From your small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento
Happy Labor Day to the nation’s hardest workers—Small Business Owners! Welcome to the September 4-8 edition of the Main Street Minute from your small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento.
The Suspense Ends
- Last Friday, September 1, was the deadline for the appropriations committees of the Assembly and Senate to temporarily block or grant passage of bills on their suspense files. Although no bill is ever finally dead until the end of a two-year session (this being the first year), failing to make it off the suspense file pretty much seals a measure’s fate.
- The bad news for businesses was that every one of the bills freed from the suspense files are certain to add to the cost of doing business in the Golden State. Maybe time will be on Main Street’s side, as every bill’s legislative journey ends September 14, when the Legislature adjourns for the year.
- From the almost 3,000 bills introduced this year, NFIB California narrowed to 57 the most helpful or most harmful proposals. Of the 19 bills NFIB and our business coalition partners backed, only two remain and are of negligible benefit. Of the 38 bills NFIB and our business coalition amigos opposed, nine are dead, 11 are stalled or in limbo, 17 are steaming toward passage, and one was signed into law months ago.
- Click here for the complete list of the 57 bills, which contain a one-sentence description of each bill, its status, and a link to the full bill. Statuses highlighted in red are the 17 worst measures. A sampling of those worst measures, which were just released by the appropriations committees, include:
— AB 518 expanding eligibility for benefits under the paid family leave program
— AB 524 making family caregiver status a civil right
— AB 1359 allowing sick days to accrue from year to year
— ACA 1 lowering voter threshold for local tax increases
— SB 616 another measure on the accrual of sick leave
— SB 713 redefining a laid-off employee.
- Most important of all. Senate Bill 799, which was not on the suspense file, also passed Friday and now awaits a final floor vote before it’s sent to the governor’s desk. This is the measure that would extend unemployment benefits to workers who willingly go out on strike. It started out as a bill on prison visitations, passed all of its committee and house of origin deadlines and was then hijacked for use as a UI bill after gutting its original language. Such are the machinations of your Legislature.
— “It sends the wrong message for what UI was designed to be and who it was supposed to serve,” NFIB State Director John Kabateck told the Sacramento Business Journal. “This would break precedent with 70 years of (the unemployment insurance) system by rewarding workers who have willfully walked off of the job, and have a job to return to … It’s a disgrace, and it’s frankly an insult to the hard-working men and women who legitimately rely on unemployment insurance as a temporary safety net.”
- Also of note, Senate Bill 399, which would limit communications between employer and employee, still awaits final action from the Assembly Appropriations Committee. A scheduled August 16 hearing was canceled by the author.
— “Employees have the right to discuss minimum-wage bills, who they intend to vote for or whatever else they want to talk about, but under SB 399 employers would be prevented from commenting on such matters under potential threat of a lawsuit filed by a single employee on behalf of all employees,” Kabateck told the Northern California Record. “This bill is about chilling the speech of employers in their own places of business.”
Small Business Leaders Take it to the Capitol
- On August 30, NFIB California held a Leadership Day for our Leadership Council members to press the small business case with influential senators and assembly members. In all 14 lawmakers heard from small business owners about the issues and end-of-session legislation that concern them the most. The full story with photographs can be read here.
Latest NFIB California Podcast
- Don’t go it alone. That’s the suggestion of two small business experts on the latest NFIB California Podcast featuring Heather Luzzi of the U.S. Small Business Administration and Scott Rogalski of California’s Small Business Development Centers.
National
Highlights from NFIB Legislative Program Manager Caitlin Lanzara’s weekly report
- On August 31, NFIB’s Research Center released the August Jobs Report, which showed 40% of small business owners (seasonally adjusted) reported job openings they could not fill in the current period. Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said, “More small business owners are planning to increase compensation in the next three months as unfilled job openings slipped in August. Even as openings fell on Main Street, owners are actively working to retain current employees and attract qualified applicants.”
- On August 30, NFIB released a statement in response to the Department of Labor’s proposed rule on the overtime threshold. Executive Director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center Beth Milito said, “Small businesses often struggle with the ever-changing nature of federal regulations. The overtime threshold was last increased in 2019, and now is not the time to saddle small businesses with another costly regulation when the small business economy is still recovering. We urge the DOL to consider the economic impact the new requirement would have on small businesses and avoid issuing the rule.”
- On August 29, NFIB released a statement in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) and Department of the Army’s revised rule on Waters of the United States (WOTUS). NFIB Small Business Legal Center Executive Director Beth Milito said, “Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of small businesses and clarified the WOTUS standard for small employers and landowners. The revised rule further complicates the standard and definition of WOTUS, which disproportionately impacts small businesses. We are disappointed by today’s revised rule and the agencies’ decision to block public input. We urge the administration to follow the guidance of the Supreme Court.”
Next Main Street Minute September 11.
