On September 30, Governor Gavin Newsom concluded review and action on more than 1,200 bills sent to his desk as part of the 2024 regular legislative session. This year represented many major legislative wins for the California Chamber of Commerce working on behalf of California employers and I want to thank our members for their partnership in working to secure so many achievements for the business community.
Much of the credit goes to our policy team and other leading business organizations and local chambers who were critical strategic partners, helping us to effectively make the case for business with both legislators and the Governor this year.
PAGA Reform
One of the biggest success stories of 2024 was CalChamber’s efforts to negotiate important reforms to California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). Alongside a robust coalition of business leaders, including California New Car Dealers Association, California Restaurant Association, California Retailers Association, Western Growers Association, and Airlines for America, CalChamber worked with labor and legislative leadership to forge meaningful change that will improve California’s business climate.
The resulting agreement has been called “monumental” and Governor Newsom’s signature on the two bills that encompassed the PAGA reform deal represented a successful conclusion to months of hard work and compromise among all parties. The new policies coming out of the reform measures will create more fairness in the process for small businesses and, importantly, incentivize them to understand and comply with labor laws that affect their workforce to the benefit of all.
Governor’s Action on CalChamber Priority Bills
CalChamber had major success on the artificial intelligence (AI) front as well. Our efforts to fight the most problematic bills that would have stifled California’s innovation economy were largely successful and a number of AI bills the CalChamber supported were signed into law.
The CalChamber helped secure a veto of SB 1047 (Wiener; D-San Francisco), a bill that threatened to shut down the AI economy, as well as urging the Governor to sign CalChamber-sponsored AB 2876 (Berman; D-Palo Alto) on AI literacy.
Our policy team also contributed heavily to forging a compromise on critical goods movement legislation. AB 98 (J. Carrillo; D-Palmdale), signed into law by Governor Newsom, will help California avoid the negative economic and environmental impacts that would have arisen from much more stringent and unworkable legislation while still addressing community concerns. While any bill of this magnitude is expected to have future clean up, the bill will help maintain California’s position as a leader in both economic innovation and environmental stewardship.
A recap of CalChamber’s legislative agenda for 2024 shows that 51 support bills were signed by the Governor, 21 oppose bills vetoed and 30 oppose bills were signed. Of 18 identified CalChamber Job Killer bills in 2024, only one made it to the Governor’s desk. That bill — SB 399 (Wahab; D-Hayward)— was signed by the Governor as expected.
Importantly, overall, the business community fared very well, largely due to strong engagement by CalChamber, allied business groups, our local chamber partners and our advocacy-level member companies.
Major Policy Wins
Here are some major policy wins brought to you by CalChamber’s policy advocates for 2024:
Privacy
• Vetoed: SB 1047 (Wiener; D-San Francisco) AI Models. Requires frontier AI developers to comply with certain requirements before beginning to initially train specified “covered models” to promote the safe and secure innovation of AI. CalChamber Opposed.
• Stopped/Sent to Senate Inactive File: AB 2930 (Bauer-Kahan; D-Orinda) Automated Decision Tools (ADT) Impact Assessments. Requires developers and deployers of ADTs to perform specified impact assessments prior to first using an ADT and annually thereafter, impacting every industry and businesses of all sizes, in addition to public entities. CalChamber Opposed.
Water
• Vetoed: AB 828 (Connolly; D-San Rafael) Unfair Exemption. Exempts certain water users from fees and regulations under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), increasing the burdens borne by agricultural and business water users. CalChamber Opposed.
• Killed: AB 2079 (Bennett; D-Ventura) Groundwater Restriction. Prevents installation of new or replacement groundwater wells throughout much of the state. Circumvents the local control component of Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) by creating statewide stringent requirements on wells rather than empowering locally informed solutions to groundwater sustainability. CalChamber Opposed Unless Amended.
• Killed: AB 1337 (Wicks; D-Oakland) Water Rights. Gives broad authority to State Water Board to curtail water rights of any seniority or claim of right. Allows curtailments to issue without a hearing, depriving water rights holders of due process. CalChamber Opposed.
Labor
• Killed: SB 1446 (Smallwood-Cuevas; D-Los Angeles) Use of Technology in Grocery and Retail Stores. Overly prescriptive mandate regarding the use of self-checkout stations that will frustrate customers and increase costs to retailers and requires stores to notify all workers and the public any time they choose to utilize new technology. CalChamber Opposed.
• Killed: SB 1345 (Smallwood-Cuevas; D-Los Angeles) Prohibits Consideration of Conviction History in Employment. Effectively prohibits most employers from considering conviction history of an applicant, existing employee, or contractor in employment or contracting decisions. CalChamber Opposed/Job Killer 2024.
Tax
• Killed: AB 2829 (Papan; D-San Mateo) Tax on Digital Advertising Revenue. Implements a new tax on digital ads of 5%. In addition to increasing taxes on businesses, it is likely unconstitutional. CalChamber Opposed/Job Killer 2024.
• Killed: SB 1327 (Glazer; D-Contra Costa) Tax on Digital Advertising Revenue. Implements a discriminatory 7.25% tax on the revenue generated from the sale of digital advertising. The bill is likely unconstitutional and will lead to costly litigation for the state. CalChamber Opposed/Job Killer 2024.
Unemployment Insurance Expansion
• Killed: SB 1434 (Durazo; D-Los Angeles) Huge Increases to Unemployment Insurance Taxes. Increases UI taxes to fund UI benefit hikes of up to 55%, as well as providing for subsequent increases based on inflation. Also creates entirely new UI program to provide benefits to workers who do not qualify for traditional UI, to be funded by a new tax on California employers. CalChamber Opposed/Job Killer 2024.
• Killed: SB 1116 (Portantino; D-Burbank) Increased Unemployment Insurance Taxes to Subsidize Striking Workers. Allows striking workers to claim UI benefits when they choose to strike. Because the UI Fund is paid for entirely by employers, SB 1116 will effectively add more debt onto California employers. Moreover, SB 1116 will effectively force employers to subsidize strikes at completely unrelated businesses because the UI Fund’s debt adds taxes for all employers, regardless of whether they’ve had a strike. CalChamber Opposed/Job Killer 2024.
Environmental Policy
• Killed: ACA 16 (Bryan; D-Los Angeles) Environmental Rights. Has far-reaching negative consequences that would impair government operations, stunt development for new housing, infrastructure and clean energy project development and has strong potential to destabilize California’s economy. CalChamber Opposed/Job Killer 2024.
Housing
• Killed: AB 2230 (Bennett; D-Ventura) Worsens Housing Crisis. Substantially shuts down the production of housing in California by blocking the inflow of crucial capital that nearly all housing production relies on. The Cartwright Act already protects against price fixing so expanding it as contemplated by this bill is unnecessary and will have the unintended consequence of making any return on investment a crime. CalChamber Opposed/Job Killer 2024.
Health Care
• Killed: AB 2200 (Kalra; D-San Jose) Government-Run Health Care. Forces all Californians into a new untested state government health plan, with no ability to opt out while eliminating Medicare for California seniors and increasing taxes at least $250 billion a year on workers, income, jobs, goods and services. CalChamber Opposed/Job Killer 2024.
• Vetoed: SB 966 (Wiener; D-San Francisco) Pharmacy Network Disruption. Limits the use of preferred pharmacy networks and financial incentives which will lead to increased drug costs for patients. CalChamber Opposed Unless Amended.
• Vetoed: AB 3129 (Wood; D-Healdsburg) Stifles Free Market Transactions for Health Entities. Requires private investors to obtain the consent of the California Attorney General before acquiring or effecting a change of control with respect to certain health care entities. CalChamber Opposed.
Jennifer Barrera is president and CEO of the California Chamber of Commerce.
