The new law would have prevented companies that move within California from receiving a $37,000 tax credit for each new hire. The measure stemmed from plans by Brisbane-based VWR International to move from Brisbane, where it would fire 150 employees to Visalia where it would hire new workers.
Lawmakers who wanted the change said it was unfair to reward companies for firing employees in one city, and hiring new ones in another, but opponents saw a worst case scenario.
"You're punishing a company from relocating from one part of the state to the Central Valley where there's an impoverished area, but yet what if they move to Nevada and we lose all those jobs altogether? That's less revenue for our state," said Assm. Sharon Grove, R-Bakersfield.
The bill failed an assembly committee vote Tuesday. The measure would have also required the company that moves to offer their current employees jobs at their new location.
