• No tunnel vision in this $310.8 billion spending plan for the Fiscal Year 2023-2024. Literally.

• As part of the deal to get a budget passed, “Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers dropped a provision that would have put the [Delta tunnel] project on a regulatory fast track,” reported The Sacramento Bee. “It means more uncertainty for the Delta Conveyance project, a 45-mile tunnel that would pull water from the Sacramento River and pipe it underneath the environmentally fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta — the water supply source for 27 million people and millions of acres of farmland in the Bay Area and Southern California.”

• In conclusion to an intra-party deal cut last year, Robert Rivas took the Assembly gavel from Anthony Rendon on Friday, June 30.

• “Throughout his journey, Rivas, 43, has carefully balanced policy and pragmatism,” reports The Sacramento Bee in a profile of him. “He made an early name for himself as an anti-fracking environmental champion, but he’s also proven he can collaborate with more conservative colleagues.”

• A good chunk of the profile discusses Robert Rivas’s equally political brother Rick:

— “Rick is California vice president for the American Beverage Association, a trade group for PepsiCo, the Coca-Cola Co. and other makers of soft drinks. He leads the group’s government and public affairs work in the state, but is not a registered lobbyist.

— “Rick has also worked as a legislative affairs director for Govern for California, an organization that wants to push back on the influence of ‘government employee unions, healthcare providers, crony capitalists, regulated entities, and rent seekers.’

— “Despite his lobbying and advocacy background, Rick’s work does not appear to have influenced Robert’s voting record.”

• Politico California provided a list of Rivas’s allies and top lieutenants who will be assuming more control of the Assembly. NFIB California members who have had personal, in-district workings with the Rivas team, good or bad, are asked to share their story with NFIB Grassroots Manager Taylor Criddle at taylor.criddle@nfib.org.

• In three head-scratching remarks former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon made at a Public Policy Institute of California event, we can only wonder how much longer we have on earth.

— “I have a four-year-old daughter — will she live to be 25? I don’t know. The way the planet is trending, I’m not sure.”

— “Will we have Democracy in this country in two to three years? I don’t know. I think this question is unanswered.”

— “Will California be part of a 50-state transcontinental country in two years? I don’t know.”

• Rendon will remain in the Assembly through 2024, and in 2026, he plans to run for state treasurer, so presumably he’ll have the answers to his questions by then.

• NFIB California sent its members an Action Alert this past week asking for their help in communicating with their local Assembly members and state Senators about one of the most potentially horrendous pieces of legislation ever.

• Senate Constitutional Amendment 7, the Right to Organize and Negotiate Act, would, according to the bill’s language, “ensure that all Californians have the right to join a union and to negotiate with their employers, through their legally chosen representative, to protect their economic well-being and safety at work.”

• In this letter of opposition, a coalition NFIB is part of called SCA 7 an “unnecessary, unprecedented proposal to enshrine special benefits into the State Constitution that will damage government operations and performance, destabilize the California economy, and is rife with unintended consequences.”

• We need you to help sound the alarm. If you didn’t receive your Action Alert, please send an email to NFIB Grassroots Manager Taylor Criddle at taylor.criddle@nfib.org.

• Not much movement on the bills still alive that NFIB is tracking. That will change as the July 14 summer recess approaches. Lawmakers will return a month later and work until September 14 before adjourning for the year. Like the last session, NFIB is hoping for a speedy calendar. Of the 51 bills NFIB is either supporting or opposing, 24 are dead, 26 still alive, and one signed into law, SBX1-2 (the governor’s snit at oil companies).

• Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, is the guest on the latest NFIB California Podcast. Coupal discusses the enduring resilience of Prop. 13 and what’s ahead for it.

• NFIB Blog Post – New Federal Law Effective June 27 – Pregnant Workers Fairness Act This week, we posted an article that discusses the new federal anti-discrimination law that took effect on Tuesday. It requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide “reasonable accommodations” for employee limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, and other pregnancy-associated medical conditions. Read the post here.

• July Webinar – Registration Open The SBLC webinar is on July 5, which will feature our very own Holly Wade to discuss Toolkit Essentials to Grow Your Small Business. Topics will include financial planning, funding sources, business structure, and employee recruitment tips. Register here.

• On June 29, NFIB released Episode 12 of the Small Business Rundown podcast, featuring NFIB President Brad Close, Vice President of Federal Government Relations Kevin Kuhlman, and interviews with NFIB members on NFIB’s Fly-In.

• Legal Updates

— Brief challenges DOL’s federal contractor minimum wage increase ($15 & up). On Tuesday, we filed an amicus brief in Nebraska v. Walsh, a case that challenges DOL’s 2021 rule that increased the minimum wage for federal contractors. The DOL final rule requires any federal contractor to pay employees a minimum hourly wage of $15 but this wage is subject to yearly increases determined by DOL. On January 1, 2023, the $15-an-hour minimum wage for federal contractors increased to $16.20 because of inflation. NFIB’s press release is here.

— Connecticut captive audience litigation: a win! On Wednesday, a federal judge denied Connecticut’s motion to dismiss our coalition’s lawsuit challenging Connecticut’s law that bans employers from punishing employees who refuse to attend meetings with political and anti-union messages. The judge will now consider the merits of our lawsuit. Since other states are considering bans like Connecticut’s this case will likely be a significant precedent. Click here to read the Law 360 article covering the decision.

— SCOTUS brief in civil asset forfeiture case. On Thursday, we filed an amicus brief written by SBLC’s Patrick Moran at the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Culley v. Steven Marshall, the attorney general of Alabama, regarding civil asset forfeitures. The press release is here.