A Sigh of Relief!
A Sigh of Relief!
Mark Twain famously opined “No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” Fortunately for Californian’s, we have entered that period of relative safety as of August 31st. And not a moment too soon as this just completed legislative session has wreaked havoc on our business community and abrogated even more of our personal freedoms, rights and responsibilities.
California is justifiably proud of the fact that we currently rank as the 5th or 6th largest economy in the world (depending on the source). But it seems that too often our legislators take that as a challenge to see how far they can push, regulate or tax our business community without breaking them. Or in some cases, they will break them. Take, for example, SB 10 (Hertzberg), the bill recently signed by the Governor to end California’s system of bail bonding for pre-trial release. Whether you supported or opposed this bill (the Southwest California legislative Council OPPOSED it), among other things this bill killed the bail bond industry in the state putting an estimated 3,200 bail agents and their employees out of work. Who’s next?
Not you? Ask the automobile industry, or aerospace, or furniture manufacturers or the timber industry. These formerly robust industry segments that helped build and support the California economy are all but gone from our state today.
But even if your business is not targeted for extinction, your efforts to comply with new regulations dealing with overtime, flex-time, family leave, minimum wage and hiring practices will be further regulated in 2019 requiring additional hours dedicated to compliance, HR, and legal challenges. If you are a California based corporation, you will be mandated to include a certain number of women on your board of directors (SB 826 Jackson) or face fines up to $300,000. Law enforcement agencies will be forced to detail how they will use surveillance technology and have their plan approved by their governing agency before they can purchase or use the technology, and file full reports on their usage providing would be criminals with a roadmap of how to avoid the surveillance (SB 1186 Hill). If you are looking to hire a new employee, you may be prohibited from obtaining any criminal history on the applicant before you make them an offer of employment (AB 1412 Bradford). There have been two efforts to add another tax to the water you drink (SB 845 Monning). And the list goes on.
There were some 800 bills our legislators voted on during the last two weeks of the current session – 800! Naturally there was ample opportunity and time for substantive debate on all these issues and support or opposition reflected bi-partisan agreement. Sadly neither of those statements is true. There was no time or opportunity for discussion as most bills are introduced to the floor and voted on within minutes. And if the rules prohibit that, the rules are simply suspended. Further, more than 70% of the time there is no bi-partisan concurrence and bills are either passed or defeated on a party line vote.
Following the Governor’s approval or veto of these bills, the Southwest California Legislative Council will publish our annual Legislative Report Card summarizing the results on the 98 bills we adopted positions on this year and how our local legislators voted. We will also be publishing the results of research done by our members on the 11 propositions you will face on the November ballot.
As always, you are invited to attend our SWCLC meetings, held the 3rd Monday of the month at noon at the Realtor House, 26529 Jefferson and follow us at www.SWCLC.biz. Email your questions or comments to GAD@swcaladvocacy.com
Mark Twain famously opined “No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” Fortunately for Californian’s, we have entered that period of relative safety as of August 31st. And not a moment too soon as this just completed legislative session has wreaked havoc on our business community and abrogated even more of our personal freedoms, rights and responsibilities.
California is justifiably proud of the fact that we currently rank as the 5th or 6th largest economy in the world (depending on the source). But it seems that too often our legislators take that as a challenge to see how far they can push, regulate or tax our business community without breaking them. Or in some cases, they will break them. Take, for example, SB 10 (Hertzberg), the bill recently signed by the Governor to end California’s system of bail bonding for pre-trial release. Whether you supported or opposed this bill (the Southwest California legislative Council OPPOSED it), among other things this bill killed the bail bond industry in the state putting an estimated 3,200 bail agents and their employees out of work. Who’s next?
Not you? Ask the automobile industry, or aerospace, or furniture manufacturers or the timber industry. These formerly robust industry segments that helped build and support the California economy are all but gone from our state today.
But even if your business is not targeted for extinction, your efforts to comply with new regulations dealing with overtime, flex-time, family leave, minimum wage and hiring practices will be further regulated in 2019 requiring additional hours dedicated to compliance, HR, and legal challenges. If you are a California based corporation, you will be mandated to include a certain number of women on your board of directors (SB 826 Jackson) or face fines up to $300,000. Law enforcement agencies will be forced to detail how they will use surveillance technology and have their plan approved by their governing agency before they can purchase or use the technology, and file full reports on their usage providing would be criminals with a roadmap of how to avoid the surveillance (SB 1186 Hill). If you are looking to hire a new employee, you may be prohibited from obtaining any criminal history on the applicant before you make them an offer of employment (AB 1412 Bradford). There have been two efforts to add another tax to the water you drink (SB 845 Monning). And the list goes on.
There were some 800 bills our legislators voted on during the last two weeks of the current session – 800! Naturally there was ample opportunity and time for substantive debate on all these issues and support or opposition reflected bi-partisan agreement. Sadly neither of those statements is true. There was no time or opportunity for discussion as most bills are introduced to the floor and voted on within minutes. And if the rules prohibit that, the rules are simply suspended. Further, more than 70% of the time there is no bi-partisan concurrence and bills are either passed or defeated on a party line vote.
Following the Governor’s approval or veto of these bills, the Southwest California Legislative Council will publish our annual Legislative Report Card summarizing the results on the 98 bills we adopted positions on this year and how our local legislators voted. We will also be publishing the results of research done by our members on the 11 propositions you will face on the November ballot.
As always, you are invited to attend our SWCLC meetings, held the 3rd Monday of the month at noon at the Realtor House, 26529 Jefferson and follow us at www.SWCLC.biz. Email your questions or comments to GAD@swcaladvocacy.com
