By Sara Hall | NB Indy
The weather and shoreline make Orange County’s coastal cities a “major magnet” that benefits residents and business owners, but making California’s climate business-friendly is “a big challenge,” Assemblyman Matthew Harper said.
“We don’t have the economy that we could have. We are not exercising our potential, by any means,” said Harper, who represents the state’s 74th District, taking in beach cities from Huntington to Laguna as well as Costa Mesa and Irvine.
To improve, state departments need to work at efficiently using budgeted financial resources. “One of the challenges we have in California is just utilizing the dollars that we do have,” said Harper, the featured speaker at a meeting of the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce earlier this month.
Harper says major, mid-size and small employers are relocating to other states in part due to California labor laws, tax rates, regulations and a litigious environment.
“We need to change the tide of making employers more vulnerable to lawsuits and litigation,” Harper said.
The former Huntington Beach mayor is one of the new faces in Sacramento, along with about one-third of the entire assembly. “I knew what I was getting into,” Harper joked after the meeting.
With a lot of new members, both Republican and Democrat, he’s been able to build relationships within his own caucus and across the aisle that he expects will last for years.
“Each of us represent different geographies within our state and each of us come to the state legislature with our different philosophies, but we all recognize that we’re all going to be in it together,” Harper said.
He serves on committees on labor and employment, higher education, natural resources, water, parks and wildlife. His service as a trustee on a Huntington Beach High School board definitely helped his understanding of education and finance, he said.
Harper prefers local control by local decision makers, but is a willing advocate when an issue requires intervention from Sacramento.
“I always try to work to listen to the community and be able to advocate on behalf of it when we have an issue that should be addressed by the state of California,” he said.
At the meeting, Harper discussed a range of local and statewide issues, including business, water, energy, and transportation.
Much of California faces substantial challenges, like unemployment, he explained. “We can’t be lolled into thinking everything is ok.”
“Water is always a top concern, now more than ever,” Harper said. One strong El Niño season will not be adequate to reverse the drought; tt will take multiple sustained “flood years,” he said.
“It’s never, ‘Oh, it rained just the right amount,’” Harper joked. “It’s always either a flood year or a drought year.”
While recycling, conservation and desalination contribute to the state’s ability to manage water resources, better water storage is needed, but regulations and red tape slow improvements, he said.
Harper said he’s learning new topics, such as managing the state’s energy grid. “We’re getting more and more efficient over time,” he said.
“(We need to) be able to utilize the bounty that’s been provided to us out here in the state of California,” Harper said.
Harper also explained a nine-point transportation plan that includes bills related to funding and policy changes that would “extend our dollars.”
“Essentially what it would do is meet many of our transportation needs without raising taxes,” Harper said.
Orange County Supervisor Michelle Steel’s district representative Tim Whitacre was also present and mentioned a coordinated effort to combat coyotes.
