SACRAMENTO - Dan Logue, North State Assemblyman and Chairman of the Assembly Republican Caucus Working Group on Jobs and Economic Recovery, responded today to the report from Chief Executive Magazine announcing that business CEOs rank Texas as the best state in which to do business and California as the worst. This year marks the eighth in a row that California has been ranked last.

"This reminds me of the film "Groundhog Day," as the consistency in California's low ranking is proof that our policies and regulatory environment are hostile to job creation," Logue stated. "California is the best place in the country to live, yet the heavy-handed attitude of government toward business is forcing job creators to look for greener pastures in other states."

Last year, Assemblyman Logue led a bipartisan delegation of legislators including Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom to Texas to meet with Texas Governor Rick Perry and business leaders to learn why job creators are leaving California. Testimony from participants revealed that California's economic trouble stems more from bad policies than from the national recession. Business leaders that had left California explained that they felt like government agencies treated them like villains, always looking for ways to punish them rather than help them.

In a Chief Executive Magazine article, Editor J.P. Donlon was quoted as saying, "CEOs tell us that California seems to be doing everything possible to drive business from the state." Donlon went on to say, "California regulations, taxes and costs will leave only tech, life sciences and entertainment as viable. If you aren't an elitist, there's no room here for the middle or working classes."

Chief Republican Whip Dan Logue added, "California's budget problems would all but disappear if government would change its attitude toward businesses and help them grow the economy. We cannot tax and spend our way out of this recession."