Texas Gov. Going To California To Recruit Businesses
AUSTIN, Texas (CBS / AP) -- Gov. Rick Perry plans to visit California next week to follow up on a small buy of radio ads intended to persuade businesses to relocate to Texas.
Perry is scheduled to fly to the West Coast on Sunday and will meet with executives in San Francisco, the Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Orange County. A marketing company, using private money, bought $24,000 worth of radio time to air an ad in which the Republican governor says, "I hear building a business in California is next to impossible."
The governor's office said he will meet with business leaders in the high tech, biotechnology, financial, insurance and film industries.
California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, earlier this week dismissed the ad buy as insignificant in a state where millions are needed to saturate the market. His office released a statement citing data that shows business relocations have no significant impact on either state's economy.
Brown's spokesman, Gil Duran, did not immediately return an email Thursday seeking a response to Perry's planned visit.
A Republican lawmaker in California, though, said his state should work to keep jobs in the state.
"I am frustrated that Governor Perry and governors from other states continue to see California as fertile ground to steal businesses," said Assembly member Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo. "We must thwart their efforts by creating a better business climate in California."
Perry prides himself on keeping taxes low, limiting regulations and restricting lawsuits to create a better business climate. He uses the slogan, "Texas, Wide Open for Business." But his critics point out that Texas has the highest percentage of workers without health insurance in the nation and averages among the lowest scores on college admissions exams.
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