For the legislative and political week ahead, May 18-22
Welcome to the May 18 issue of the NFIB California Main Street Minute, a correspondence to the NFIB family of members, leadership council, and field sales representatives from their small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento. Not an NFIB member? Join right here.
This Week
- Wednesday, May 20, NFIB Webinar: Small Business and COVID-19: PPP Loan Forgiveness Explained and Other Questions Answered, 9 a.m. PT. Free. Register here.
- Thursday, May 21, Special conference call for NFIB California members with Chris Dombrowski, acting director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) and Isabel Guzman, director of the Office of Small Business Advocate. Look for a separate email with the time and registration information.
Hot Topics
- To no one’s surprise, the revised state budget announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week called for huge cuts, but to some people’s delight, the Legislature thinks it can tough it out without too much disturbance. Commented John Kabateck, NFIB California’s state director, about the governor’s May revise, “We were delighted to see the governor augment the small business loan guarantee program by $50 million and commend him for waiving the $800 minimum franchise tax for new businesses, which we have for decades advocated doing. We would have liked for him to suspend the next minimum-wage increase, which is a new cost burden to many, if not most, small employers facing the grim reality of closing their doors very soon unless they can make ends meet.” Click here to read Kabateck’s full quote.
- Sign the letter! NFIB California is encouraging its members to climb on board a lobbying effort to ensure that your access to the many digital platforms, tools, and programs remains within reach of Main Street enterprises. The letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom asking for his help states, “Access to online tools enables websites, analytics, digital ads, online marketplaces, and e-commerce platforms to empower retailers, restaurants, service providers, and California small businesses of all types. “Now, more than ever, businesses and the Californians they serve benefit from the stability, scale, and security of these tools. Now is not the time to disrupt those services.” Click here to go right to the letter, see who else is on board, and add your name to the cause. #StandUpForSmallBusiness
- Speaking of data-privacy regulations, click here to read Kabateck’s comment about them for a news story in The Epoch Times.
Nationally
- No thank you. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, NFIB’s vice president of federal government relations expressed small business’ opposition to the proposed HEROES (Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions) Act. “While the HEROES Act grants small business owners critically needed short-term flexibility for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), it extends significant barriers for small business owners who are trying to re-open and re-hire,” wrote Kevin Kuhlman.
- One such barrier, according to Kuhlman, “Small businesses are finding it difficult to re-hire employees and satisfy the requirements of the PPP when individuals are making more unemployed than working. This bill extends the federal pandemic unemployment insurance compensation through January 31, 2021, continuing this perverse incentive. At a time when marginal costs can mean the difference in closing their doors for good, small businesses should not be faced with the prospect of competing with unemployment insurance benefits and burdened with mandates in order to get back to normal operations.”
- Forgiveness! The application for Paycheck Protection Program forgiveness was finally released, all 11 pages of it. NFIB members who took out a PPP loan are encouraged to review it now. It expires on October 31.
California Main Street Minutes are published every Monday and put on the NFIB California webpage. Two additional updates are published the first and third Wednesday of each month for inclusion in the first and third Thursday newsletters. Next California Main Street Minutes is May 21.
