Happy Holidays. Welcome to the December 23-27 edition of the Main Street Minute from your small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento.

NFIB Joins Call to Keep Aliso Canyon Operating

Gov. Gavin Newsom has been taking quite a bit of criticism lately from an unlikely group, his environmental supporters, over his reluctance to shut down the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility.

Last week, NFIB California joined 11 other business groups in signing a coalition letter to the state’s Public Utilities Commission “to express our strong support for maintaining operations at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility. This critical infrastructure plays an essential role in ensuring energy reliability and price stability for California businesses and residents in the Los Angeles region.

“The Aliso Canyon facility’s storage capacity of 86 billion cubic feet serves as a crucial buffer against such price volatility. During peak demand periods, it provides up to 60% of Southern California’s daily natural gas requirements, helping to prevent the kind of devastating price spikes we experienced in 2023. The facility’s role in maintaining grid reliability cannot be overstated, particularly as our state continues to integrate increasing amounts of renewable energy.”

Not so politically easy.

The Alison Canyon gas leak in 2015 was the largest in U.S. history.

“In 2017, facing pressure from community members, environmental activists and some state lawmakers, former Gov. Jerry Brown called for the facility’s permanent closure by 2027,” reported the Los Angeles Times last week (December 17). “Gov. Gavin Newsom later announced his administration’s goal to speed up that 10-year timeline.

— “So where do things stand now? Newsom would rather not talk about it. The California Public Utilities Commission completed a long-awaited study last month that outlines a ‘concrete path to consider reducing and eliminating reliance on’ the Southern California Gas Co. facility.

— “That’s bureaucratese for not committing to close Aliso Canyon, which has been met with fury from climate and public health activists who have long been critical of the decision to keep the facility open.”

As infrequent it is for environmental groups to go after the governor, so too is it for business groups to throw him a bouquet. “We strongly support Governor Newsom’s balanced approach to California’s energy transition,” said the coalition’s letter. The governor’s support for maintaining strategic natural gas infrastructure, while simultaneously advancing renewable energy projects, represents the kind of practical policy-making our state needs.”

In NFIB’s latest Small Business Problems & Priorities report, released this year, “The Cost of Natural Gas, Propane, Gasoline, Diesel Fuel Oil” had surged to the sixth biggest worry of small business owners (out of the 75 worries measured by the report) from its 2020 rank of 19th.

UPDATE: “California regulators voted Thursday [December 19] to continue using the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility probably into the next decade,” reported the Los Angeles Times. “The California Public Utilities Commission voted 4 to 0, with one abstention, in favor of a plan first pitched Nov. 13 to develop a process to wind down the storage facility as demand for natural gas falls — as is expected in the coming years.”

Finding Qualified Employees

Out of the 75 issues ranked in the latest P&P report, ‘Locating Qualified Employees’ came in as the 11th biggest problem in the California-specific survey. It came in fifth nationally.

Can a new initiative announced by Governor Newsom last Monday (December 16) help alleviate the problem?

“… Governor Gavin Newsom today unveiled the final framework for the Master Plan for Career Education to strengthen career pathways, prioritize hands-on learning and real-life skills, and advance educational access and affordability. The Master Plan will be supported by funding in the upcoming state budget,” said a news release issued by the governor’s office.

“Newsom said his administration would encourage high schools and colleges to offer students more workplace-focused training, such as apprenticeships and internships,” reported The Sacramento Bee. “He said he would create a centralized ‘career passport’ platform allowing people to showcase their credentials to potential employers.”

The State is not alone in this endeavor.

“A handful of California community colleges are piloting a new model for education that focuses on skills rather than grades,” reports CalMatters.  “But designing a degree program with this model is a tall order: It often means changing a college’s accreditation, its employee contracts and its financial aid system. Faculty at Madera said the college should opt out of the pilot — going against the college’s leadership, business community members and other local officials who stand by the program.”

Speaking of Small Business Problems

The value of NFIB’s research, such as our Jobs Report and Small Business Optimism Index, is that it provides a national snapshot of the small business economy for policymakers, the media, and others to chew over, which is one reason the research is not broken down by state—with one exception.

Findings in this year’s Small Business Problems & Priorities report were broken down for four states: California, New York, Ohio, and Texas.

In three of the states, as it has been nationally and for 38 years, the cost of health insurance was ranked the No. 1 problem. But not in California. Health insurance costs came in second behind ‘Unreasonable Government Regulations,’ which took the top prize.

Unreasonable government regulations. Time to take a bow for the legislative confectioners who cooked up the requirement that all businesses have workplace violence prevention plans in place and viewable to anyone who asks to see them and different plans for different parts of a business should they pose a different potential for violence. You were this year’s shining example of our shameful No. 1 ranking.

At least we came in fifth in the American Tort Reform Foundation’s latest Judicial Hellholes report, which is no comfort.

Auto Insurance

Senate Bill 1107, passed and signed into law in 2022, set new limits on auto insurance liability requirements “for the first time in 55 years,” limits that take effect on Jan. 1, 2025, reported the Capitol Morning Report about a briefing held by Deputy Insurance Commissioner Michael Soller last Friday (December 20).

Soller is quoted as saying the new limits “won’t effect most drivers, but those with minimum limits could see higher costs.” According to a news release issued by the Insurance Department in July of this year,

“Starting in 2025, all standard auto insurance policies in California will see higher minimum liability limits:

— $30,000 for bodily injury or death per person (up from $15,000)

— $60,000 for bodily injury or death per accident (up from $30,000)

— $15,000 for property damage per accident (up from $5,000)

“With these increased liability limits, premiums for standard auto insurance policies are expected to rise. This increase reflects the higher coverage amounts those insurers must provide.”

The Legislature

Off until January 6.

NFIB California in the News

— For its December 18 story on Nevada City’s Victorian Christmas event, KCRA-TV, NBC in Sacramento, quoted State Director John Kabateck. “We’re seeing small businesses who have been in a sea of red now enjoying the holiday green coming through the door. We really saw people saying, ‘Small business owners have been there for us. Now it’s our turn. It’s our turn to show them the love, the support, the care that they’ve been giving us in our communities all of these years.’”

— Kabateck also commented on California’s rank as the fifth biggest Judicial Hellhole in the nation for a December 16 story in The Center Square.

— In being named one of the Top Entrepreneurs of 2025, Los Angeles-area businessman Victor Migalchan cited Kabateck as one of his highly valued strategic partners in a December 14 story in Forbes.

The above stories have been added to the NFIB California in the News 2024 sampling of media hits for the year.

Calendar

January 6, the 2025-2026 session of the California State Legislature begins regular business.

January 10, Gov. Gavin Newsom submits state budget to the Legislature. He may combine it with a state-of-the-state speech.

January 24, last day to submit bill requests to the Office of Legislative Counsel. (Related: 5,000 bills too many. California Legislature sets new max on legislation)

National

A big victory to close out the year.

In the second-to-last Main Street Minute of the year, we’d like to give a tip of the hat to our colleagues at NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center. The following is from its Friday email wishing everyone Happy Holidays.

“On December 3, 2024, a federal judge in NFIB’s lawsuit against the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirements gave small businesses an early holiday gift. The court issued a preliminary nationwide injunction, which indefinitely blocks the government from enforcing the CTA or BOI against any individual or business. Agreeing with NFIB’s arguments, the court found that Congress exceeded its Commerce Clause power in passing the CTA and imposing the BOI requirements on small businesses. While the government has already appealed this decision, NFIB is confident in our arguments and will fight the government on appeal for as long as it seeks to impose these privacy-destroying requirements.” More here.

This Main Street Minute can also be read on the NFIB California webpage here. Next Main Street Minute December 30.