A state proposal forcing California’s taxpayers to cut gas and diesel consumption in half by 2030 is already giving small business owners headaches.
Senate Bill 350, opposed by NFIB/CA, would “demonize” many of the state’s small business owners as well as everyday commuters, according to member Paul Cramer, of Star Milling Co.
Cramer, the vice chair of NFIB/CA, recently took to the editorial pages of Riverside Press Enterprise newspaper on behalf of small business owners to call for fairer statewide regulations.
“We, as environmentally conscious Californians, might like the goals of the bill, but the details matter,” Cramer writes. “Every family and business will be affected, as well as the parents who shuttle their children to after school sports and activities. There will be concern at the grocery store due to the increased expense of getting goods to the market.”
The state’s harsh regulatory climate has lead to a jobs exodus, Cramer says, in addition to spiking energy prices that are approximately 57 percent higher than the national average. Cramer says small businesses such as his Star Milling Co. would be forced to make cutbacks that could harm surrounding communities.
“If SB350 passes, our business will see increased manufacturing and transportation costs,” Cramer writes. “This will have a ripple effect on our retailers, the nearly 90 local families we employ and eventually our end consumers.”
