The bill includes $253 billion in tax credits and $194 billion in spending, plus extension of unemployment benefits. Among its elements are the following specific actions:

1. Cutting and suspending $245 billion worth of payroll taxes for qualifying employers and 160 million medium- to low-income employees.
2. Spending $62 billion for a Pathways Back to Work Program for expanding opportunities for low-income youth and adults.
   • $49 billion—Extending unemployment benefits for up to 6 million long-term beneficiaries.
   • $8 billion—Jobs tax credit for the long-term unemployed.
   • $5 billion—Pathways Back to Work fund.
3. Spending $50 billion on both new and pre-existing infrastructure projects.
4. Spending $35 billion in additional funding to protect the jobs of teachers, police officers and firefighters.
5. Spending $30 billion to modernize at least 35,000 public schools and community colleges.
6. Spending $15 billion on a program that would hire construction workers to help rehabilitate and refurbish hundreds of thousands of foreclosed homes and businesses.
7. Creating the National Infrastructure Bank (capitalized with $10 billion), originally proposed in 2007, to help fund infrastructure via private and public capital.
8. Creating a nationwide, interoperable wireless network for public safety, while expanding accessibility to high-speed wireless services.
9. Creating additional regulations to rein in businesses who discriminate against hiring those who are long-term unemployed.
10. Loosening regulations for small businesses that wish to raise capital, including crowdfunding, while retaining investor protections.

Think positive—it may just be the boom small business needs! •

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In year-over-year performance, the state added 181,000 jobs. Eight categories posted job gains over the year, including construction; trade, transportation and utilities; information; financial activities; professional and business services; educational and health service; leisure and hospitality; and mining and logging. Government jobs went down in year-over-year comparison, losing about 46,000 jobs. •

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More than 10,000 employees were hired as the amount of on-location filming in the state also increased. With the good comes some bad news Domestic box office receipts fell last year by 3.7 percent (to $10.2 billion). Attendance was down 4.6 percent to hit its lowest level since 1995. In the recent Otis Report from Otis College of Art & Design, it’s estimated that one in eight Southern California jobs are in the creative and entertainment industries, and amount to more than a $200 billion impact on the Southern California economy. •

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