For the legislative and political week February 15-19
Welcome to the February 15 edition of the NFIB California Main Street Minute from your small-business advocacy team in Sacramento.
- Happy Presidents’ Day
- Friday, February 19, is the deadline for legislators to file bills. So far, the total number of bills introduced between the two houses exceeds 1,100, including more than 680 Assembly bills and more than 430 in the Senate. Of these bills introduced so far, there are 275 intent bills between the two houses, as well as just over 90 spot bills.
- Already, NFIB has identified 75 bills of direct or possible impact on small business. Some will die quickly from lack of action in the subcommittee or full committee. Others will gain traction and will need stopping or supporting from Main Street.
- The ones that do gain traction will be amended at every level of the legislative process, an important reason for associations to have someone on duty all the time.
- So, get ready for a post-February 19 season of Action Alerts from NFIB. The effectiveness of these, in state legislatures across the country, can be found in how often lawmakers will mention having heard from many small-business owners in their districts. They are small businesses’ way of amplifying a message no one small-business owner could do alone, and it’s the most effective tactic NFIB employs in helping its membership own, operate, and grow their businesses.
- NFIB California’s top three legislative priorities are tax conformity, Assembly Bill 281, to align the state’s tax treatment of PPP loans to the federal government’s; liability protection against unfair COVID lawsuits accusing small businesses of being the source of a virus that could have been contracted anywhere (bill draft to come); and support of the SALT (state and local taxes) provision in the governor’s proposed budget, which would allow state taxes to be calculated in a way to reduce the federal tax burden.
Media wise …
- Los Angeles powerhouse radio station KABC-AM 790 quotes State Director John Kabateck as saying it’s time to open California’s restaurants for indoor dining. “The mom and pops need to get customers back inside their establishments to survive.” The story ran on other radio stations throughout the state, including KSRO-AM 1350 in Santa Rosa.
- The Northern California Record quotes Kabateck on the results from NFIB’s latest COVID-19 poll. “We are uplifted by the perseverance and creativity that so many small business owners in California and across the country are showing, the true grit of not giving up, the incredible entrepreneurism and brilliant efforts to stay alive and to help their employees and communities survive as well,”
Nationally,
- On Wednesday, February 24, NFIB will host a webinar on Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC): Step by Step instructions with a CPA, with Beth Milito, Holly Wade, and Matt Evans. Register here. Did you catch the last webinar on SBA Updates: PPP, EIDL, and Venue Grants? If not, you can watch it here.
- On February 9, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index declined in January to 95.0, down .9 from December. Owners expecting better business conditions over the next six months declined seven points to a net negative 23%, the lowest level since November 2013. The net percent of owners expecting better business conditions has fallen 55 points over the past four months. Read more here.
- Also on February 9, Kevin Kuhlman, NFIB’s vice president of federal government relations, sent this letter to the House Education and Labor Committee in opposition to including the $15 per hour federal minimum wage increase in the COVID-19 recovery legislation, which is progressing through the House.
- A floor vote in the House on the COVID-19 recovery legislation/budget reconciliation package is expected the week of February 22. NFIB members can take action opposing the $15 federal minimum wage increase here.
Next Main Street Minute, February 22.
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