SB 690: The California aerospace industry.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a)The aerospace industry is one of the largest high-technology manufacturing sectors within the United States.

(b)The aerospace industry generates a significant portion of economic output from companies that manufacture goods and provide services throughout the industrys supply chain.

(c)California is a global leader in space instrumentation, satellite services and manufacturing, and engineering services; the state provides more than 50 percent of all aerospace engineering services and 59 percent of aircraft search, detection, navigation, guidance, and nautical instrumentation.

(d)Among other states, California is ranked number one in annual defense contract spending at over fifty billion dollars ($50,000,000,000) as of 2019, and Californias individual military bases have an estimated economic impact ranging from over one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) to over two billion dollars ($2,000,000,000).

(e)Californias aerospace industry employs approximately 230,000 workers directly and supports 511,000 jobs across related industry sectors, including finance, construction, and transportation.

(f)Estimates by Morgan Stanley show that the space industry is poised to grow from a global value of three hundred fifty billion dollars ($350,000,000,000) today to an expected one trillion dollars ($1,000,000,000,000) by 2040. California has many of the right fundamentals to take advantage of this growth.

(g)Californias position as a global leader, however, is being increasingly challenged; primary industry challenges include competition from abroad in aerospace manufacturing, a declining in-state customer base with government contracts, and state tax credits that need modification to match incentives in other states.

(h)Several states have space authorities or commercial space flight authorities, sometimes structured as a state entity and sometimes as a public-private partnership, and have published strategic plans or similar documents.

(i)California once had its own space authority, but it ceased operations in 2011.

It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would establish the California Aerospace Commission to develop an official space plan and oversee a special district created within the Governors Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) that would foster the growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading aerospace industry in the state, and promote aerospace business development by facilitating business financing, spaceport operations, research and development, workforce development, and innovative education programs.