From your small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento
Welcome to the September 11-15 edition of the Main Street Minute from your small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento
Final Week of Session Has Arrived
- It’s finally, mercifully here. Upon adjournment on Thursday, September 14, the Legislature will leave town for the rest of the year.
- Today through Thursday will be the busiest four days of the 2023 session. For NFIB and its business coalition partners that means scrambling to convince as many legislators as possible to vote ‘No’ on some very harmful legislation. (Helpful legislation? Move on. Nothing to see here.)
- By the numbers. NFIB narrowed down to 57 the number of bills helpful and harmful to small businesses from the nearly 3,000 introduced in the 2023 session. The list of 57, a one-sentence description of them, and their status can be read here.
- The business community would like to see 17 bills defeated in these final four days. NFIB has prioritized three for Action Alerts:
— Senate Bill 799, which would extend unemployment benefits to workers who choose to strike, was sent last week
— Sent Friday was the Action Alert on Senate Bill 553, which seeks to fight retail theft by making employers and employees do more paperwork
— Coming to you today or tomorrow is the Action Alert on Assembly Constitutional Amendment 13, which wants to play with voter threshold percentages for tax increases.
- Please use your Action Alerts to reach your senator and assemblymember. They really do help. Other bad legislation steaming toward passage include:
— AB 518 expanding eligibility for paid family leave
— AB 524 making family caregiver status a civil right
— AB 1359 allowing paid sick days to accrue from year to year
— SB 525 raising the minimum wage of health-care workers to $21 an hour starting June 1, 2024, and to $25 an hour starting June 1, 2025.
— SB 723, which would redefine a laid-off employee.
- The remaining nine bad bills can be found in the bill link above. Gov. Gavin Newsom has a month to sign legislation put on his desk.
NFIB California in the News
- NFIB California Leadership Council Chairman Sunder Ramani penned a guest editorial in opposition to the Delete Act (SB 362) for the California Business Journal.
- Two news releases, one in the morning, one in the afternoon, were sent expressing NFIB’s strong opposition to SB 799, Will Assembly Dig a Deeper Hole in UI Trust Fund? and Comment on Today’s Passage of Senate Bill 799. Among the media reporting State Director John Kabateck’s remarks was Bloomberg Law.
National
Highlights from NFIB Legislative Program Manager Caitlin Lanzara’s weekly report
- On September 7, NFIB President Brad Close published an op-ed on the importance of the 20% Small Business Deduction for Main Street businesses:
— “The Small Business Deduction simply allows small business owners to keep more of their own money in their business instead of sending it to Washington. It helps them compete with their larger, corporate competitors. Main Street already accounts for about half of the economy and creates two-thirds of net new jobs. Small businesses want to contribute even more to the economy, creating jobs and giving back when the country needs it most. For America’s sake, it’s time to make the Small Business Deduction permanent.” Read NFIB’s press release.
- On September 6, NFIB filed an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Moore v. United States.
— Executive Director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center Beth Milito said, “The Ninth Circuit’s current ruling will negatively impact small businesses. If reinvestment into a small business is considered ‘income,’ then small business owners will face an increased tax on unrealized gains. The current ruling would also greatly expand Congress’ power by allowing Congress to directly tax property interests without apportionment. We ask the Supreme Court to reverse the lower court’s decision and clarify the proper limits on taxing power.”
This Main Street Minute can also be read on the NFIB California webpage here. Next Main Street Minute September 18.
