Jim Earp

Jim Earp is Executive Director of the California Alliance for Jobs, a business-labor partnership that represents more than 1,700 contractors in the heavy construction industry and the 50,000 union members they employ throughout northern and central California.

In February 2007, Earp received an appointment from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve on the California Transportation Commission, the agency responsible for overseeing and allocating funding for the state’s transportation program. His four-year appointment became effective March 1, 2007.
Earp was hired to direct the California Alliance for Jobs in 1998 after serving as a Board Member since the organization’s inception in 1994. Under his leadership, the Alliance has become a strong advocate for transportation investment, solving the state’s housing shortage, meeting California’s water needs and other issues that impact California’s economy and the construction industry.

The California Alliance for Jobs has become a major political force for increasing transportation investment in California. The Alliance was the leading supporter in the successful 2002 campaign to pass Proposition 42, which dedicated the state sales tax on gasoline to transportation projects.

In 2006, Earp launched an initiative campaign to increase protection for Prop. 42 funding. At the same time, he worked closely with the Governor’s administration, Senate President pro Tem Don Perata and other legislators in crafting the historic bipartisan legislation that became Propositions 1A through 1E, which created $37 billion in infrastructure bonds and dedicated $1.5 billion a year in gasoline sales tax revenue to transportation. Earp subsequently chaired the Yes on 1A-1E campaign, which was successful In passing all five measures on Nov. 7, 2006.

Under Earp’s leadership, the California Alliance for Jobs has also played a critical role in helping to pass more than $15 billion in transportation sales tax funding for Northern California counties, including:

• 2006: San Joaquin and Fresno counties;
• 2004: Sacramento, Contra Costa, Sonoma, Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties and Regional Measure 4 (Bridge Toll increase).
• 2000: Alameda County