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Chamber Connection SA NTA M A RIA VALLE Y CH A MB E R MO NTHLY NE WS LE T TE R | M ARCH 202 2
Legislative Session Off to a Fast Start
Ben Golombek, Executive Vice President, CalChamber Both houses of the State Legislature recently wrapped up their work on 2-year bills that had a January 31st deadline to pass their house of origin. The Chamber Advocacy team was focused on a number of significant bills that would impact both our members as well as the larger California economy. Through a lot of hard work and collaboration we were incredibly successful ahead of this legislative deadline, and I wanted to outline some of our recent wins: Bills Stopped The following job killer and oppose bills failed the recent house-of-origin deadline: • Job Killer – Defeated: AB 1400 (Kalra; D-San Jose): Would have penalized employers, eliminated individual choice, and resulted in hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes on all Californians and California businesses, by creating a new single-payer government-run, multibillion-dollar health care system.
• Job Killer – Defeated: AB 995 (Lorena
Gonzalez; D-San Diego): Would have imposed new costs and would leave requirements on employers of all sizes, by expanding the number of paid sick days employers are required to provide, which is in addition to all of the recently enacted leave mandates (COVID-19 sick leave, Cal/OSHA emergency paid time off, California Family Rights Act leave,
workers’ compensation, etc.) that small employers throughout the state are already struggling with to implement and comply.
• Job Killer – Defeated: AB 1192 (Kalra; D-San Jose): Would have placed new onerous administrative burdens on employers by requiring them to publish extensive, private salary and benefit information on the Labor and Workforce Development Agency’s website. Public disclosure of completely lawful policies and conduct could give the false impression of wage disparity where none may exist and subjects employers to frivolous litigation and settlement demands.
• Cal Chamber Oppose – Defeated: AB
416 (Kalra; D-San Jose): Would have required any companies submitting bids for state procurement contracts involving a range of common goods, including wood, rubber, paper, and others, to adopt new internal policies regarding sourcing of materials for all contracts, not just state-related contracts, and provide potentially proprietary information regarding their supply chain to the state as part of the application process.
• Cal Chamber Oppose – Defeated: AB
854 (Lee; D-San Jose): Would have upended the Ellis Act and property rights by forcing rental property owners
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WHAT ' S INSIDE : M ARCH 2022 ISSUE
Monthly Featured Businesses p.2
Microbusiness Grants p. 6
Hispanic Business Committee p. 7
