Welcome to the April 10-14 edition of the NFIB California Main Street Minute from your NFIB small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento.

• Lawmakers return to work today (April 10) from a brief Spring recess.

• NFIB’s updated bill list on the 11 measures we’re supporting and 30 we’re fighting can be read here.

• We’ve boiled those 41 bills down to nine for our latest Good, Bad, and Ugly one-pager.

• Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones drops by the NFIB podcast studio for a chat with Tim Taylor, NFIB California’s chief legislative advocate. Click here for the story, which has the link to the audio.

• NFIB California’s Small Business Day at the Capitol (to be held virtually) on Wednesday, April 19, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. is shaping up to be quite an event with the California State Treasurer and two legislative leaders as guests. Register here and invite a guest.

• “In the first quarter of the year, office vacancies were the highest ever recorded, according to real estate broker CBRE. The firm estimated a 29.5% vacancy rate last quarter, substantially higher than rates seen during the dot-com bust and Great Recession and a seven-fold increase from the start of 2020.

• “… Much of that is driven by big tech firms, which occupied huge campuses before the pandemic, later putting space back on the market as employees opted to work from home. In terms of the percentage of overall office inventory available for sublease, San Francisco has the highest of any metro area.” — Downtown San Francisco Vacancies Hit Record High as City Nears Breaking Point, San Francisco Standard.

• “This is how San Francisco could die: Interconnected forces trap the city in economic free fall: Workers remain primarily remote; office space sits empty; businesses shutter; mass transit is sharply reduced or even bankrupt, making it even harder for low- and middle-wage workers who enable restaurants and small businesses to operate, causing major budget shortfalls from declining tax revenue that imperil numerous city services, trigger mass layoffs of city workers and shred the social safety net, all of which causes more people to leave.” — Cities are struggling. San Francisco could be in for the biggest ‘doom loop’ of all, San Francisco Chronicle.

• On April 5, NFIB launched a new multi-state advocacy and advertising campaign that urges members of Congress to reject proposed tax increases on small business from the White House FY 2024 budget proposal. This issue remains relevant as the Administration’s budget proposal is the opening bid in forthcoming debt ceiling negotiations. Read the press release here. Listen to the radio ads here.

• On April 6, NFIB released Episode 6 of the Small Business Rundown podcast, featuring Executive Director of NFIB’s Research Center Holly Wade explaining the results of NFIB’s health insurance survey: “The cost of health insurance is one of the most critical issues facing small business owners and has been for decades, unfortunately. It’s one of the areas of huge frustration.”

• On April 7, NFIB issued a statement reacting to President Biden’s veto of the bipartisan resolution of disapproval of the EPA’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) final rule:

— NFIB Vice President Kevin Kuhlman said: “President Biden’s decision to veto a bipartisan Congressional resolution to repeal a complex and burdensome regulation further demonstrates a disconnect with the concerns of small businesses. On March 20, 2023, the EPA’s and Department of the Army’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule went into effect – a rule that significantly expanded federal regulatory authority over wetlands, farms, and private property. NFIB cautioned this rule would increase the regulatory burdens and uncertainty facing small businesses, and we were pleased to see Bipartisan members of Congress heard the concerns of small businesses and voted to repeal the rule. However, on April 6, 2023, President Biden vetoed the bipartisan resolution, resulting in the fact that small businesses will now face additional compliance costs and uncertainty due to this decision. Small businesses are grateful for Congress’ leadership to eliminate this burdensome rule and urge the Administration to consider the concerns of small business owners more seriously when issuing regulations.”