of the most effective
government programs, WIC serves 7.5 million women and children. A
GAO study found that for every dollar invested in prenatal care, WIC saves
the government $3.50 on other health care costs. To participate in
the WIC program, participants must be either a pregnant or postpartum woman
or a child under 18, that has one or more documented nutritional risks
and an income at or below 185% of the poverty level. Of the $3.7
billion spent in FY97, roughly 25% of each state grant went for Nutrition
Services and Administration (NSA) — 9% on program administration and 16%
on direct care activities — and the remaining 75% went directly for food
benefits. California received a $631 million state grant for FY96,
or 16.6% of the funds.
Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer
Services at USDA Shirley Watkins — testifying before both the Senate Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry Committee and the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood,
Youth and Families of the Education and Workforce Committee — outlined
the Administration’s proposed changes. The Administration has requested
just over $4 billion for WIC in FY99, a $300 million increase over last
year. Also on both panels were Robert Greenstein, Executive Director
on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Dennis Hemmings, President of the
National Association of WIC Directors.
Last week, both the Senate and House also examined
the School Lunch, School Breakfast, and Summer Food Service programs.
The General Accounting Office testified about its recent report on cuts
made last year to the Summer Food Service Program. Last year lawmakers
reduced subsidies for food vendors under the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, but
the GAO report said only small reductions in provision of meals were made.
The GAO report also said that while overall participation in the program
actually increased, several states said they expected more significant
drops in 1998 as sponsors evaluate the 1997 financial situation and the
1996 welfare reform law continues to be implemented. California had
about 9.3 percent of the participants served by the National School Lunch
Program in FY96.
Complete witness lists and testimony are available
on the Senate and House Committee’s web sites at http://www.senate.gov/~agriculture
and http://www.house.gov/eeo.
Copies of the GAO reports Effects of Changes Made to the Summer Food Service
Program and States Had a Variety of Reasons for Not Spending Funds are
available at http://www.gao.gov.
RENEWAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION ACT ADVANCES IN
HOUSE
This week, the House Committee on Education and
the Workforce approved H.R. 6, a five-year renewal of the Higher Education
Act of 1965, by a 38-3 vote. Last week, the Subcommittee on Postsecondary
Education, Training, and Lifelong Learning referred a draft of the bill
to the full committee, but without consensus on key components resolving
the proposed drop in student loan interest rates and teacher education
and training issues. See Bulletin, Vol. 5, No. 9 — 3/12/98.
The Higher Education Act is set to expire in September, 1998.
Earlier this week, Committee Chair William Goodling
(PA) and Subcommittee Chair Buck McKeon (Santa Clarita) put forth a compromise
proposal on the interest rate charged by private lenders for student loans.
Private lenders, who provide about 70% of the student loans, had said that
if a scheduled change in the student loan interest rate made by a 1993
law took effect, causing the rates to fall, the market for student loans
would become unprofitable for private lenders. On Thursday, a similar
plan, with bipartisan support, to reduce the rate from the current 8.23
percent rate to 7.43 percent was approved by the full committee.
Under the compromise, the federal government will pay private lenders sufficient
interest to cover a 7.93 percent interest rate, about $300 million a year,
to encourage private lenders to continue to participate in the federally-backed
loan program.
The Education and Workforce Committee also approved
changes to the Act’s teacher training programs, consolidating the 16 teacher
preparation programs under current law into single competitive federal
block grants to governors, which could be used to improve teacher certification,
subject knowledge, and other preparation activities. Over five years,
the cost of the bill is estimated to be between $1.2 billion and $3.8 billion.
The bill is expected to go to the House Floor next month.
Check the website of the House Committee for Education
and the Workforce for more information about H.R. 6, the student loan interest
rate issue, and other provisions of the bill at http://www.house.gov/eeo.
COURT OKS SHIPMENT OF NUCLEAR FUEL RODS THROUGH
CONCORD
On Wednesday, a federal judge ruled that the U.S.
Department of Energy had followed proper procedures in designating the
Concord Naval Weapons Station for receipt of its planned shipments of spent
nuclear fuels rods. The U.S. Department of Energy had selected the
site as the port of entry for the ocean-shipped spent nuclear fuel rods
enroute to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.
The City of Concord and County of Contra Costa sued
the Department of Energy claiming that the selection of the Concord NWS
violated a federal law applied to nuclear shipments through South Carolina.
The federal law mandates selection of a port for nuclear fuel shipments
that is in the least-populated area, closest to the final destination,
and has experience handling spent nuclear fuel. The U.S. District
Court judge found that the Energy Department had followed those criteria
in the selection of Concord.
Reps. Herger (Marysville), Miller (Martinez), Tauscher
(Pleasanton), and others had raised concerns about the safety of shipping
procedures and the route of the Union Pacific through the Feather Canyon.
In late January, the Energy Department publicly outlined the safety measures
the agency would take when it transports the shipments scheduled to be
received beginning early this summer.
The return of the spent nuclear fuel rods are part
of a long-term program begun in the 1950s when the federal government sent
nuclear fuel roads overseas as part of its Atoms for Peace program.
To keep the uranium in the spent fuel rods from being used for non-research
purposes, the spent rods are being returned to the United States for storage.
The City of Concord and County of Contra Costa are scheduled to discuss
an appeal to the decisions next week.
STATE AUDITOR REPORT ON CHILD SUPPORT COMPUTER
FAILURE
The California State Auditor released a report this
week that blames all parties for the state’s failure to meet the federal
deadline to have a statewide automated child support collection system.
The original contract for the project was awarded to Lockheed Martin Information
Management Systems Corp. in 1992, but the state canceled the $345 million
contract last November after protracted systems problems and disagreement
with the state. One of the major challenges of creating a statewide
system is to integrate the 58 systems used by California counties.
The state is reported to be working on a new project proposal for review
by the federal government next month.
Under current law, California could face penalties
of up to $3.8 billion dollars this year if it fails to implement a statewide
child support collection system. Earlier this month, the House passed,
on a 414-1 vote, a bill (H.R. 3130) that would reduce the federal fines
substantially. Under the legislation, California would be penalized
$11 million this year, with fines escalating to $54 million in the fourth
year of non-compliance. Senator Feinstein has also introduced similar
legislation that would also give states greater flexibility in the design
of their systems and further reduce scheduled fines. See Bulletin,
Vol. 5, Nos. 7 (2/26/98) & 8 (3/5/98).
A copy of the State Auditor’s report is available
at http://www.bsa.ca.gov/97116sum.html.
FOUR CALIFORNIA COUNTIES ARE TOP POPULATION GAINERS
Between the summers of 1996 and 1997, four California
counties out of the 3,142 counties nationwide, were among the top ten gainers
of new residents according to figures released this week by the Census
Bureau. While no California county was among the top ten counties
in terms of rate of population growth, California as a state is growing
faster, at 1.3% a year, than the nation as a whole at 0.9% in 1996-97.
The Census Bureau report also found that people are still moving out of
metropolitan areas into neighboring counties, resulting in a “donut pattern
of growth” around urban areas. Still, metropolitan counties are growing
2.5 times the rate of non-metropolitan counties in more remote locations.
Not surprisingly, the Census Bureau found that the fastest-growing one-fifth
of counties were primarily in the Southern and Western portion of the United
States while the Northeast and Midwest had the most slowest-growing and
declining one-fifth of counties.
Los Angeles (net gain: 61,623), Orange (+54,733),
San Diego (+45,447), Riverside (+33,113) counties joined three counties
from Texas (Harris, Dallas, and Collin), one each from Florida (Broward)
and Nevada (Clark), and the nation’s largest population gaining county
from Arizona (Maricopa County, which welcomed 82,789 new residents).
The Census Bureau estimates California’s total population
to be 32,268,301. According to the Census Bureau’s estimates, California’s
recent (1990-1997) population growth is attributed primarily to a strong
birthrate and international migration. Net domestic migration has
recently edged into positive territory as well. State demographers
said that people are probably moving into Southern California to follow
jobs in the entertainment and high technology industries.
If you would like more information, visit the Census
Bureau’s web site at http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/countypop.html.
NEW CALIFORNIA UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES RELEASED
California’s unemployment rate returned to pre-recession
levels last month, falling to 5.8% in February from 6.0% in January, according
to the state’s Economic Development Department. The last time this
level was seen was in August 1990. The total number of persons employed
rose to nearly 15.2 million — 43,000 over the previous month and 417,000
from the level of one year prior — and the number of unemployed persons
declined to 931,000 the lowest level since September 1990. Sectors
experiencing strong employment gains included retail and wholesale trade,
services, and manufacturing. Construction gained slightly over January’s
level but was up sharply from one year before.
County-level unemployment data (which are not adjusted
for seasonal variations and thus may seem higher than the above figures
for February) showed strength in previously recession-bound Southern California,
including Los Angeles and Ventura (both 6.0%), San Bernardino (5.8%), Riverside
(6.6%), and especially San Diego (3.7%) and Orange (3.0%) counties.
Bay Area counties showed continued strength, including San Francisco
(3.8%), San Mateo (2.5%), Santa Clara (2.9), Marin (2.6%), Alameda (4.1%),
Contra Costa (4.1%), Solano (6.5%), Napa (5.3%), and Sonoma (4.2%) counties,
although their neighbors just to the south were less fortunate in Santa
Cruz (10.4%) and Monterey (17.7%) counties.
Some of the worst unemployment rates remain in the
Central Valley, except for those in the vicinity of the state capitol —
Sacramento (5.7%), Placer (5.2%), El Dorado (6.1%) and Yolo (7.7%) counties.
Chronically high unemployment rates continue to persist in Fresno (16.0%),
San Joaquin (12.6%), Merced (18.9%), Kern (13.3%), Kings (14.6%), Tulare
(17.7.%), Madera (14.8%), Butte (9.9%), and Sutter (17.9%). The highest
rates in the state were in Imperial (23.0%) and Colusa (30.8%) counties.
For more information visit the website: http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov/htmlfile/msa.htm.
CORRECTION: Last week’s ISTEA article inadvertently missed recognizing Representative Bob Filner (San Diego) as one of three co-chairs of the California ISTEA Task Force, in addition to co-chairs Reps. Jay Kim (Diamond Bar) and Juanita Millender-McDonald (Carson).
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