Posted on 08/24/2013 9:23:21 AM PDT by Olog-hai
As several new private ventures to take people on trips to space come closer to becoming reality, California lawmakers are racing other states to woo the new space companies with cushy incentives.
They are debating a bill now in Sacramento that would insulate manufacturers of spaceships and parts suppliers from liability should travelers get injured or killed on a voyage, except in cases such as gross negligence or intentional wrongdoing. Last year, the state enacted a law that shields space tourism companies such as Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic from similar lawsuits.
“We’re still in the fledgling part of space flight and space travel, and we need people to be able to take a risk,” said California Republican Sen. Steve Knight, who introduced both state bills.
Several other states—including Texas, Florida, Virginia, and New Mexico—have passed similar laws, hoping to lure newcomers to the more than $200 billion commercial space flight industry. …
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Why would anyone in their right mind even consider starting a business in CA? Taxes, regulations, cost of living... Other than its own self-image, what does CA have going for it?
The environmentalists in California will enact strict “space pollution” laws.
I can see Texas beating them in this race.
I wouldn’t give CA the time of day.
As long as someone other than California has these laws, how does this even begin to be enough to lure some presumably rational company to Kaliforniastan? Even if Kali were the only one, other states would follow. How can anyone in good conscience subject themselves to the tyranny or become passive enablers of it by paying taxes there?
California has a lot going for it, in spite of its politicians.
Just ask the myriad high tech companies that are disproportionately Californian and how their managements struggle to replicate success outside California, with most of them forced to keep R&D in the state while manufacturing and labor-involved, lower level activities move out.
“cases such as gross negligence”
Then Gross Negligence will be the first cause of action asserted in every lawsuit.
Pollution regs stop it in the womb.
Perechlorate anyone? Cali LOVES perichlorate.
A debate on whether to offer Protection of business from preditors.
That's a romantic view of California that has long gone by the wayside, James. Companies of every description, including high tech, have been leaving California in droves for many years now.
Sure, you'll still find a lot of big players in the high tech area based in California, but most of them have built satellite locations in other, more business friendly states, and are gradually shifting operations away from their headquarters.
Come to North Texas and see how many well known high tech company names you see emblazoned on business park structures. I don't think there's a one that I haven't seen here.
I am a consultant and spend my time hopping geography and time zones between Austalia, Asia, California and Texas.
As much as folks would like it to be otherwise, California still is leagues ahead of every other location in terms of an infrastructure for technology, a fertile university system and available talent.
I work for companies that make high end machinery for industrial and consumer markets. Most of them have shifted production to places like South Carolina and Texas, but find themselves unable to move R&D out of California. The pool of talent just isn’t the same elsewhere, and it is an industry-recognised issue.
And CA can always change their mind...California wants taxpayers to pay back proceeds from a tax break later ruled invalid
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/apr/30/california-wants-taxpayers-to-pay-back-proceeds/?partner=RSS#ixzz2cua1mfRS
- vcstar.com
Not gonna happen unless CA comes up with hefty bribes to the companies. Companies that are fiscally savvy will weigh the minuses of locating to CA and chose more business friendly states. I suspect they will go to Texas, Florida, Virginia, or New Mexico.
I'll grant that state of affairs, and just add that most of the jobs and income producing activities for these companies reside in their production divisions, which increasingly are being located in states other than California.
I'm sure the easy access to R&D talent is a boon to those high tech companies in California, but those positions represent a small percentage of the real jobs those companies offer -- jobs which are mostly located in other states. In that wise, the presence of these well known firms in California is of little value to most of the citizens there.
I agree.
What I meant was that if California and its people who contribute to technology suddenly vanished, a lot of those companies whose manufacturing operations are outside CA would wither away.
Spaced out industries like narcotic production.
Plenty of marijuana users in the tech industry, in CA.
They are debating a bill now in Sacramento that would insulate manufacturers of spaceships and parts suppliers from liability should travelers get injured or killed on a voyage, except in cases such as gross negligence or intentional wrongdoing. Last year, the state enacted a law that shields space tourism companies such as Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic from similar lawsuits.
No offense, but that's nonsense. California doesn't have some magical property that gives it a monopoly on tech talent. There are talented people living all across this country.
I was born in California, and spent half a century of my life there. It's a beautiful place with great weather, but it's one of the most screwball places in America, and becoming more screwed up by the day. As a result, the exodus of native born Americans out of there is unprecedented.
Soon enough, all that will be left there will be the unable, the crackpots, the criminals, the gimme class, and a small percentage of elites who have the money and power to wall themselves off from the insanity.
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