Governors pen moves Farmers Field closer to construction

Farmers Field got punted onto the fast track recently, as Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that would help speed construction of the much-ballyhooed football stadium
Brown signed SB 292 at a press conference and signing ceremony Tuesday at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The bill, SB 292, will hurry the construction of Farmers Field, which is being financed by developer Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and is scheduled to open by 2016. The bill also includes renovation of the Convention Center’s West Hall.
“This is a big step forward for our economic recovery,” said Assembly member Steven C. Bradford (D-Gardena), a co-author of SB 292. “We’re going to put a lot of people to work at a time when people need jobs.”
Economic analyses of the stadium proposal by both AEG and the city of Los Angeles suggest that as many as 12,000 temporary and permanent jobs may result from construction and operation of the stadium.
The $1.3 billion deal, which does not rely on any taxpayer dollars, also includes renovation of the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The governor also signed AB 900, a companion jobs bill that is modeled after SB 292. It will fast-track other large project proposals in order to bring jobs to the state as quickly as possible.
The project is supported by the Environmental Resources Defense Council, the California League of Conservation Voters, and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.
“Today we showed how to bring competing interests together for the good of the state,” Bradford continued. “This project is a model of collaboration and partnership.”