A Prescription for Prosperity?

One of the Valley area’s biggest companies – and one that’s been among the coldest – suddenly is hot. Amgen Inc.’s stock bumped up nearly 3 percent over a two-day span last week after the company made a promising announcement about its leukemia drug. And since the first of the year, the biotech company’s stock has surged more than 16 percent. That’s a huge jump for a big company. The stock surge last month likely resulted from a spate of good news about the Thousand Oaks company’s cholesterol drug named Repatha. That caused one analyst earlier this month to pen a piece about how Repatha “could power Amgen to finally break all-time highs,” and prompted an article last week on the Motley Fool website in which Amgen was named one of three biotech companies investors should check out. What’s particularly gratifying about this surge is that it signals expectations of greater prosperity for the Conejo Valley’s most important company. Just a couple months ago, Amgen’s stock had been running in place for more than two years and the company’s future seemed so-so. But now, with the prospect of newer drugs possibly selling well for years to come, the company that employs about 18,000 – roughly half of whom are in the Conejo Valley – seems on the verge of being an economic powerhouse for our region. • • • We learned last week – surprise, surprise! – that the state’s roads have never been as bad as they are now. At least, Will Kempton, who is retiring after 40 years in different transportation capacities, said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that he is “frustrated and disappointed” that California has failed for decades to address the backlog of road fixes. “This is the worst I have seen,” he said of the state’s street conditions. We also learned that the legislature is coming up with some road-repair funding plans that – surprise, surprise! – involve tax increases. This despite the fact that the state has for years diverted tax money that was supposed to pay for road maintenance. Alas, this is all too routine. California is eager to find money to spend on pet projects while starving the basics. When it is forced to spend on the basics, the state proposes a tax increase “to pay for it.” Even when it’s already been paid for. Kudos to Assemblywoman Melissa A. Melendez of Lake Elsinore. She recently pointed out that in 2011, the legislature diverted tax money generated by the vehicle weight fee to the state’s General Fund because of the-then budget deficit. The General Fund budget has grown by more than $36 billion since then, she said, but the $1 billion or so a year in vehicle fees was never given back to the State Highway Account. She recently introduced legislation to restore that money back to the State Highway Account to pay for road improvements without increasing taxes. But will legislators go along? Not likely. After all, her proposal calls for no tax increase and most legislators love tax boosts. In fact, if they did go along with her, that would be a surprise indeed. Charles Crumpley is editor and publisher of the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].