Welcome to the March 16-20 edition of the Main Street Minute from your small-business-advocacy team in Sacramento.

Join Us for Small Business Leadership Day at the Capitol

We’d love to see you there. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP for this May 4, 5 event at the State Capitol in Sacramento.

— Monday, May 4: Welcome networking reception and dinner

— Tuesday, May 5: Meetings with legislators, main program, and wrap-up happy hour

Policymakers need to understand the impact laws, regulations, and mandates have on your business, and they need to hear directly from you!

Contact Grassroots Manager Matthew Woolley, matthew.woolley@nfib.org, or State Director John Kabateck, john.kabateck@nfib.org, for any questions.

Wiener World is a Land of Litigation

He’s not the household name Sweet James, Anh Phoong, and Jacoby & Meyers are, but you can’t help but wonder if Sen. Scott Wiener shares their litigious fervor and admires their business model. Only it’s not personal injury cases with him, it’s climate change, wage theft, and anything else that can serve as new grist for the lawsuit mill.

Last year, NFIB succeeded in helping defeat two of his proposals before they could wreak their havoc on the public, especially on those running a business and providing livelihoods for their employees.

— His Senate Bill 222 would have authorized a person to bring a civil action, including damages of $10,000 or more, against a party responsible for a climate disaster or extreme weather or other events attributable to climate change

— His Senate Bill 310 would have permitted a wage theft penalty to be recovered through an independent civil action.

Both measures died a legislative death. So, in the final year of his term, you would think he would, now that he has more competition than expected, concentrate his energies on winning his congressional bid to replace Nancy Pelosi in the U.S. House.

Fat chance

Shortly before the deadline to introduce legislation for consideration in 2026, Wiener added his Senate Bill 982 into the spray of confetti shot at legislative clerks. SB 982 would authorize the attorney general to bring a civil action against a party responsible for climate-attributable damage to recover losses suffered by the California FAIR Plan Association, funds borrowed from the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, or costs to insurance policyholders arising from a past climate disaster.

Move over ADA shakedown lawyers, the atmospheric particles crowd is getting their Gucci loafers shined and ready for suing. NFIB will fight this bill, also. California is not suffering from a shortage of lawsuits.

We’ll start off with the word salad on another Wiener measure, Senate Bill 1123, and then translate it into French. “This bill would require an agency, in estimating the economic impact of adopting, amending, or repealing a regulation, to identify and calculate any offsetting benefits, impacts, or savings that might result directly or indirectly from that adoption, amendment, or repeal and factor those benefits, impacts, or savings into its economic impact estimate.” Translation: Don’t you dare think of touching a regulation without knowing the consequences. Again, NFIB will fight to defeat this.

Energy Prices

The California Center for Jobs & The Economy is out with its latest look at energy prices in the state. To no one’s surprise, the Golden State is one of the most expensive states to live and do business in. For whatever it can be used for, the report has a Fuel Prices by Legislative District category showing the highest and lowest prices in five congressional districts, five state senate districts, and five assembly districts. The Center is run by the California Business Roundtable, which NFIB has partnered with on legislative bills and ballot initiatives.

Regulatory Update

From Nielsen Merksamer

— March 12, the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Transportation sued the California Air Resources Board seeking to repeal its Advanced Clean Car Regulation setting zero-emission vehicle fleet requirements.

— March 9, several cardrooms filed lawsuitsagainst the California Attorney General to block new regulations that they argue will close many cardrooms.

— March 9, the California Attorney General and 30 other attorneys general announced they will continue an antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster despite the U.S. Department of Justice announcing a settlement with the company. The trial began on February 28 and the California Attorney General is seeking a “better deal for consumers” than the current settlement offer.

Calendar

• March 26-April 6: Legislature on Spring Break
• May 4 & 5: Small Business Leadership Day at the Capitol
• May 29: Last day for bills to pass their house of origin
• June 2: Primary Election for eight state constitutional offices, four Board of Equalization seats, all 52 congressional seats, all 80 assembly seats, and 20 (even-numbered districts) state senate seats. Governor’s proclamation here.
• June 15: Deadline (by midnight) to pass new state budget
• July 2-August 3: Legislature on Summer Recess
• August 31: Legislature adjourns its 2026 session
• September 30: Last day for governor to sign or veto bills sent to him.

National

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

— NFIB released a new Legislative Health Care Plan outlining several proposals Congress should implement to lower persistently rising health care costs. Principal of Federal Government Relations Tyler Dever said, “NFIB is urging Congress to confront exploding health care costs by implementing these immediate and targeted policy reforms that will increase flexibility and affordability, and coverage options for small business owners.”

— The NFIB Research Center released the February SBET survey, which showed the Small Business Optimism Index fell 0.5 points in February to 98.8 but remained slightly above the 52-year average of 98.

— Looking at St. Paddy’s Day, NFIB records show that we represent at least 60 different Irish pubs across the country.

Next Main Street Minute: March 23. All Main Streets Minutes can be found on the NFIB website here. Pull down the California tab in the upper-right-hand corner.