From your small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento
Welcome to the May 13-17 edition of the NFIB California Main Street Minute from your small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento.
Special Member Webinar on Workplace Violence
- Still have questions about the state’s new requirement on businesses to have a workplace violence prevention plan in place by July 1?
- NFIB hosted a special webinar for our California members on May 14, story and video here. Our special guest was attorney Hannah Sweiss with the law firm of Fisher Phillips. Her extensive knowledge of employment issues is impressive and can be read here.
- Passed last year, Senate Bill 553 requires employers to establish, implement and maintain a workplace violence prevention plan and record information in a violent incident log, the post-incident response, and internal workplace violence injury investigation. The log must include: the date, time and location of an incident, a detailed description of an incident, a classification of who committed an incident, the type of incident, including whether an incident involved physical, verbal, sexual or animal attacks, the consequences of an incident such as medical treatment received, whether security or law enforcement was contacted and the contact information of the individual completing the violent incident log.
- In early March of this year, Cal/OSHA finally came out with a model Workplace Violence Prevention Plan, but even those small-business owners who are aware of it still have questions.
Governor Unveils Revised 2024-2025 State Budget
- Last Friday (May 10), Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the so-called May Revise of his 2024-2025 state budget. According to his news release, the “revised budget proposal closes both this year’s remaining $27.6 billion budget shortfall and next year’s projected $28.4 billion deficit … without raising taxes on Californians.”
- The full, 44-page May Revision can be read here.
- Reports CalMatters on the next steps. “The Legislature must pass a budget by June 15 or members won’t get paid. Lawmakers and Newsom then have until July 1 to agree on a final 2024-25 spending plan. Budget negotiations, however, can last all the way through September with trailer bills — follow-up proposals that iron out specific programs in the main budget.”
Putting Small Business Out of Harm’s Way—For Now
No bill is ever dead until the Legislature adjourns (August 31), but having a measure sent to the suspense file is pretty much dooming it. “It’s a purgatory,” says NFIB California’s chief legislative lobbyist Tim Taylor, “but it’s not a bottom rung.”
Still, NFIB California is excited that three particular bills it lobbied strenuously against have been placed on the suspense file:
- Senate Bill 1116 (Portantino) called for extending unemployment benefits to striking workers.
- Assembly Bill 2751 (Haney) would have legally barred employers from after-hour communication with their employees.
- SB 988 (Wiener) would have imposed minimum requirements on independent contractors.
Other bad-for-small-business bills sent to the suspense file:
- AB 2286 (Aguiar-Curry) would prohibit autonomous vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds from the road.
- AB 2421 (Low) would have created a new privilege between an employee and anyone who represents that employee.
- AB 2499 (Schiavo) would have recast time off provisions within enforcement authority of the Civil Rights Division.
- AB 2587 (Aguiar-Curry) would have extended the eligibility period for revival of sexual assault claims.
- AB 2754 (Rendon) would have made every transportation provider jointly liable for payment of wages.
- SB 984 (Wahab) would have made every state project adhere to project labor agreements.
- SB 1299 (Cortese) would have created a disputable presumption in heat-related injuries.
- SB 1452 (Ashby) imposed new requirements on architects and landscape architects.
Additional measures stalled
- Sent to the inactive file were AB 518 (Wicks), which would have extended eligibility for benefits under the paid family leave program, and AB 1359 (Schiavo), which would have permitted accrued paid sick days to carry over to the following year.
- SB 1167 (Blakespear), which would have prohibited chain restaurants from serving a beverage in a single-use drinking vessel, failed to pass its first hearing.
Fast-Food Exemptions Expanded
- More testimony on how convoluted the state’s new law boosting the minimum wage for fast-food employees was on display when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 610 (Holden) into law. It exempts additional restaurants, such as those at airports, hotels, event centers, theme parks, and museums from the definition of “fast food.” NFIB took a neutral position on the bill.
The next big date in the Legislature is May 24, when bills must have passed their house of origin to remain alive. NFIB’s bill list, which usually accompanies the Main Street Minute, will be updated then.
Speaking of that May 24 Deadline
- Is it the strategy of Assembly leaders to let the clock run out on Assembly Bill 2200, the impossibly unaffordable “Guaranteed Health Care for All” proposal? It passed the Assembly Health Committee on a 9-4 vote April 29 and now awaits action in the Assembly Appropriations Committee this week, Wednesday, May 15. Should it make it make it out of that committee, would the looming May 24 deadline give it enough time to pass the full Assembly and be sent to the Senate? Word is there’s no rush and if it expires, chalk it up to cold, hard economic reality.
November Ballot
From Tom Ross, president and CEO of Swing Strategies
- “Yesterday [May 8], the California Secretary of State announced that Initiative 23-0022, which adds one semester of personal finance education to high school graduation requirements, submitted more than 600,000 signatures and is now eligible for the November 5, 2024 General Election ballot.
- “The Secretary of State’s notice can be viewed here. We now stand at:
- Four Measures Qualified for the November 5, 2024 General Election
- Seven Measures Eligible for the November 5, 2024 General Election, and
- Three Measures Pending Signature Verification
- “Measures still vying for the November 2024 ballot are nearing the deadline to submit signatures for verification and qualify by random sample ahead of the June 27 deadline for the Secretary of State to certify the ballot. Stay tuned!”
NFIB California is keying on five ballot measures dealing taxpayer protections, retail theft, PAGA, rent control, and the minimum wage. More information to come in future Main Street Minutes.
State Supreme Court Update
- Last Wednesday (May 8), the Supreme Court of California heard oral arguments in the case to have the NFIB-endorsed Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act tossed off the November ballot.
- Next Tuesday (May 21), the court will hear oral arguments on a labor-backed challenge to Proposition 22, which Uber and others funded to avoid reclassifying workers as employees. An appeals court largely upheld the initiative last year.
NFIB California in the News
- NFIB member Paul Cramer, vice president and general manager of Star Milling in Riverside County, is quoted in the California Business Journal about the California Energy Commission’s request for daily spot market reporting aimed at countering price hikes.
- “In recent years, California has seen constant additional regulatory oversight and fee increases,” said Cramer. “It’s reached a point where, as a producer or manufacturer who actually has trucks, it’s hard to keep up with the red tape.”
- In two separate stories in the May 6 edition of The Center Square, State Director John Kabateck is quoted about the state’s new law banning prices that don’t include all costs and fees and on the governor’s remarks about increased tourism. The tourism story ran in 24 other media subscribing to The Center Square.
NFIB FedPAC Endorses Scott Baugh for Congress
- The start of the election season is underway. In the first of more to come, the NFIB FedPAC endorsed former Assemblyman Scott Baugh for Congress in the 47th District over state Sen. David Min. The Orange County seat had been held by Katie Porter, who left it to run for the U.S. Senate. NFIB’s endorsement news release can be read here.
Calendar
- May 24 deadline for bills to pass their house of origin (Assembly, Senate)
- June 15, midnight, constitutional deadline to pass 2024-2025 state budget
- June 27 deadline for ballot measure to qualify for November. Last day for proponents of a qualified ballot initiative to withdraw it.
- August 31 deadline for bills to have passed Legislature and sent to governor
- September 30 deadline for governor to sign bills into law
- November 5, General Election Day
National
Highlights from NFIB Legislative Program Manager Caitlin Lanzara’s weekly report
- On May 7, NFIB launched a new ad campaign urging Congress to make the Small Business Deduction permanent. Press release here. One-page graphic here.
- On May 9, Senator Tuberville introduced legislation to repeal the Corporate Transparency Act. Press release here. One-page graphic here.
Want more news from Washington, D.C., and sooner? Check the ‘News’ tab on the NFIB main webpage throughout the week.
Next Main Street Minute May 20.
