08/07/2008
CONTACT: John Kabateck, 916-956-9027 or Michael Shaw, 916-216-0397
Late afternoon action effectively kills Assembly Bill 2716 for the year
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The representative group for California's largest employer and biggest job generator today thanked members of the state Senate Appropriations Committee for effectively killing a paid sick leave proposal for the remainder of the year.
"We are delighted the Senate Appropriations Committee decided against imposing another mandate on California small businesses," said John Kabateck, California executive director for the National Federation of Independent Business, the state and nation's leading small business association, about this afternoon's action on Assembly Bill 2716.
"In the face of a multi-billion dollar state budget deficit and an unemployment rate of 6.9 percent, committee members saw the wisdom in not loading more burdens on California businesses. Small business budgets are like those of a family: when their costs increase in one area, they're forced to make cuts in other areas. Cutting other benefits, forgoing pay raises, reducing hours, or letting employees go are some of the difficult choices small business owners would have been forced to make. None of these choices is easy and none is good for working Californians.
"California's fiscal health depends on a vibrant, growing small business economy. New mandates on small businesses lead to fewer jobs and, for the state coffers, less tax revenue. If our state leaders are truly interested in improving the health and welfare of all Californians, and California's deficit-plagued budget, then increasing the burden on business was the wrong prescription."
A study released in June by the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation shows the loss of approximately 370,000 jobs within five years in California had AB 2716 become law. In addition to significant job losses, the bill imposes a direct cost, just like a tax, of $4.6 billion on California employers that would have disproportionately affected small businesses.
