Tucson tried sending Amazon a 21-foot saguaro cactus (since rejected) to entice the online retailer’s second headquarters to its city. Stonecrest, Ga., offered to rename itself as the city of Amazon. Boston Globe editors published a four-page special section Sunday listing five “wicked cool” Beantown sites for a new HQ2.

Related Articles Fremont part of Bay Area plan to lure new Amazon headquarters

Orange County developer unveils bid for Amazon’s second headquarters In California, however, Gov. Jerry Brown is offering tax breaks and other incentives worth hundreds of millions of dollars should Amazon choose the Golden State as the site of its second home.

“The Golden State is home to the best universities and research institutions in the world, a uniquely qualified and talented workforce and the most dynamic combination of innovation and investment on the planet,” Brown said in an Oct. 11 letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. “ … Put simply: there is no better place for a business like yours to continue to grow.”

Brown’s administration drafted the letter, a colorful brochure listing California strengths and a four-page package of state incentives, for all applicants to plug into their proposals.

Amazon launched a continent-wide search Sept. 7 for a site to build a second headquarters of equal importance to its current 33-building complex in Seattle. The deadline is Thursday, Oct. 19, for dozens of North American communities to submit their proposals.

Bidders include Concord, the city of Irvine and the Irvine Co., a Santa Ana-backed private developer, Huntington Beach, Long Beach and a Los Angeles city-county plan for Pomona.

The governor’s office hosted a meeting last month with local representatives from throughout California to discuss ways the state can support local efforts to bring Amazon HQ2 to the state, a Brown spokesman said.

State incentives include tax credits, employment training funding and legislation to streamline the environmental approval process similar to measures previously adopted for speedy construction of the Sacramento Kings arena.

The governor’s office also pledged to work with Amazon to solve a host of problems such as transportation and workforce housing while vowing to support local property and sales tax abatements. The proposal also touts recent legislative accomplishments to support affordable housing construction and to invest $5.2 billion a year in road construction and in mass transit.

Get tech news in your inbox weekday mornings. Sign up for the free Good Morning Silicon Valley newsletter.

California’s not alone in reaching deep into public coffers to lure Amazon to its state.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, for example, on Monday proposed to offer “$7 billion in potential credits against Amazon’s state and city taxes” in support of its bid to locate the HQ2 in Newark. Other communities have pledged to put together their own, as-yet-undisclosed incentive packages.

Amazon makes no bones about wanting public assistance. The company asked applicants to identify incentive programs available at the state, province and local levels, including help with site preparation, tax credits, tax exemptions, grants and fee reductions.

Highlights of California’s proposed incentives include: