Businesses should support us the way we support them
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Future of Work Commission Report lays out the case for a shift in our social compact in California.
Our state has generated unprecedented economic growth over the past 50 years. Conservative voices have long advocated that economic growth is the best tool for eliminating poverty and bringing prosperity to all.
Yet, over this time of unprecedented growth, poverty has grown substantially and the quality of our schools and infrastructure has declined. Economic growth is not enough. For prosperity to be shared we need a strong safety net, job training and policies, such as empowering workers, to promote quality jobs.
California has a long-standing “bad for business” reputation. Since my childhood, I have heard threats that businesses will flee the state if we don’t cater to their needs.
My first political memory was the passing of Proposition 13.
This was a moment of transition in California, from a state that invested in infrastructure and education to one that decided that government was bad and should be reduced. Services were cut and privatized.
Supporting business was critical. Economic growth was touted as the most effective tool for eliminating poverty. Business success would raise incomes, generate more tax revenue for education and make the golden state even more golden.
Contrary to the claims of our anti-business climate, we have supported business. Business has been unimaginably successful in California. California is now the fifth-largest economy in the world. More than 10% of the Fortune 500 is headquartered in California. Apple, Facebook, Google and Netflix alone make up over 15% of the S&P
500 value. If building a successful, thriving business community was the solution to bringing prosperity to the average citizen, California would be a shining beacon for the world.
Instead, California has the highest poverty rate in the nation, accounting for cost of living. Thirty-one percent of our population makes less than $15 per hour. We have an enormous housing shortage and 54% of our population is cost burdened by housing. We have a horrible homeless problem. Contrary to many folks’ beliefs, homelessness is highly correlated with the cost of housing.
We have gone from among the best funded schools in the nation to among the worst, adjusted for cost of living. We are No. 50 out of the 50 states in providing school bus transportation for students. Our energy infrastructure is badly outdated. Commutes have lengthened.
Fifty years of prioritizing business has generated staggering inequality. Beginning in the early 1970s, increases in productivity decoupled from increases in wages. Since then, more and more of the gains in wealth created have been captured by businesses. Over my lifetime in California, economic security has become much harder to achieve for the average citizen.
The California Future of Work Commission Report includes a wide range of recommendations geared towards shoring up our safety net, increasing worker power in the employment relationship, improving education and training, as well as improving the quality of jobs. The report includes a number of innovative policy suggestions, including portable benefits for domestic workers, simplifying access to the safety net and incentives for employers to offer high quality jobs.
With the number of recommendations offered, any policy wonk will find issues to quibble about. However, there are already voices, such as the recent editorial written by the Southern California News Group and republished by the Marin IJ, repeating the tired trope that “government interference” (or in other words, updating nonworking policies), will lead to worse outcomes and “drive out employers.”
The idea that doing nothing will lead to better outcomes for workers is wrong. We need to recognize that current policies are not working for low- or middle-wage workers.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Workers used to participate in the wealth creation, but no longer. It’s time to look to for new solutions. We cannot rely solely on business growth to generate prosperity for all. Californians deserve better.
Thirty-one percent of our population makes less than $15 per hour.