Late the evening of September 11 as the 2015 legislative session came to a close, 16 of 19 identified job killer bills had been stopped through efforts of the California Chamber of Commerce, local chambers and the business community.
In the last few days of session, strong opposition from these groups helped to stop three of the final four job killer bills that remained alive when legislators returned from summer recess in August.
Many job killer bills were the focus of rigorous debate and controversy. Below is a recap on the highest profile job killer bills that were still active in the last two weeks of session.
To Governor; Action Needed
Employment-related SB 406 (Jackson; D-Santa Barbara), which will significantly expand the California Family Rights Act, passed the Assembly late September 11, 41-30. The bill will likely increase costs, risk of litigation and lessen conformity with federal law by expanding the family members for whom leave may be taken, which will provide a potential 24-week protected leave of absence for employers to administer.
AB 465 (R. Hernández; D-West Covina), which will significantly drive up litigation costs for all California employers as well as increase pressure on the already-overburdened judicial system, has been sent to the Governor.
The CalChamber is urging its members to contact Governor Brown and ask him to veto SB 406 and AB 465.
Amended to Remove Opposition
SB 350 (de León; D-Los Angeles), which mandated an arbitrary, unrealistic reduction of petroleum use by 50%, increased the Renewable Portfolio Standard to 50% and increased energy efficiency in buildings by 50%—was amended to remove the job killer tag and turn CalChamber opposition to no position.
Stopped in Assembly
A second climate change bill, SB 32 (Pavley; D-Agoura Hills), which would have increased costs for California businesses, made them less competitive and discouraged economic growth by adopting further greenhouse gas emission reductions for 2030, was held in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.
SB 654 (de León; D-Los Angeles), which would have shut down hazardous waste facilities and resulted in the export of waste to other states without California’s strict environmental regulations, was held on the Assembly inactive file on September 8 when it became obvious it lacked the votes to pass.
Job Killer Signed
A job killer bill dealing with grocery workers, AB 359 (Gonzalez; D-San Diego), was sent to the Governor in August and was signed into law.
The full list of job killer bills is available at CAJobKillers.com.
