From your small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento
Welcome to the October 30-November 3 edition of the Main Street Minute from your small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento.
Happy Halloween
- Truth in Accounting (TIA) is out with its annual Zombie Index, which it releases around Halloween as a clever way to draw attention to the latest findings from its State Data Lab. This one-minute YouTube video explains that the name is taken from Boston College finance professor Edward Kane’s coining of the term ‘Zombie Bank’ to describe banks unable to pay their debts but using untruthful accounting to stay alive.
- So it is with cities, counties, and states, according to TIA, which ranks California as one of the ugliest zombies in the nation. See chart below.
Recession Ahead?
- Chas Alamo is not a zombie. He is the principal fiscal policy analyst for the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office. Here are a few spooky findings from his latest Jobs Report released October 20:
— “Businesses added just 9k jobs in September, and August was revised down by 20k jobs
— “About 18k fewer people reported being employed in August and a similar number left the labor market.
— “Real-Time Recession Indicator (‘Sahm Rule’) Triggered in March (Federal policymakers use the Sahm Rule to track the start of recessions in real time. The Sahm Rule has accurately indicated — with no false positives — the prior six U.S. recessions as well as California downturns.”
NFIB California in the News
- October 23—State Director John Kabateck tells Comstock’s magazine that NFIB members are not eager to blame local police departments or county sheriffs for the rise in retail theft, but instead are asking for more officers.
- October 23— In a segment, How Small Business Bills Shape California’s Future, for Libertarian Counterpoint, Kabateck discussed the 2023 session of the California Legislature. His remarks begin at the 06:06-minute mark. NFIB does not endorse any political party’s platform but is happy to explain the small business agenda to any of their media.
- A sampling of NFIB California’s media hits for 2023 can be seen here.
Latest NFIB California Podcast
- One of the first things he did when taking over the company was fire everyone in the human resources department. Tri Tool Technologies CEO Christopher Belle explains why on NFIB California’s latest podcast. Belle also has a lot to say about the state of manufacturing in California.
Small Business Saturday Coming Up
- This year’s Small Business Saturday, the 14th since its founding, is on November 25. This article on the NFIB California webpage offers five tips for retailers on maximizing the event.
Calendar
- September 14-November 8, signatures in lieu of filing fee period for those seeking elective office
- December 28, Certified list of candidates for the March 5 Primary Election released.
- January. 3, 2024, the Legislature reconvenes.
- February 5, counties begin mailing ballots
- February, last day to register to vote in the March Primary
- March 5, Primary Election Day
- More deadlines here
Just in …
- From Tom Ross, president of Swing Strategies, California’s premier ballot initiative firm, looking ahead to November.
— “Today [October 27], two initiatives related to sports gambling were filed with the Attorney General’s Office:
* 23-0030: permits online and in-person sports wagering and in-person roulette solely to be offered by ‘federally recognized California tribal governments.’
* 23-0031: prohibits the Legislature from authorizing in-person or online sports wagering by entities other than ‘federally recognized Indian tribes.’
— “Stay tuned as more is sure to come!”
National
Highlights from NFIB Legislative Program Manager Caitlin Lanzara’s weekly report
- On October 25, NFIB Small Business Legal Center’s Beth Milito testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee at a hearing titled, “Exploring Paid Leave: Policy, Practice, and Impact on the Workforce.” Read the press release here.
— Milito said, “Small business owners can and do offer support to employees in their lives away from work, whether it’s for their own care or to care for a parent, child, or other family member, but they must have flexibility in creating a policy that works for both the employees and the business.”
- In the courts, NFIB filed an amicus brief in the California Supreme Court case Delmer Camp v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. in a wage and hour timekeeping dispute that challenges the practice of rounding time, which has been done by employers for decades. An adverse decision by the court could make time rounding illegal in California. Our brief argues that neutral time-rounding is a fair means of calculating California employees’ time worked and discusses the inordinate burden that to-the-minute timekeeping would impose on small businesses that don’t have sophisticated electronic timekeeping capability. Our brief cites NFIB Research Center surveys on small business operations.
- On the regulatory front, the National Labor Relations Board issued its final joint employer rule altering the standard for determining joint employer status under the National Labor Relations Act. The rule – opposed by NFIB – represents a drastic expansion to joint employer status. The rule explicitly states that either possessing the authority to control one or more essential terms and conditions of employment (regardless of whether it is exercised) OR exercising the power to control indirectly one or more essential terms and conditions of employment (regardless of whether the power is exercised directly) is sufficient to establish an entity’s status as a joint employer. The Legal Center will be preparing an alert on what this means for small businesses, including our many franchisee members. NFIB’s press release on the final rule can be found here. NFIB’s comments opposing the rule can be found here.
- Finally, SBLC’s upcoming Wednesday Webinar (on November 1) will focus on compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act featuring Minh Vu, a partner at Seyfarth Shaw and a nationally recognized ADA expert. Register here.
Next Main Street Minute November 6.
