From your small-business advocacy team in Sacramento
Welcome to the May 1-5 edition of the NFIB California Main Street Minute from your NFIB small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento.
Worker Retention, Recall Legislation Advancing
“Layoffs are in the news and on a lot of people’s minds as the possibility of a recession looms,” reported Politico California. “… A trio of bills making their way through the Capitol would significantly expand state laws on mandatory worker retention, colloquially known as ‘right to recall.’ That policy already applies to a small subsection of California’s workforce, including grocery staff affected by store mergers and certain hospitality workers whose workplaces were shuttered during the height of the Covid pandemic.”
The three bills referred to in the Politico California article are opposed by NFIB. They, along with their status, are:
- AB 647 (Holden) — Would require the successor grocery employer to hire from the list for 120 days after the grocery establishment is fully operational and open to the public and retain each eligible grocery worker for at least 120 days after their commencement date, except as specified.
STATUS: Passed Labor Committee, Passed Judiciary Committee, now with Appropriations Committee.
- SB 627 (Smallwood-Cuevas) — Would prohibit an employer from closing a covered establishment unless the employer gives a displacement notice, as prescribed, to the covered workers and their exclusive representative, if any, 60 days before the closure takes effect.
STATUS: Passed Labor Committee, Passed Judiciary Committee, now with Appropriations Committee
- SB 723 (Durazo) — Would redefine “laid-off employee” to mean any employee who was employed by the employer for 6 months or more and whose most recent separation from active employment by the employer occurred on or after March 4, 2020, and was a result of a public health directive, government shutdown order, lack of business, reduction in force, or other economic nondisciplinary reason. NFIB and its coalition’s letter of opposition can be read here.
STATUS: Passed Appropriations Committee, April 26. Re-referred to that committee for another vote.
NFIB alone or in concert with its coalition partners is working to stop any further advancement of these proposals and short of that, seeking to insert some moderating amendments.
The Short, Sweet Life of a Tax Cut
- Last Wednesday (April 26), Senate Democrats roiled the waters with a call for a small-business tax cut. “’The Senate’s 2023 plan will provide much needed tax relief to those small businesses which are the backbone of our economy and that have been really whacked by inflation,’ said state Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Democrat from Berkeley and chair of the Senate Budget Committee,” reported the Associated Press.
- Your glasses haven’t fogged. You read that right. A Berkeley state legislator with an 18% NFIB voting record speaking up for small business. But wait! You knew there had to be a catch.
- “All California businesses pay a state tax rate of 8.84% on income, a figure that has not changed since 1997,” said the AP story. “This new proposal would create two tax rates for businesses in California. Companies would pay 6.63% on the first $1.5 million they make. Any money made above that would be taxed at 10.99%.”
- There’s no fooling the people who know the workings of state government well, however. The AP story noted, “John Kabateck, California state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents small businesses, said the proposal ‘looks appealing at first glance.’ But he said his years of experience in dealing with leaders in the state Legislature has taught him not to endorse proposals too quickly. ‘We’re not very keen on getting a tax break for Main Street at the expense of other businesses,’ Kabateck said.”
- Just never mind, then. Governor Newsom was having none of his fellow Democrats’ plan, anyhow. “Tax increases are sensitive business in politics. So it didn’t take long Wednesday — all of two hours — for Gov. Gavin Newsom to swiftly and decisively reject the latest idea from Democratic lawmakers to balance California’s budget by pumping businesses for more cash,” reported CalMatters.
- After this Wednesday morning tempest in a teapot, the political industry broke for lunch.
NFIB California in the News
- In addition to the above AP story, which ran in 51 media outlets across the nation, Kabateck’s guest editorial, The Great Heist of California’s Fort Knox, was published by the California Globe.
— Excerpt: “As we fast-forward to the end of the pandemic, we’ve learned that nearly $30 billion paid out of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UI) by the Employment Development Department (EDD) were fraudulent claims, 70% of which are believed to have been filed by criminal organizations intent on doing harm to the country. It is a monetary and criminal debacle on a scale not seen in the United States.”
- NFIB also sent this news release, Will Nothing be Done About Retail Theft in the Legislature? Friday morning.
National
- NFIB’s pugnacious Small Business Legal Center filed two more amicus briefs last week in its bid to prevent Biden administration’s final WOTUS rule from taking effect.
— “The final WOTUS rule will be disastrous for small farmers, ranchers, developers, and other small businesses,” said Beth Milito, Executive Director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center, in this news release. “The rule expands the definition of WOTUS, which will ultimately raise compliance costs and increase uncertainty for small business owners doing their best to avoid sanctions. The Court should grant the emergency motions for a preliminary injunction pending appeal.”
This Main Street Minute can also be read on the NFIB California webpage here. Next Main Street Minute May 8.
