Diverse Coalition of More Than 325 Groups Supports Proposition 39

With voters facing a lot of choices on tomorrow's ballot, one measure, Proposition 39, has garnered resounding support from a rare bipartisan coalition comprising more than 325 business, labor and environmental groups, budget experts, elected leaders, education officials, ethnic groups and others.

Proposition 39, which will close a corporate tax loophole and bring billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs back to California, also has been endorsed by nearly three dozen newspapers representing all regions of the state.

"The breadth and diversity of our supporters demonstrates that this measure will benefit all of California,"said campaign co-chairman Tom Steyer. "It will help everybody from small business owners and home-grown companies, to schools and those who rely on state services. They've all taken hits throughout the recession and welcome this opportunity to grow our economy, reduce our budget deficit and invest in local jobs."

The Yes on Proposition 39 campaign is co-chaired by Steyer, State Sen. Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, and George P. Shultz, a Republican who served as Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan. The measure has met little to no organized opposition, while winning strong support from dozens of groups representing a spectrum of interests. Among them:

• Elected officials including Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg; Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee; Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson; the Los Angeles City Council and San Jose City Council.

• Business groups including The California Tax Reform Association; Latin Business Association; Los Angeles Business Council; San Francisco Chamber of Commerce; Sierra Business Council; and Silicon Valley Leadership Group.
• Public health groups including the American Lung Association in California and Coalition for Clean Air.
• Seniors and women's groups including California National Organization for Women; the California Alliance for Retired Americans and Senior & Disability Action.
• Education groups including the California Community College Trustees; California Federation of Teachers; and Los Angeles Community College District.
• Labor groups including American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); the Blue Green Alliance; California Labor Federation; Service Employees International Union (SEIU) - California; and the State Building & Construction Trades Council of California.
• Environmental and conservation groups including California League of Conservation Voters; Environmental Defense Action Fund; Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); The Nature Conservancy of California; Sierra Club California; and California Environmental Justice Alliance.
• Clean energy groups including CleanTech Los Angeles; CleanTECH San Diego; and Solar Energy Industries Association.
• Ethnic Organizations including Great Beginnings for Black Babies, Inc.; Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council; La Confederación Centroamericana (COFECA); La Unica; The Council of Mexican American Federations (COFEM); and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF).
• Social Justice groups including the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment; California Partnership; Courage Campaign; Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Greenlining Institute.
• Faith groups including Church IMPACT; Global Jewish Advocacy; California Interfaith Power & Light; Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice; California (CLUE-CA); Lutheran Office of Public Policy - California; Progressive Christians Uniting; Southern California Ecumenical Council; and Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry Action Network, CA.
• Public agencies including Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District; The Foothill Municipal Water District; and Fulton-El Camino Recreation and Park District.
• Newspapers including The Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News, Sacramento Bee, La Opinion, Bakersfield Californian, Palm Springs Desert Sun, Riverside Press-Enterprise, Redding Record Searchlight and Marin Independent Journal.

For a complete list of supporters, visit http://www.cleanenergyjobsact.com/about/coalition/

Proposition 39 will close a tax loophole created at the end of the 2009 budget negotiations in Sacramento, adding fairness back to California’s corporate tax system. The middle-of-the-night-deal allowed out-of-state corporations that employ few Californians and invest in little property to pay lower state taxes than their California-based equals.

For the first five years, Proposition 39 will dedicate half of the revenues from closing the loophole to job-creating energy efficiency and clean energy programs. The other half of the revenues for the first five years will go to our state’s General Fund – helping to balance the budget and injecting hundreds of millions of dollars to our thread-bare public school system. After five years, all revenue will go into the General Fund.

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