California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner laid out an economic plan for
the state he hopes will help send him to the state capitol in Sacramento in 2010.
(Creative Commons Licensed)

Hear Poizner's entire address to the L.A. Chamber of Commerce:

California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner outlined his plan to create jobs and boost the California economy at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.

He said his four-part strategy consists of cutting taxes, capping lawsuit damages, easing labor laws and changing regulations to obtain building permits.

Poizner, who currently serves as the California Insurance Commissioner, called for a 10 percent cut on income tax, sales tax and corporate tax, and a 50 percent cut on capital gains rates.

He said he believes cutting taxes will increase the state's tax revenue by encouraging businesses, especially small businesses, to stay in California. Poizner described California's current tax rate as "off the charts" high when compared to the tax rate of other states.

Poizner also wants to pursue tort reform by capping non-economic damages at $250,000. He explained California already caps non-economic damages in medical malpractice and should extend the cap to all different types of tort. In a "lawsuit crazy" state, he said, caps will make the litigation system more predictable and affordable.

Easing California labor laws so they "align with federal standards and the rest of the country" made up the third part of Poizner's plan. He said California's laws are so extreme they make the state "stand out like a sore thumb" to businesses and ultimately hurt workers.

One example Poizner cited was the California mandate that employers pay overtime to those who work more than eight hours in a day. He said that makes it too expensive for employers to let their employees work a flex week, four ten-hour days. Federal law requires employers pay overtime if employees work over 40 hours in a week.

Poizner said the last part of his strategy would be to overhaul the process to obtain a building permit in California. He called the current process a "byzantine complex web," and said the uncertainty of if or when a business will obtain a permit a "show stopper."

If elected governor he said, he would appoint a chief Innovation officer to simplify and consolidate the permit process. Poizner would also create what he described as a self-funded dispute resolution system, where all land use and environmental disputes would be resolved within one year.

Poizner told the chamber his plan will create jobs, improve the economy and help balance California's budget. He said the more businesses that start and expand in California, the more tax revenue the state will get and the easier it will be to balance the budget.

With about nine months to go before the Republican primary, Poizner is widely considered the underdog to former eBay CEO Meg Whitman.

Whitman's campaign website suggests she would do many of the same things to fix California's economy, including lowering taxes. But the site does not specify which taxes she would lower or by how much.