State Director John Kabateck and Policy Director Shawn Lewis report to the NFIB California membership on where the small-business agenda stands during the Legislature's summer recess
The California Legislature is halfway through its summer recess, which is from July 12 – August 12. The good news is nobody has been in the Capitol to cause any more harm to small business, but when lawmakers return, it will be a mad dash in the final four weeks of the session for the calendar year. Here are some of the biggest issues small business is facing before the Legislature adjourns September 12.
- The fate of millions of entrepreneurs in California hangs in the balance as final amendments are negotiated for Assembly Bill 5, which codifies much of the problematic Dynamex Supreme Court decision. Whereas other groups have advocated for narrow carve-out exemptions from the new independent contractor standards, NFIB has been at the center of this debate, advocating for amendments which consider the breadth and diversity of small businesses in California. Our official legislative letter on AB 5 can be read here.
- NFIB is also strongly opposing legislation which seeks to ban arbitration agreements as a condition of employment in California. Assembly Bill 51 currently sits in the California Senate where we hope to stop it before reaching Gov. Gavin Newsom. Bans on arbitration agreements such as this have been repeatedly struck down by the United States Supreme Court, which is why former Gov. Jerry Brown repeatedly vetoed similar legislation. However, with a new governor, NFIB has strongly opposed AB 51 throughout the legislative process in order to prevent a new wave of litigation for small business owners.
- Although the problematic California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) goes into effect January 1, 2020, there have been a number of legislative efforts to curb the burdens it will impose on small business and reduce the threat of litigation by trial lawyers. Unfortunately, nearly all these hopeful reforms have died in the Senate Judiciary Committee, so NFIB is part of a large voice urging the Legislature to consider a package of legislation to address these small-business concerns in the final weeks of the session.
- While NFIB has been very successful in helping defeat every tax increase proposed in the Legislature so far this session, we must keep the pressure up in this final month to prevent any entertainment of a sales tax on services. The architect of this proposal has sat back this year so far due to other tax proposals, but since we’ve successfully stopped others, we will have to raise the opposition to this devastating idea in these final weeks.
