Welcome to the December 2-6 edition of the Main Street Minute from your small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento.

RESIST!

Raise Those Chilled Salad Forks!

• Today (December 2) is the day the California State Legislature convenes a special session called by Gov. Gavin Newsom to “Trump-proof” California against every Blue State’s bogeyman, the incoming president.
  

• Well, not every state. In fact, we’re the only one of 50 holding such a special session. Just as NFIB finds it wise never to endorse for president, the Main Street Minute will refrain from questioning the motives or speculating on the reasons the governor and legislative leaders are proceeding with this.
  

• Because we lobby both lawmakers and the state’s chief executive, it’s best to say nothing. For pure amusement, however, we will share a roadmap to resistance that Shelby Grad of the Los Angeles Times wrote for his readers.
  

• Long before Donald Trump was the dart-board target hanging in every liberal watering hole in the state, there was Ronald Reagan. How were the Gipper’s worst excesses tamed?
  

• “For California’s original foodies, the rise of Ronald Reagan’s America in the 1980s was a bit hard to stomach.
  
  — “But these California rebels didn’t give up and say, ‘Super size me!’ They hunkered down in their kitchens, meticulously sourcing ingredients. They got serious about quality and, well, produced and drank a lot of wine. By the time Reagan left the White House, they were transforming the way America thought about food with ‘California cuisine’ and changed the way we eat.
  
  — “I have been thinking about this moment in the weeks since Donald Trump won a return trip to the White House and food again emerged as a political symbol
  
  — “… the rise of ‘California cuisine’ as a response to Reagan offers a model for people struggling to respond to the new Trump era.”Grad’s article is a fun read, not for any point he makes, but for the undistilled silliness he has for a generation that believes it sheltered Californians from Reagan one endive-and-arugula salad at a time.
  
  

• By the way, today is also the day the Legislature convened its regular 2025-2026 session. Real work begins January 6.

Speaking of the Legislature

• NFIB welcomes the 2025-2026 class of state lawmakers getting sworn in today and congratulates the 20 state senators and assemblymembers endorsed by the NFIB CA PAC on their victories. NFIB California is proud of its 83% win rate in the legislative endorsements it made, and of the 100% win rate on the four statewide ballot measures we engaged in. Click here to see the list.

NFIB California in the News

• Like the small business owners we are honored to represent, the NFIB California advocacy team knows a day off only as a nice concept seldom practiced, and that includes holidays as well. State Director John Kabateck spent a busy turkey day answering media calls generated by a news release sent the day before.
  

• On Thanksgiving morning, Kabateck talked with Los Angeles powerhouse, KNX News Radio, and later with ABC 7 in San Francisco. The day before, Spectrum News 1 interviewed Kabateck about small businesses’ importance to the community as well as to the local economy. 
  

• The Chico Enterprise-Record and the Oroville Mercury-Register were two of the daily newspapers to use NFIB’s news release for their stories. “John Kabateck, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said in a release, ‘When you spend some of your holiday shopping budget at a Main Street business, you’re doing much, much more than just helping someone’s bottom line, you’re investing in the health and welfare of your community — an investment that pays dividends to your family, friends, and neighbors all year round.’”

Calendar

• December 6, county election officials must report final official results to Secretary of State 
• December 13, Secretary of State certifies the November General Election outcome. All votes will have been counted. 
• January 6, the 2025-2026 session of the California State Legislature opens for regular business.   

National

• House and Senate return to work this week.

This Main Street Minute can also be read on the NFIB California webpage here. Next Main Street Minute December 9.