CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
Senate Restores Immigrant Food Stamps
Senate Passes Copyright Legislation
Senate DOD Authorization: Base Closures
Unlikely, Procurement Cuts Proposed
Letter Seeks Pacific Crest Trail Funds
Vintners Speak At Roundtable Lunch
House Subcommittee Holds Oversight Hearing
on California Water Needs
Senate Passes Securities Litigation Legislation
Senate Hearing on Base Cleanup
Wilson Issues May Revision of State Budget
L.A. Delegation and Governor Urge Funding of
LA County Flood Control Project
House Commerce Reports Modified Internet
Tax Moratorium
ISTEA Deal in Works
Senate Appropriators Set Discretionary Spending
Allocation Levels
HCFA Ruling Draws California Response
MPAA Issues Entertainment Industry Report
Agriculture Sciences Exhibition on Tuesday
SENATE PASSES COPYRIGHT LEGISLATION
On Thursday, by a vote of 99-0, the Senate
passed S. 2037, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998https://calinst.org/files/archive/. The
final bill reflects a compromise worked out between on-line service providers
and copyright ownershttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The bill will bring U.S. copyright law into
compliance with the WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performances and Phonograms
Treaty agreed to in Geneva, Switzerland on December 20, 1996https://calinst.org/files/archive/. It
also will give providers of access to the Internet some protection against
copyright litigation when a user of the on-line service infringes on the
copyright of another partyhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The bill clarifies that although the
manufacturing and trafficking in technology primarily designed to circumvent
copyright protections is prohibited, the prohibition does not extend to
technology which has a legitimate use.
The bill contains two provisions calling for
studies to address the concerns of schools and librarieshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The first
will examine the compatibility of copyright law and what is called “long-distance
learning”, which is were students “attend” classes conducted over the Internet
or by live videohttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The second study will investigate whether schools
and libraries need some protection from copyright infringement allegations
where students, using Internet access provided by the institution, violate
a copyright.
SENATE DEBATING DOD AUTHORIZATION, FURTHER BASE
CLOSURES UNLIKELY FOR NOW, PROCUREMENT CUTS PROPOSED
On Thursday, the Senate debated the FY 1999
DOD authorization bill and discussion was expected to continue into next
weekhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The Senate was expected to consider, and then reject, an amendment
by Sen. John McCain to proposing one or more additional rounds of military
base closureshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Last week, the Senate Armed Services Committee narrowly
rejected such a proposal, following similar action by the House National
Security Committeehttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Coupled with widespread opposition to further
closures on both the House and Senate floors, the Clinton Administration’s
desire for two more rounds of base shutterings — proposed for 2001 and
2005 — is effectively denied for the remainder of the year.
California was inordinately impacted by the
first four base closure rounds — in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995 — shouldering
60% of the net personnel cuts despite housing just 15% of military personnel
when the process beganhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Nevertheless, the Los Angeles Times recently
estimated that California is home to 56 of the nation’s remaining 259 major
military installations, and would remain vulnerable to more cuts should
further base closures be authorized.
The markup by the Senate Armed Services was
closed to the public, making it difficult to accurately assess legislative
proposalshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The Senate bill reportedly would make cuts in a number
of procurement programs, including cancellation of the “DarkStar” Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle (UAV) program and would make a $97 million cut in the Airborne
Laser (ABL) programhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The DarkStar UAV program (also known as the
Low Observable High Altitude Endurance UAV) is a Lockheed-Martin Skunk
Works programhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Cancellation of the program is a concern because the
retirement of the SR-71 leaves a significant gap in high-altitude reconnaissance
capabilityhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The ABL, built by a team which includes Boeing, Lockheed
Martin and TRW, would demonstrate long range laser weaponry on a modified
747-400F platform.
LETTER TO INTERIOR APPROPRIATORS SEEKS PACIFIC
CREST TRAIL FUNDS
Led by Rep. Buck McKeon, members representing
portions of the Pacific Crest Trail (and any others interested in signing)
are gathering signatures for a letter to House Interior Appropriations
Chairman Ralph Regula and his Senate counterpart Slade Gorton seeking $5
million to fund the completion of the remainder of the Pacific Crest Trailhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
Specifically, the letter requests $2.5 million to realign a dangerous section
of the trail in Agua Dulce and another $2.5 million for additional purchasing
needs elsewhere on the trail.
For further information or to add a signature
to the letter, call Greg Campbell in Rep. McKeon’s office at x5-1956.
VINTNERS HOSTED AT GOLDEN STATE ROUNDTABLE
LUNCH
The California State Society’s Golden State
Roundtable lunch this week featured members of the California Wine Institutehttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
Bobby Cook and John DeLuca of the Wine Institute addressed the grouphttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
Mr. Cook pointed out that California’s wines account for $12 billion annually
in retail sales, and that three out of every four bottles of wine purchased
in the United States comes from California.
Mr. Cook stated that one of the Institute’s
key issues is to ensure that any trade agreements entered into by the United
States contain parity between tariffs on U.S. exports of wine and U.S.
importshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Currently, under the GATT, although tariffs on wine imports
into the U.S. have fallen 36 percent, tariffs on U.S. exports have only
fallen 10 percenthttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. On a national level, the Wine Institute is working
to ensure that its small vintners can ship directly to customers in all
50 stateshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Several states, such as Florida, have acted to prevent
direct shipments of wine to consumers, a practice which impedes the ability
of the smaller vineyards to market their wines.
HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE HOLDS OVERSIGHT HEARING ON
CALIFORNIA WATER NEEDS
As it did last year, the House Resources Subcommittee
on Water and Power held an oversight hearing on California’s future water
needs under the CALFED processhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The subcommittee heard from three
panels on the financing of the CALFED Bay-Delta restoration process, the
monitoring and performance standards of CALFED, and the participation of
the public in CALFEDhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Among the witnesses were Bill Pauli, representing
the California Farm Bureau, Steve Hall of the Association of California
Water Agencies, Tim Quinn with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California, and Lester Snow of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program.
Mr. Hall pointed out that as California’s
water needs continue to grow, no single solution will be sufficient to
address the water shortfall and attendant reliability concerns that will
be faced by all Californianshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Therefore, ACWA strongly supports the
CALFED process which calls for a comprehensive package of measures, including
additional water storage, improved Delta conveyance, water conservation
measures, reclamation transfers, and environmental restoration.
Mr. Pauli stated that, although the Farm Bureau
continues to be an active member of the CALFED process, it desires assurances
that the final plan will contain adequate water storage measures, minimize
the fallowing of agricultural lands, and strengthen water rights.
Mr. Quinn made three points in his testimony:
(1) the CALFED financing plan must be founded on a solution that produces
widespread value for all of the stakeholders in the process; (2) it must
provide the maximum benefits at the lowest possible cost; and (3) the costs
of the CALFED solution must be paid for by its beneficiaries in a fair
and equitable manner.
Testimony from the hearing can be obtained
by calling the Subcommittee at 202-225-8331.
SENATE PASSES SECURITIES LITIGATION LEGISLATION
The Senate on Wednesday, by a vote of 79-21,
passed S. 1260, a bill to close a loophole in the 1995 Private Securities
Litigation Acthttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. S. 1260, the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards
Act of 1997, requires that all class-action securities litigation cases
of nationally traded stocks must be brought in federal courthttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Since
the enactment of the 1995 Act, plaintiffs’ lawyers began end running the
new law by bringing suit in state courts, which generally have looser pleading
standards and discovery ruleshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The companion bill in the House, H.R.
1689, is scheduled for a hearing before the House Commerce Committee’s
Finance and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee on May 19https://calinst.org/files/archive/. Reps. Anna
Eshoo (Atherton) and Rick White (WA) are the authors of the House version.
Both bills are strongly supported by California’s
information technology industry, which has been hard hit in the past by
frivolous securities lawsuits.
SENATE PANEL HEARS FROM PENTAGON OFFICIALS REGARDING BASE CLEANUP
On Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee
on Military Construction heard testimony from officials of the Navy, Army
and Air Force regarding FY1999 funding for environmental programs related
to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)https://calinst.org/files/archive/. Most of the bases closed
or closing pursuant to the four BRAC rounds conducted in 1988, 1991, 1993
and 1995 require some environmental remediation work to render them suitable
for alternative useshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The Tuesday hearing featured testimony from
Assistant Navy Secretary Robert D. Pirie, Army Deputy Assistant Secretary
Paul Johnson, and Air Force Deputy Assistant Secretary Jimmy G. Dishnerhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
All three officials predicted that the portion of BRAC funds spent on cleanup
activities would continue to rise in the future.
The Navy’s Robert Pirie testified that environmental
remediation expenses have amounted to roughly 20% or $1.4 billion of the
$7 billion the branch has spent on base conversion so far, and that the
cleanup share would rise because that would become the last remaining task
preceding transferhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. He urged maintenance of BRAC funding to avoid
disruption in base transition and a lack of trust between the military
and the state and local governments or private entities which might take
over the facilities in the future.
The Army’s spokesman indicated that $5.2 billion
has been spent on base closures so far, but that the service began breaking
even on the process in 1997https://calinst.org/files/archive/. He noted that the service is closing
112 installations and realigning 27, and that cleanup would be the majority
of the base closure budget from this point forward.
Dishner reported that the Air Force has spent
$1.5 billion to date and expects to spend $1.3 billion more after 2000https://calinst.org/files/archive/.
The environmental budget for FY1999 is $152 million, though Dishner added
that he expects the environmental share of the budget to risehttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. With
these funds, he testified that the service would have all funds necessary
to install cleanup systems at 20 of their 28 closing baseshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. He noted
that the Air Force expects to have remedies in place at all BRAC installations
by 2002, with the exception of McClellan AFB in Sacramento.
In related news, increases in the budget cap
on defense spending were proposed yesterday both by Senate Appropriations
Chair (and Defense subcommittee chair) Ted Stevens (AK) and by Budget Committee
Chair Pete Domenici (NM).
GOVERNOR WILSON ISSUES MAY REVISION OF STATE BUDGET
Flushed by a $4 billion surplus in state revenues,
this week Governor Wilson presented his suggestions to the state Legislature
on ways to spend the extra cash, as part of the annual revision to the
Governor’s January budget proposalhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Overall, he forecasts that 800,000
new jobs will be created in California in 1998 and 1999, with strong export
growth to Mexico offsetting negative effects of the Asian financial crisishttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
The state’s fiscal year begins July 1st.
Headlining the Governor’s revisions to his
January budget proposal for 1998-1999 is a 75% reduction in the state’s
Vehicle License Fee (VLF) over the next three yearshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The VLF is the
annual fee on registered vehicles, assessed at 2% of the vehicle’s market
valuehttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Wilson’s proposal would reduce the VLF to 1% beginning January
1, 1999, and further reduce it to ½ % in 2002https://calinst.org/files/archive/. An estimated
$2 billion annual tax break for vehicle owners, the tax cut is expected
to cost $3.6 billion annually when fully implementedhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The Governor
also proposed a tax credit for the donation of computer equipment and software
to public or private K-12 schools.
For K-12 education, Governor Wilson’s plan
boasts funding at $500 million above Proposition 98 mandated levelshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
The new funds would be directed towards after-school programs, teacher
training and retention, remedial math and reading programs, and instructional
materials like textbookshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Wilson’s proposal would increase
per pupil dollar funding by $92 over his January proposal to $5,728 in
1998-99, an overall 11.8% increase over 1996-97 levelshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The
University of California and California State University are also slated
to share in almost $200 million of the surplus funds for deferred maintenance
and other one-time costs.
The state’s $130 million share of the public
purchase of the Headwaters Forest is also included in the Governor’s proposalhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
In addition, Governor Wilson would like the state to bolster his original
proposal to capitalize the State Infrastructure Bank by $100 million, provide
local governments $172 million for flood control projects, and reserve
about $1.6 billion of the surplus for the futurehttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Under the Governor’s
revised estimates, K-12 education, health and welfare, higher education,
and youth and adult corrections comprise the majority of the proposed 1998-99
state general fund expenditures.
For a copy of the Governor’s May Revision and other state budget
documents, please visit the web site at: http://www.dof.ca.gov/html/budgt8-9/mayrv8-9.pdf.
L.A. DELEGATION AND GOVERNOR WILSON URGE FUNDING
OF LA COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT
Nine members of the California Congressional
delegation from the Los Angeles County area wrote Chairman Joseph McDade
of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee urging
him to increase funding to $60 million for the Los Angeles Country Drainage
Area (LACDA) flood control projecthttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The project is aimed at restoring
the existing flood system of the Rio Hondo Channel and the Los Angeles
River to an adequate level of protectionhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The bipartisan letter was
signed by Reps. Esteban Torres, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Steve Horn, Xavier
Becerra, Maxine Waters, Matthew Martinez, Juanita Millender-McDonald, David
Dreier, and Jane Harmanhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The letter argues that without the planned
improvements, a major flood would inundate approximately 82 square miles,
impacting 500,000 residents in 11 cities.
Governor Pete Wilson also wrote Chairman McDade
earlier in the month, urging him to support $60 million in funding, versus
the $11 million that is called for in the budgethttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The Governor’s
letter points out that reducing funding to only $11 million would significantly
delay and the project and pose unacceptable public safety risks.
HOUSE COMMERCE REPORTS MODIFIED INTERNET TAX
MORATORIUM
The House Commerce Committee on Thursday,
by a vote of 41-0, reported out H.R. 3849, which imposes a three-year moratorium
on taxation of Internet access and on-line serviceshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The bill significantly
changes H.R. 1054, which was reported last year by the House Judiciary
Subcommittee on Commercial and Administration Lawhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The changes, including
reducing the moratorium from the original six years to three years, reflect
a negotiated compromise worked out by Rep. Chris Cox (Newport Beach) to
address concerns expressed by state and local governments and private partieshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
Under the bill, taxes currently being imposed on Internet access and on-line
services can be grandfathered in, if the state imposing the tax passes
a law within one year of H.R. 3849’s enactment reaffirming the taxhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
The bill also establishes a 29 member commission to develop recommendations
for legislation that would require companies to collect taxes on sales
made through catalogs or over the Internet from customers in states where
the company does not have a physical presence.
The House Judiciary Committee and Ways and
Means Committee also have jurisdiction over some or all of the bill.
ISTEA DEAL IN WORKS; STILL HAMMERING OUT DETAILS
Congressional leaders appear to be moving
closer to a deal on the overall funding levels for transportation over
the next six-yearshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The Senate and House leadership continue to meet
behind closed doors this week to hammer out spending levels and off-sets
for an approximately $200 billion transportation reauthorization measurehttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
Key components of the fledgling agreement include setting annual highway
spending equal to the prior year’s level of gas tax revenues and an overall
spending level of $167 billion for highways over six-years.
However, other details are said to be still
a part of negotiations that will ultimately determine California’s share
of the transportation fundshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Under the original ISTEA law, California
received about an 86% return on its payments into the Highway Trust Fund
(HTF)https://calinst.org/files/archive/. Both the Senate and House measures propose a minimum 90% return
on each state’s contributions to the HTF.
According to the Los Angeles Times, potential
off-sets identified to fund the expansion of the transportation bill include
about $15 billion from veterans programs through a reduction in health
benefits for tobacco-related illness, an offset previously identified in
the Administration’s FY99 budget proposalhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Other identified offsets
include a $3 billion reduction in the social services block grant, $4.5
billion from Freddie Mac, and $1.5 billion from the Federal Housing Administrationhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
These preliminary offsets total $23.4 billion.
The Administration issued its strongest opposition
this week to the transportation funding bills under consideration by the
conference committee, threatening a presidential veto if the predicted
budget surplus is used to finance the proposed increases for transportation
funding or “unacceptable” offsets are used to increase spendinghttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
The Administration has also objected to the 1,500 projects earmarked under
the House billhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Recently, the Administration suggested spending $218.9
billion for transportation, but extending the authorization period over
seven-years to reduce the needed offsetshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The Administration indicated
that it will consider the latest funding proposal reached by the congressional
leadership late this weekhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Vice-President Gore, on Wednesday, also
called for the inclusion of a Senate bill provision to establish a nationwide
standard of .08 blood alcohol level for drunk-driving.
Negotiations are expected to continue
throughout the weekend, in an attempt to meet an informal deadline to send
a completed package to President Clinton before the week-long Memorial
Day recesshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The short-term, temporary reauthorization for transportation
expired on May 1st.
SENATE APPROPRIATORS SET DISCRETIONARY SPENDING
ALLOCATION LEVELS
On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee
adopted interim 302(b) allocations — a process by which the committee
sets discretionary spending amounts for use by each of its 13 subcommittees
during the coming appropriations processhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. These allocation levels
may be changed if a budget resolution is completed at a later date.
Pursuant to Congressional rules, the appropriations
panels are unable to act in the absence of a budget resolution. That restriction
is lifted on May 15, but spending may not exceed maximum spending levels
set in prior budget actionhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Today’s action allows the subcommittees
to proceed.
A committee press release quoted Chairman
Ted Stevens (AK) saying the numbers “pose tough limits on each subcommittee,”
and implying that there may be some flexibility: “As we proceed through
the markups next month, we will make such adjustments after consultation
with the impacted subcommittees as circumstances permit.”
A very preliminary review of the numbers suggests
an increase of $18 billion in budget authority (BA) and $14 billion in
outlays above the Senate Appropriations Committee’s allocation levels for
the prior yearhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Major changes would be in the VA/HUD/Independent
Agencies allocation level, with gains of nearly $10 billion in BA and $4.4
billion in outlays; the Labor/HHS/Education subcommittee, which would rise
$3 billion in BA and $4.4 billion in outlays; Defense, increasing $3.6
billion in BA and $767 million in outlays; Commerce/Justice/State, which
would grow $1.2 billion in BA and $1.6 billion in outlays; and Transportation,
climbing $1 billion in BA and $2.6 in outlays.
The following are the interim 302(b) discretionary
appropriations (in $ millions) made Thursday, May 14, as reported by the
Senate Appropriations Committee:
Agriculture: 13,675 (BA), 14,075 (O)
Commerce: 32,159 (BA), 30,839 (O)
Defense: 250,246 (BA), 245,026 (O)
District of Columbia: 482 (BA), 468 (O)
Energy and Water Development: 21,147 (BA), 20,672 (O)
Foreign Operations: 12,600 (BA), 12,400 (O)
Interior: 13,300 (BA), 13,800(O)
Labor, HHS, Education: 82,319(BA), 80,236(O)
Legislative Branch: 2,400 (BA), 2,300 (O)
Military Construction: 8,484 (BA), 9,110 (O)
Transporation: 13,065 (BA), 39,500 (O)
Treasury and General Government: 12,957 (BA), 11,929 (O)
VA-HUD: 69,986 (BA), 80,780 (O)
Emergency Y2K Reserve: 2,250 (BA), 2,250 (O)
—————————-
Total: 535,070 (BA), 563,385 (O)
Budget Resolution: 532,820 (BA), 561,135 (O)
(Note that BA represents Budget Authority and O represents
Outlays.)
The committee’s allocation levels are also
available via their press release on the web at http://www.senate.gov/~appropriations/302b.htmhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
If you are interested in comparing these figures with last year’s comparable
levels, see the Senate 302(b) allocations for FY 1998 at ftp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/thomas/cp105/sr031.txt.
While the House Appropriations Committee
has not made its 1999 allocations, the Committee’s 302(b) allocations for
1998 are available at http://www.house.gov/appropriations/fy98602b.htm.
HCFA RULING DRAWS CALIFORNIA RESPONSE
Earlier this year, the Health Care Financing
Administration (HCFA) ruled that children in states that chose to expand
coverage for uninsured kids through privately administered health insurance
providers are ineligible for free immunizations under the federal Vaccines
for Children programhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Under the federal State Children Health Insurance
Program (S-CHIP) enacted last year, a state can choose to expand its Medicaid
program, set up a privately administered program, or use a combination
of both approaches to reach its uninsured childrenhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. California’s
Children’s Health Insurance Program, Healthy Families, was approved by
HCFA in Marchhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. California chose to expand its Medi-Cal program and
create the Healthy Families program to cover children in families with
income above Medi-Cal eligibility standards but below 200% of the poverty
linehttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Healthy Families plans to reach 580,000 low-income, uninsured
children.
Under the federal vaccine program, to be eligible
for a free vaccination, a child must be either covered by Medicaid, uninsured,
or of American Indian or Alaskan heritagehttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. A child covered by a privately-administered
state health insurance program, HCFA ruled, is ineligible for the free
vaccinationhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Instead, the state can purchase the vaccinations from
the federal government at a subsidized rate or require providers to provide
the servicehttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. It is estimated that in 1997 as many as 775,000 California
kids received vaccinations under the federal program.
In March, 49 members of the California Legislature
signed a bi-partisan letter to Department of Health and Human Services
Secretary Donna Shalala urging her to give kids in states with subsidized
private sector coverage access to the Vaccines for Children Programhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
This week, 23 members of the House Democratic delegation also sent a letter
to President Clinton, asking his assistance “to clarify that all children
covered by S-CHIP continue to be eligible for free vaccines, regardless
of the option chosen by states to deliver S-Chip coverage.”
Also this week, the California Medical Association
sued the federal government challenging HCFA’s ruling on the grounds that
it violates the Vaccines for Children Program and the constitutional rights
of low-income California kids to equal protection under the lawhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative Jane Harman (Rolling Hills)
also have introduced legislation (S.2013/H.R. 3794) to amend federal law
to allow children covered by S-CHIP to receive free vaccinationshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
At least 15 other states may face a similar problem, but California has
one of the highest percentages of uninsured children in the country.
Despite disagreement between state, federal,
and professional officials over who will pay for the vaccinations, state
officials said in an interview that health plans participating in Healthy
Families have agreed to pay for the vaccinations as a covered benefithttps://calinst.org/files/archive/.
It is unclear what the total cost to California or private insurers will
be to provide the vaccinations, but some estimates place the cost at somewhere
between $25 and $60 million.
MPAA ISSUES STATE OF THE INDUSTRY REPORT
FOR 1996
Recently the Motion Picture Association of
America (MPAA) reported its findings from a 1996 survey on the “State of
the Industry: The Economic Impact of the Entertainment Industry on California.”
In a letter endorsing the report, Governor Wilson states that it “establishes
that entertainment production helped lead California out of the recession
and remains one of the state’s most vital industrial resources.”
The survey found the entertainment industry had a $27.5 billion impact
on California in 1996https://calinst.org/files/archive/. In Los Angeles County alone, the entertainment
industry had a total economic impact of $25.52 million.
According to the report, the explosion of
the entertainment industry is the result of increased capacity through
multiplex theaters, more cable channels, and the peak of VCR penetration
into householdshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. In addition, the industry report says the fear that
entertainment production outside California would grow greater than inside
didn’t materializehttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Overall, better working relationships with state
and local government, like streamlined permitting processes, helped keep
and attract industry to the state.
Some of the report’s other findings include:
The industry directly employed 226,000 Californians in 1996,
a 38% increase over its 1992 employment figure of 164,000https://calinst.org/files/archive/. When the
industry’s estimated indirect employment is included it brings the total
closer to 450,000 statewide.
The average 1996 industry salary was $53,000.
By 1996, the industry contributed $895 million in income and
sales taxes to the statehttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. In 1992, the industry had contributed about
$600 million to public revenues.
According to the California Film Commission, film starts in
California rose between 1992-1996 from 319 to 572, while film starts outside
the state decreasedhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Overall, 81% of all motion picture film starts
originated in California.
Of the 7,000 companies that are self-classified as motion picture/video
production firms, 91% of the companies have 10 or fewer employees, up from
85% in 1992.
Please contact the MPAA at 202/293-1966 for
more information or a copy of the report.
AGRICULTURE SCIENCES EXHIBITION ON TUESDAY IN RAYBURN
Mark you calendar for Tuesday, May 19th, 1998
when nearly 40 colleges and universities, including the University of California,
will exhibit their discoveries in the agricultural scienceshttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. University
of California’s campuses at Riverside, Davis, and Berkeley are sending
scientists and researchers to explain their discoveries and information
technology in pest management, disease resistant plants, biological imaging,
and food safetyhttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. The University Science Exhibition will be held in
the Rayburn cafeteria from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm, and all are welcome.
Click
here to return to the California Institute home pagehttps://calinst.org/files/archive/. Or click
here to send us e-mail.