Bringing Jobs back to California

By Allan L. Dollison

We need to reform workers compensation, and eliminate job-killer legislation.

The business climate of California is under siege. There are many reasons why we have gotten here. Repairing the economy in California will be an important goal of mine if elected to the Senate. These are the reasons why our economy is in the situation it is in.

We have a workers compensation system out of control. Doctors, lawyers and insurance companies are profiting off of this system. This trend can and must be reversed. I will favor reducing any profit incentive that these special interest groups have in this system. My vision of workers compensation is a very common sense one. If a worker is injured, then they should be quickly treated, and brought back to work as soon as possible. I would favor laws that would temporarily reduce the economic stress that this person would suffer from having less income. Such a law exists to protect mobilized army reservists who see a drop in income. That will not cost the state taxpayers anything. I also favor an immediate reduction in premiums to help California businesses and convince them to stay. Businesses in the 1st District are leaving to Nevada, Oregon and Idaho to escape the crush of our workers compensation system. I also favor truly independent medical evaluations. Too often the doctors who conduct these examinations are beholden to one side. That is not fair, and it is costing California businesses billions of dollars.

I would pass a law that California legislators would have to recuse themselves from voting on workers compensation reform if they accepted contributions from the special interests connected with this program. These are just a few of the ideas that I have to fix the workers compensation system.

Another source of job killers in California, is corporate outsourcing to foreign countries. Recently the Los Angeles Times reported that this is happening in increasing numbers in the Silicon Valley. In other industries large corporations are sending jobs to China, and the Phillipines where labor costs 25 cents an hour. These companies products are showing up on the shelves at large retailers. If we lose our economic base of manufacturing then how can we compete in a world economy. A service based economy does not generate wealth. I will look at prevailing wage laws as a possibility to address this problem. If people don't have jobs, then there will be no money to spend. The strength of our economy is built on consumer spending. Ask any economist that. If jobs and incomes are stagnant, then the great economic engine of consumer spending will run out of gas. I will prevent that from happening.

I will also look at reducing regulations that stifle business. This means getting rid of the hundreds of regulatory bodies in this state that don't try to help businesses, but try and prevent them from growing and producing jobs. These are some of my ideas. I urge you to contact me with any ideas you may have to address these vexing problems.