FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: John Kabateck, California State Director, John.Kabateck@nfib.org
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, Anthony.Malandra@nfib.org

SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 15, 2023—Both in Washington D.C. and in Sacramento, these past two weeks have not been kind to small businesses, despite a lot of noise telling them how important they are, the California state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) pointed out today.

“Going forward, it would be nice to see state and federal policymakers honor small businesses in policies not with pats on the back,” said John Kabateck, NFIB California state director. “The willful inaction on issues of vital importance to the Main Street, mom-and-pop enterprises, who will always be the engine of our nation’s economy, injures when it doesn’t insult.”

Kabateck pointed to four instances in the past two weeks that small business is glad to see in the rear-view mirror.

• The California Legislature’s stubborn refusal to do anything about retail theft (Senate Bill 316, Assembly Bill 1708) that is seeing San Francisco rapidly dissolve right before everyone’s eyes.

• Governor Newsom’s reneging on pledged funds previously earmarked for 2023/24’s budget to begin in earnest to pay down the massive $20 billion in Unemployment Insurance Fund debt that California owes the federal government.

• Last week’s release (May 9) of NFIB’s latest Small Business Economic Trends report (aka the Optimism Index) showing a 16th consecutive month below the survey’s 49-year average.

• National Small Business Week (April 30-May 6) generated the most noise, including the White House’s contribution to the fulsome beer hall songs, but nary a peep was heard about extending the Small Business Deduction (Sec. 199A) that helped drive the economic boom before the pandemic. The corporate tax cut in the same law was made permanent, while small business’ is set to expire after 2025.

“From bouquets to bupkis, that’s what small business witnessed these last two weeks,” said Kabateck. “Strange way to treat the group that makes up 99.8% of all businesses in California and employs 47.9% of all workers.”

Keep up with the latest on California small-business news at www.nfib.com/california or by following NFIB on Twitter @NFIB_CA or on Facebook @NFIB.CA.

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For 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since its founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.

NFIB California
915 L. Street, Suite C-411
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-448-9904
www.nfib.com/CA
Twitter: @NFIB_CA
Facebook: @NFIB.CA