Happy Holidays. Welcome to the December 22-26 edition of the Main Street Minute from your small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento.

Legislative Agenda for 2026 Announced

“We will certainly be lobbying for or against many more bills, but these six are our top priorities,” said John Kabateck, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) in California, in a news release sent last Thursday (December 18). “We’ve already received some spoken bipartisan support for our number-one priority; we’ll see if that translates into real votes.”

Protecting Prop. 13, stopping minimum wage hikes and enforcing retail theft laws are among those topping the list. Media coverage of the news release included stories in Golden State Today and the East Sacramento News.

Business Groups Gather in San Diego

And speaking of Kabateck, he joined the heads of 26 other business associations in San Diego last Tuesday (December 16) for a strategic planning session of the California Business Leaders Alliance, which is focused on uniting around common efforts to promote pro-business candidates in the Golden State.

Kabateck co-chairs the effort to elect more small business friendly candidates. The Alliance’s membership includes the California Business Roundtable, California Farm Bureau, and California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, just to name a few.

New Small Business Advocate

NFIB California congratulates Elmy Bermejo of San Francisco on her appointment by Gov. Gavin Newsom as the Director of the Office of Small Business Advocate at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, or GO-Biz. We stand ready to be a partner on any initiatives beneficial for Main Street enterprises.

A Reminder to Please Comply

After continuing to hear from too many members too often, NFIB California reminds all small business owners of their legal obligation to have their Workplace Violence Preventions Plans written and available to show to anyone who asks to see them.

NFIB aggressively fought against the legislative proposal, Senate Bill 553 (Cortese), creating this obligation, arguing it was needless and a mammoth paperwork headache. But it did become law – as far back as July 1 of last year – and must be complied with.

NFIB will continue its fight to minimize the effects of it and hopes to fully repeal it. In the meantime, we highly recommend our members acquaint themselves with this web story, Have Your Workplace Violence Prevention Plan Written?, to learn what they are required to do.

For those who want to get right to it, “Cal/OSHA has developed a model written WVPP that provides the essential framework and is intended to help employers establish a separate, stand-alone WVPP,” according to the Dept. of Industrial Relations’ website. “Every employer will need to tailor it to their specific work area or operation.”

This last bit of information, and much more, can be read in this DIR web story, Frequently Asked Questions about Workplace Violence Prevention in General Industry (Non- Health Care settings). NFIB recommends all members and other small business owners check it out.

“Needless and a mammoth paperwork headache?”

Although it would never be said by public officials in charge, NFIB can’t help but wonder if they agree with us on the ‘paperwork headache’ part of the statement. As of this December 22-26 edition of the Main Street Minute, there is still no workplace violence prevention standard, and the clock is ticking.

“Cal/OSHA is currently working on developing a workplace violence prevention standard that meets the requirements of Labor Code section 6401.9 and will submit it to the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHSB) no later than December 31, 2025,” says the DIR website. “OSHSB is required to adopt the standard no later than December 31, 2026.”

State Minimum Wage Rate Rising

Speaking of the Dept. of Industrial Relations, it also announced that California’s minimum wage is set to increase to $16.90 per hour on January 1, 2026. News release here.

A Mighty, Little-Known State Agency

If you don’t already know of it, meet the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), which, according to its website, “ensures that agency regulations are clear, necessary, legally valid, and available to the public. OAL is responsible for reviewing administrative regulations proposed by over 200 state agencies for compliance with the standards set forth in California’s Administrative Procedure Act (APA), for transmitting these regulations to the Secretary of State and for publishing regulations in the California Code of Regulations.”

NFIB members are spread over many different types of businesses and can find the very latest on regulatory matters affecting their industrial/occupational categories under OAL’s Proposed Regulations Under Review section.

An additional and quick way to keep tabs on the latest in state agency regulatory actions is to subscribe, free of charge, to Nielsen Merksamer’s Regulatory Weekly File publication, which the legal and lobbying powerhouse sends out every Friday afternoon. Click the ‘Administrative Law’ box on the sign-up page, and while you’re at it, peruse the other information you can also subscribe to.

To name just three upcoming regulatory considerations mentioned in Nielsen Merksamer’s latest (December 19) Regulatory Weekly File report, the California Coastal Commission will be deciding on vesting and extension periods for 100% affordable housing projects; the California Health Benefit Exchange will be looking at SHOP (small business) eligibility; and the state’s Civil Rights Department at modifications to contractor nondiscrimination and compliance.

Still Like to Help?

If you haven’t already, let your state senator and state assembly member know: It’s time to repay the state’s unemployment insurance debt now.

California borrowed money from the federal government for its Unemployment Insurance (UI) program during the COVID pandemic and still has an outstanding loan balance of $21 billion.

NFIB members have said the added costs are forcing them to increase costs, reduce employees, forgo a paycheck, and cut spending across the board. Some have said they are considering closing shop or moving to another state. Cost increases will continue to add up as California does nothing to address the UI debt. Your lawmakers need to hear complaints from you.

Click here to send your message directly to your legislator.

Calendar

— January 5, 2026: Legislature reconvenes

— January 5: NFIB State Ballots mailed to the membership

— January 7: NFIB California Leadership Council meets

— January 8: Gov. Gavin Newsom to give State-of-the-State address

National

Highlights from Federal Government Relations Principal Louis Bertolotti’s weekly report

— NFIB issued a key vote for H.R. 6703, the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, which passed the House 216-211. NFIB President Brad Close said, “Small businesses are in the middle of a full-blown health care crisis that is one of the greatest threats to their ability to grow, hire, and invest back into their communities. Since the turn of the century, small employers have seen their premiums increase by over 120%.”

— NFIB sent a press release in support of the SPEED Act, which passed the House 221-196. Principal of Federal Government Relations Louis Bertolotti said, “The current permitting process delays and cancels potential projects and development in every industry, resulting in long-term negative impacts on U.S. economic growth.”

— NFIB filed an amicus brief at the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Flowers Foods v. Brock concerning the enforceability of arbitration agreements. Small Business Legal Center Executive Director Beth Milito said, “Small businesses rely on arbitration agreements as an alternative to the costly, time-consuming legal process. If this new interpretation is upheld … small businesses everywhere will be caught in the crosshairs.”

Next Main Street Minute: December 29. All Main Streets Minutes can be found on the NFIB website here. Pull down the California tab in the upper-right-hand corner.