Welcome to the July 28-August 1 edition of the Main Street Minute from your small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento.

The Legislature

Lawmakers are on summer recess and will reconvene August 18.

Following the July 18 deadline for policy committees to act on legislation, NFIB has updated its lobbying list. From the 2,789 total number of bills circulating the Capitol, NFIB has narrowed to 55 the number of measures good or bad for small business and one that is being monitored.

Of the 22 bills beneficial for small business, 16 are now effectively, if not technically, dead. The one measure we’re monitoring, Senate Bill 237, is still alive. Of the 32 bills harmful for Main Street enterprises, 14 are now effectively, if not technically, dead.

“Effectively if not Technically”

As pointed out in prior Main Street Minutes, no bill is ever technically dead until the end of session, which will be some time late next year. But there are ways our clear-as-mud legislative process can stop, delay, or even bring back to life a bill inconvenient for somebody: suspense files, gut-and-amend, trailer bills.

Infuriating!

There’s also another way to kill a bill—never give it a hearing and let the deadline for doing so pass. That was the fate of Senate Bill 84, which the impressive number of bipartisan cosponsors it received and 34-2 passage out of the State Senate made it look like a sure thing to reach the governor’s desk for his signature.

All the bill did was give businesses 120 days to fix an alleged or minor violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act requirements (missing or incorrect signage, improperly placed grab bars, e.g.). Republican Sen. Roger Niello was the lead author of SB 84, but coauthors included such Democratic progressives as Sen. Aisha Wahab and Sen. Scott Wiener.

No matter. Shake-down lawsuits (filed by the hundreds with a simple message: pay us this much and the suit goes away) are big business. So, who in the Assembly put the cement shoes on SB 84 and pushed it off the pier? California is the home of film noir, so it will probably never be known.

Tim Taylor, NFIB’s legislative director who did as much, if not more. than any other business advocate in helping pass SB 84 through the Senate, said, “If it dies in the light of day, that’s fine. That’s part of the process. But for it to die in darkness, that’s a problem, and that’s what leaves a really bad taste in everyone’s mouth.”

Thank You, Assemblymember Juan Alanis

As part of its continuing series of Roundtable meetings with legislators, NFIB organized a gathering of its small-business-owning members with Assemblymember Juan Alanis in his Modesto district office on July 24. Photos and a brief story here.

Not a Soul Around

Rebuild Local News and Muck Rack recently released their Local Journalist Index 2025 report, “Using data that’s never been tapped before, we now know just how severe this local journalist shortage has become. Less than a quarter-century ago, the United States had about 40 journalists per 100,000 residents on average. Now, the equivalent number is 8.2 Local Journalist Equivalents, about a 75% decline. (Local Journalist Equivalent is a new measure we’re introducing, akin to a Full Time Equivalent or FTE).”

Worst five California counties for getting any news: Alpine, Colusa, Mono, Plumas, and Sutter. Best five counties: Del Norte, Inyo, San Francisco, Trinity, and Yolo. The NFIB California Main Street Minute is helping fill the void.

Calendar

— August 18: Legislature reconvenes from summer recess

— August 26: NFIB California’s Leadership Day at the Capitol

— August 29: Last day for fiscal committees to hear and report bills to the floor

— September 1: Labor Day. Legislature not in session

— September 12, 2025-January 5, 2026: Interim recess of the 2025-2026 session of the California State Legislature

— October 15: Last day for governor to sign or veto bills passed before September 12.

National

Highlights from Federal Government Relations Principal Louis Bertolotti’s weekly report

— Rep. Warren Davidson (OH-08) cites NFIB in an op-ed in The Hill on the need for right-to-repair legislation: “The National Federation of Independent Business says 90% of its members support right-to-repair. It’s a no-brainer.”

— NFIB sent a press release announcing that H.R. 3898, the Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today (PERMIT) Act will be an NFIB Key Vote for the 119th Congress.

— Episode 66 of the “Small Business Rundown” podcast was released, featuring NFIB President Brad Close and Vice President of Federal Government Regulations Jeff Brabant discussing how the Small Business Deduction was made permanent.

Next Main Street Minute: August 4. All Main Streets Minutes can be found on the NFIB website here. Pull down the California tab in the upper-right-hand corner.