California Chamber of Commerce policy advocates working alongside advocates from allied business groups succeeded in stopping four CalChamber-job killer bills from advancing in the Legislature this year. One of these job killer bills has been gutted and amended, and will now propose tax credits for clean energy.
One additional job killer bill has stalled and is likely dead for the year.
Bills Stopped for the Year
The following job killer bills missed the April 29 deadline for legislative policy committees to send bills along for consideration by fiscal committees and will not advance this year:
• AB 1651 (Kalra; D-San Jose) Workplace Technology. Imposes overbroad, unworkable mandates on employers of all sizes, including public entities and tribal communities, that would reduce worker privacy, chill the development of new technologies, and wipe out small businesses for even a good faith mistake due to its excessively punitive enforcement mechanisms.
• AB 2764 (Nazarian; D-Van Nuys) Livestock Ban. Bans new or expanded commercial animal feeding and processing operations for meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy. Will increase food prices for Californians and force food to be imported from out of state to meet consumer demand.
• AB 2932 (Low; D-Campbell) Increased Overtime Requirement. Significantly increases labor costs by imposing an overtime pay requirement after 32 hours and other requirements that are impossible to comply with, exposing employers to litigation under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).
Amended Bill
Job killer bill SB 1301 (Becker; D-Menlo Park) has been amended to remove all of its contents and replaced with new provisions to provide tax credits for clean energy. Before it was amended, SB 1301 would have arbitrarily raised taxes on companies that invest in fossil fuel businesses based upon the financing amount. This would have added another layer of expenses onto the fossil fuel industry that would have significantly increased the cost of doing business, thereby increasing prices paid by consumers for goods and services in California.
Stalled Bill
Job killer bill AB 1771 (Ward; D-San Diego) does not currently have a policy hearing date scheduled and does not appear to be moving this year, although it may be brought up at any time as tax increases are not subject to the normal legislative deadlines. The proposal seeks to impose a tax — in addition to the capital gains tax — of 25% on the profits from a home resold within three years after it is purchased. The tax rate is reduced on a sliding scale for seven years thereafter. This will worsen housing unaffordability and constrain the already-limited housing supply.
For more information about the job killer bills, visit www.calchamber.com/jobkillers.
