For the legislative and political weeks December 21-January 1
Welcome to the December 21 edition of the NFIB California Main Street Minute from your small-business advocacy team in Sacramento.
- NFIB joins retailer’s group in lawsuit against Cal/OSHA charging illegal overreach.
“These regulations will be expensive for all California businesses to implement, especially smaller businesses,” said John Kabateck, California state director for NFIB. “As pointed out in the lawsuit, the retail industry alone has already spent $8 billion to implement protocols to combat COVID-19, and retailers will have to spend millions more if the new Cal/OSHA rule is allowed to go forward. This has sadly become the standard operating procedure for California policymakers in recent years. When the Legislature is not heaping more new laws on the soon-to-be-broken backs of businesses, its entrenched bureaucracy can’t resist adding its own burdens. We are nothing if not pioneers as the nation’s trailblazers for destroying as many enterprises and jobs as possible.”
- NFIB California’s lawsuit, along with the National Retail Federation, claiming Cal/OSHA illegally overreached on its latest COVID-19 rules received coverage from The Sacramento Bee. The Bee’s story also ran in the Daily Republic (Solano County) and The Fresno Bee. Also publishing and broadcasting the lawsuit were Bloomberg Law, the Sacramento Business Journal, Law360, the San Francisco Chronicle, KABC-AM 790 in Los Angeles, KNX-AM 1070 in Los Angeles, and KOGO-AM 600 in San Diego.
- The news release about the lawsuit was published by the Citizens Journal, the online news site for Ventura County, which also reprinted NFIB’s news release on the latest poll results of its membership.
Elsewhere
- Governor’s new economic development director pays NFIB a call.
“We had a nice 20-minute, one-on-one chat. She was sincerely interested in what our members are telling us and wants our future input on what we believe needs to be done right the ship of the California economy.”
- Done. Finished. Complete. “I ALEX PADILLA, Secretary of State for the State of California, hereby certify: That the following is a full, true, and correct statement of the result of the official canvass of the returns of the November 3, 2020, General Election.” Dated December 11, 2020.
- For NFIB Fed PAC-endorsed candidate Mike Garcia, it was a nail-biter to the very end, but came December 11, he prevailed in his 25th Congressional District race over opponent Christy Smith 169,638 votes to 169,305. With Garcia’s victory the Fed PAC went 11-for-11 on its endorsements, including the defeat of three incumbents.
- The NFIB CA PAC also had a good year, going 13-for-15 in its endorsed State Assembly candidates and three-for-six in the State Senate. Click here for a handy grid of all state and federal PAC endorsements, as well as the ballot propositions, and their outcomes.
- A new Legislature was sworn in December 7 and just in one day, Assemblymembers penned 96 bills and members of the Senate introduced 68 (for a grand total of 164).
- The Legislature had planned to reconvene January 4, but last Friday (12/18) Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate President Toni Atkins announced a week’s delay to a January 11 opening, because of the spike in COVID cases.
Nationally
- At long last a deal between House and Senate leadership has been reached. All that remains is for each body to vote on the second big pandemic-relief bill of the year. Reports The Wall Street Journal, “Roughly $280 billion would go toward the Paycheck Protection Program, the bulk of the $325 billion the bill puts toward small businesses. Theater operators and owners of small performance venues would be eligible for $15 billion in grants … Lawmakers also included $1.8 billion in tax credits for businesses to provide paid leave. The White House won a tax break President Trump had been seeking all year: the ability for businesses to deduct restaurant meals … The agreement would extend a tax credit for retaining employees and make it available to PPP recipients, and includes a number of other tax provisions. You can read NFIB’s letter lobbying for relief here.
- On another bill of huge importance, NFIB encouraged President Trump to veto the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which contains a poison pill amendment harming small businesses. Read more about NFIB‘s opposition here. The president is expected to wield his veto stamp this week.
Next Main Street Minute, January 4.
