Economic recovery starting, but slowly, lawmaker tells Inland town hall Downloa

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Economic recovery starting, but slowly, lawmaker tells Inland town hall

October 29, 2009

By DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise

SAN BERNARDINO - Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said Thursday that California's economic rebound has started but will move more slowly than at the national level.

"We are at the bottom of the recession," said Bass, D-Baldwin Vista. "We are at the beginning of the recovery."

California has yet to receive its full amount of federal economic stimulus funding, and when more money from the Obama administration arrives, recovery will move more quickly, Bass said.

Bass was the keynote speaker Thursday at an economic-recovery town hall sponsored by Assemblywoman Wilmer Amina Carter, D-Rialto.

Assemblyman Manuel Perez, D-Indio, also participated in the discussions held at the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino.

The event featured exhibits and workshops on work force development, green job retraining, energy efficiency and weatherization.

Banks, local governments, nonprofit organizations and universities were on hand to offer advice to hundreds of residents during the five-hour event. Panel discussions highlighted foreclosure prevention and future career options.

Bass said she, Carter and other state lawmakers had to make tough decisions this year to cut the state budget. She said she went to Sacramento to work to secure more funding for health care and education.

"I have no doubt everyone in this room has felt the recession on a personal level," Bass said, noting that California and the Inland region were at the epicenter of the nation's foreclosure crisis.

Bass said she is working on legislation to make it easier for homeowners facing foreclosure to have their loans modified.

All of the elected officials speaking at the event Thursday were Democrats. The party has clashed with Republicans on how to overcome the state's ongoing budget woes.

In a telephone interview, state Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, said foreclosure seminars and workshops are important, noting his office has hosted them as well.

But for California to fully recover from the recession, he said, lawmakers must streamline regulations and put the state back on the top of the list of business-friendly states.

"If you want to talk about economic recovery, you better start talking about how we create jobs," Dutton said.

Regulations, he said, cost small businesses more than $134,000 in 2007

Rialto resident Roy Grayson attended the event to learn more about what Bass and Carter are doing to address the state's economy.

"We need jobs, housing and relief from foreclosures," the 61-year-old retiree said. "I want to hear what they are doing about it and what their plans are for the future."