One week left for governor to sign bills. Are legislators meeting in special session more confused about gas prices after hearing expert testimony? Should California be more like Bhutan?
Welcome to the September 23-27 edition of the NFIB California Main Street Minute from your small-business advocacy team in Sacramento.
Legislation Update
- Final week. By this time next week (Monday, September 30), Gov. Gavin Newsom will have just that day remaining to him to sign bills sent to him by the Legislature.
- As of this Main Street Minute (September 23), 12 bills on NFIB’s watch list await his decision. Two of the more important are Senate Bill 399, which would clamp prohibitions on employer communications with employees, and Assembly Bill 2499, expanding paid leave and adding criminal penalties on employers.
- “If Newsom signs Senate Bill 399, California would join nine other states that have recently passed laws prohibiting an employer from requiring workers to attend so-called captive audience meetings about their political or religious views,” reported CalMatters this month.
- But as a veto-request letter from a coalition of business groups NFIB is part of warns, “SB 399’s overbroad provisions and narrow exemptions effectively prohibit any discussion or communications regarding political matters by an employer and expose companies of all sizes to liability for hosting or supporting political events. Its broad scope is why Democratic Governor Jared Polis of Colorado vetoed a nearly identical bill in May 2024, noting that the overbroad language of the law would put employers in the ‘impossible position’ of determining whether any speech could be deemed ‘political,’ and the exemptions were so narrow that they were ‘unworkable.’” SB 399 would take away the free speech rights of employers to talk to their employees. The First Amendment applies to small business owners just as it applies to everyone else.
- In another veto-request letter NFIB and its coalition partners sent to the governor about Assembly Bill 2499, it reminds him that “California’s businesses have been subject to nine new leaves in just the last four years. Some of those leaves address the same circumstances addressed in this bill. While one more leave in isolation may not seem burdensome, it is important to view this proposal as part of the broader set of mandates to which employers are subject, especially our smallest employers. We must continue to oppose the expansion of this 12-week leave.”
- The governor worked through the weekend signing and vetoing bills, including Senate Bill 1452, which, against NFIB’s recommendation, he signed into law. The new law now imposes a state-mandated requirement on each applicant for examination or licensure as an architect or a landscape architect who has a valid email address, as defined, to report to the board that email address at the time of application. NFIB concurs with the three arguments made by opponents in this document.
- Meanwhile, a small bit of good news came with the governor’s signing of NFIB-supported Assembly Bill 2371 into law, which would, according to the bill’s language, “… for manufacturing or industrial property, or property that is legally authorized to be used for specified commercial purposes, that meets specified requirements, prohibit a city, county, or city and county from prohibiting the installation and operation of an electrified security fence.” NFIB’s letter of support can be read here.
So, How’s That Special Session Going?
- Once again, for this edition, the Main Street Minute will turn to CalMatters for help with the answer.
- “Gov. Gavin Newsom has summoned the Legislature this fall for a special session to address gasoline prices, asking them to pass additional regulations on oil refinery inventory and maintenance after he failed to jam through his proposal at the end of the regular session in August.
- “So more than a dozen members of the Assembly convened in Sacramento Wednesday [September 18] to commence that process with an informational hearing on the petroleum supply chain and California’s planned transition away from fossil fuels.
- “It was long. It was highly technical. And if it was intended to give wavering Assembly members the confidence to support Newsom’s bill — which aims to avert gas shortages and price spikes at the pump by requiring refiners to maintain an inventory of fuel that they can tap into when they go offline for maintenance — it’s unclear that it moved the needle.
- “’I think they’re more confused,’ Assemblymember Mike Gipson, a Carson Democrat, joked to CalMatters during a break in the hearing.”
- Adds The Sacramento Bee …
— “More than a dozen Assembly members sat through two days of informational hearings this week and have a first vote scheduled Sept. 26. The full Assembly plans to vote on the proposal Oct. 1. But Senate leader Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, still has not committed to call his chamber back to vote in a special session – at least not until the Assembly acts.
— “’We appreciate the Assembly’s work on this critical issue and if they ultimately take action and have the votes to move reform forward, the Senate will be ready to convene, establish our process and act swiftly to provide the relief all Californians deserve.’”
A State of Anxiety?
- The Public Policy Institute of California is out with its latest statewide survey. The report’s State of the State section, Pages 10, 11, is worth a look, so, too, is Page 12, where you’ll find, “Roughly six in ten Californians expect bad economic times in the next year. This finding was similar a year ago (37% good times, 62% bad times), and a majority of Californians have had a pessimistic economic outlook since November 2021 (47% good times, 52% bad times).”
- Most noteworthy of the ballot initiatives in the PPIC survey is the huge support NFIB-endorsed Proposition 36 is receiving, 71% Yes, 21% No for the tough-on-crime proposal.
- On three other initiatives NFIB is involved in:
— Proposition 5, which would lower the voter threshold from its current two-thirds to 55% for local governments to engage in deficit financing through bonds, is roughly tied, 49% Yes, 50% No. NFIB supports a No vote.
— So, also, is Proposition 32 in a virtual tie, 50% Yes, 49% No, on raising the state’s minimum wage rate to $18 an hour. NFIB has encouraged a ‘No’ vote.
— Not too wide apart is Proposition 33, giving local governments greater control over rent control, which the PPIC survey found 51% in support of and 46% against. NFIB supports a No vote.
Ending on a Happy Note
- The Assembly Select Committee on Happiness and Public Policy Outcomes released its final report last week. The committee was the vanity project of former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, who was possibly thrown this bone for being deposed as speaker last year.
- To no one’s surprise, there’s not a word in its 29 pages about making small business owners happy, such as paying off the state’s massive unemployment insurance trust fund debt or stop saddling them with more paid leave mandates.
- Instead, four takeaways the Main Street Minute found most amusing were:
— California Ought to be More Like Bhutan
“The Kingdom of Bhutan, a small, landlocked Himalayan nation, has pursued happiness as a public policy goal since the 1970’s, when the 4th King of Bhutan, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, proclaimed ‘Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross Domestic Product.’”
— Californians Along the Ocean are Happier Than Those Inland
“Of the top 10 happiest counties in California, seven are situated on the coastline and have higher-than-average median income levels … If Marin County was its own nation, it would rank as the seventh-happiest country in the world, between the Netherlands and Canada, in the 2018 World Happiness Report. On the opposite end of the spectrum, of the 10 least-happy counties in California, nine are inland and tend to have lower-than-average median income levels.”
— Money Can Buy Happiness
“In 2021, Matthew Killingsworth, Senior Fellow at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, conducted a study on happiness and income with different findings. His study found that higher incomes were significantly connected with higher happiness levels, with no observable plateau point … Research finds those living in poverty are up to three times more likely to experience anxiety or depression than their wealthier counterparts.”
— What’s this ‘Select Committee’ Nonsense? The Case for Permanence
“According to the National Conference on State Legislatures, the California State Assembly’s Select Committee on Happiness is the first legislative committee in the nation to study happiness through the lens of public policy … The California State Legislature should be a champion for happiness … Whether or not the Select Committee on Happiness continues into the next legislative session, the work of the committee should continue in some way. When developing legislation, the potential impact on collective and individual happiness should be considered by the author. Committees should openly discuss and question a bill’s potential on happiness.”
- There you have it. Are you any happier?
Election Resource Story to Run Until November 4
- The NFIB California 2024 Small Business Election Central story, first posted last week, will continue to run in future Main Street Minutes up to the Monday, November 4, edition, the day before Election Day, November 5. It will be a frequently updated with the latest small business news relating to the election and will continue to have all the candidates and ballot propositions endorsed by the NFIB CA PAC.
Calendar
- September 30 deadline for governor to sign bills into law
- October 7 County clerks begin mailing ballots to all Californians
- October 21 Last day to register to vote
- November 5, General Election Day
- November 30 National Shop Small Business Saturday Campaign
National
- On Wednesday, November 18, NFIB President Brad Close presented members of the U.S. House of Representatives who have a 70% or better voting record on key small business issues with their nationally prestigious Guardian of Small Business Award. News release here. List of recipients here.
- The next day, November 19, Close presented U.S. Senators with their Guardian Awards. News release here. List of recipients here.
- When he wasn’t honoring and thanking small businesses’ Congressional friends, Close was busy on the airwaves lobbying to make permanent the 20% Small Business Deduction, which is set to expire at the end of next year. Check out his comments on the nationally syndicated Lars Larson Show and on The Frank Mottek Show on Los Angeles powerhouse radio station KABC.
This Main Street Minute can also be read on the NFIB California webpage here. Next Main Street Minute September 30.
One week left for governor to sign bills. Are legislators meeting in special session more confused about gas prices after hearing expert testimony? Should California be more like Bhutan?
