RUNNER SEEKS TO BOOST INDUSTRY : LAWMAKER CALLS FOR FORMATION OF STATE AEROSPACE PANELS.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer Aerospace is a major industry that California state government is ignoring, Assemblyman George Runner George C. Runner, Jr. (born March 25 1952 in Scotia, New York) is a Republican California State Senator, who represents the 17th Senate District, which includes portions of Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County and Ventura County. says, and he wants the situation to change. The first-term Lancaster Republican announced Friday that he is seeking the creation of a statewide task force and a legislative committee to assist the state's aerospace industry. ``Aerospace is still an important foundation of manufacturing - not only in the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley , but across the state of California,'' Runner said Friday, standing outside Lockheed Martin For the former company, see . Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a leading multinational aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. Skunk skunk, name for several related New World mammals of the weasel family, characterized by their conspicuous black and white markings and use of a strong, highly offensive odor for defense. Works, with an F-117 stealth fighter and Skunk Works and Boeing North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. officials behind him. Combined with an earlier announced tax relief bill for the Joint Strike Fighter program The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) became synonymous with the later F-35 Lightning II, however until 2001 the term was applied to the competition between the Boeing X-32 and Lockheed Martin X-35. , Runner is working on three fronts to direct more of the state's energy toward attracting aerospace projects to the Antelope Valley. Runner's latest aerospace measure is Assembly Bill 616, which would create a 12-member panel to draw up a strategic plan for the state's aerospace industry. The panel would include representatives of the governor, state Assembly and Senate, labor unions, aerospace contractors and subcontractors and an economist. It would be up to the panel to determine what initiatives are needed to strength the state's position in capturing more aerospace work. The bill has been referred to the Assembly Committee of Consumer Protection and Government Efficiency and Economic Development. In a related matter, Runner said he is also seeking the formation of a select committee on aerospace in the Assembly. Runner said he is discussing the committee's formation with Speaker of the Assembly Cruz Bustamante. ``The selected committee would help shepherd legislation through the Legislature,'' Runner said. Bustamante was out of his office Friday and was unavailable for comment. Last month, Runner introduced a bill aimed at attracting work on the Joint Strike Fighter program to California. The bill would provide tax credits on gross sales Gross Sales A measure of overall sales that isn't adjusted for customer discounts or returns, calculated simply by adding all sales invoices, and not including operating expenses, cost of goods sold, payment of taxes, or any other charge. to contractors and subcontractors on the JSF (JavaServerFaces) A standard framework of components for building rich user interfaces for Java applications. JavaServer Faces run on the server, but are displayed on the client. JSF - JavaServer Faces program - a program that is potentially worth $750 billion. The credit will start at 15 percent during the concept demonstration phase, which includes the fly-off between the two competing contractors - Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The credit will drop to 12.5 percent during the manufacturing development phase, the period when the winning design is refined and verified through flight test. The credit will drop to 10 percent during the production phase. The Pentagon wants to build nearly 3,000 JSF aircraft between 2005 and 2030. The British navy also is interested in acquiring hundreds of the aircraft. Lockheed Martin Skunk Works is building two of the prototypes for the program in Palmdale, but its parent corporation is looking to base its production line in Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas, 18th-largest city in the United States[1], and voted one of "America’s Most Livable Communities. . Boeing initially indicated it would conduct its final assembly of JSF aircraft in Seattle. However, the company is now looking at options available because of its recent acquisition of Rockwell's North American Aircraft division. The company also will have even more options if its planned merger with McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It merged with Boeing in 1997 to form The Boeing Company. Corp. is completed. The tax credit bill, Assembly Bill 390, was referred to the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: (color in AV edition only) As aerospace, city and trade officials listen, Republican Assemblyman George Runner talks about his bill at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works on Friday. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News |
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