Political quid-pro-quo wins; small business and working families lose
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
National Federation of Independent Business/California
Contact: Shawn Lewis (916) 342-9315; [email protected]
Follow: @NFIB_CA and on Facebook
Small Business Reacts to Passage of Senate Bill 1
Political quid-pro-quo wins; small business and working families lose
SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 6, 2017 – Following the California Legislature passing Senate Bill 1 (Beall) and sending it to Governor Brown for his signature, NFIB California State Executive Director Tom Scott issued the following statement on behalf of our 22,000 due-paying small business members:
“We are deeply disappointed with the passage of SB 1 today, as it represents not only bad public policy, but also bad politics. Our roads have been embarrassingly neglected for decades and billions of taxpayer dollars have been diverted away from our roads in that time, yet Governor Brown and Democratic legislative leadership imposed an arbitrary one-week deadline to jam the largest gas tax increase in state history. The bill passed today was rushed to the Assembly floor without receiving a single committee vote in that house. This rushed process for the sake of political expedience silenced small business owners and all taxpayers who have not had the opportunity to review and analyze this sweeping legislation.
“We also cannot ignore how almost exactly one year ago, the same politics in Sacramento rushed the $15 minimum wage hike through the legislature in one week. However, the 50 cent per hour pay bump minimum wage workers got with SB 3 last year will instantly be erased by the tax increases in SB 1. These policies do not operate in a vacuum, and ultimately hurt working families and low-wage workers the hardest when they are forced to pay more for gasoline, goods, and services. The legislature also spent $36 billion in new revenues over the last six years, but not one dime went to critical transportation projects. SB 1 gives us more taxes, zero reforms, and no sunset.
“Finally, all Californians should be ashamed of legislators who voted for Senate Bill 1 in exchange for favors and budget promises by the Governor and Democratic legislative leadership. We do not accept that this is ‘just how things get done’ because if we had a good, bipartisan transportation bill, one that funded our roads without raising taxes on the backs of working families, then we wouldn’t see these quid-pro-quo games.”
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For more than 70 years, the National Federation of Independent Business has been the Voice of Small Business, taking the message from Main Street to the halls of Congress and all 50 state legislatures. NFIB has 350,000 dues-paying members nationally, with over 22,000 in California. NFIB annually surveys its members on state and federal issues vital to their survival as America’s economic engine and biggest creator of jobs. To learn more visit www.NFIB.com/california
