In the final hours of yesterday’s deadline to act on legislation, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a California Chamber of Commerce job killer bill that would have imposed a “right to recall” mandate on certain industries in California. The Governor also has vetoed two CalChamber-opposed bills, SB 972 and AB 2360, and signed opposed bill SB 973.
Job Killer, Oppose Bills Stopped
The only remaining job killer bill awaiting the Governor’s decision, AB 3216 (Kalra; D-San Jose), would have imposed an onerous and stringent process for specific employers to return employees to the workforce, which would have delayed rehiring and subjected employers to litigation for any alleged mistakes.
The law would have required that an employee be returned by seniority to a position the employee formerly held or to a position for which the employee could be trained/qualified to perform. Forcing employers to essentially retrain employees for different positions from which they previously held, would impose significant costs to employers already struggling to recover from this pandemic. Failure to follow the prescriptive requirements of the bill, as usual could have resulted in a lawsuit under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).
The CalChamber commended Governor Newsom for his veto, stating, “We thank Governor Gavin Newsom for his veto of AB 3216 (Kalra), which would have delayed the rehire of thousands of employees and slowed the economic recovery of many employers who have been the hardest hit by this pandemic. We are grateful that the Governor chose not to further burden these industries at a time when they can least afford it.”
The Governor also has vetoed the following CalChamber-opposed bills:
- SB 972 (Skinner; D-Berkeley): would have pierced the traditional shield of taxpayer confidentiality that has been respected by generations of political and government leaders by requiring the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) to disclose the name, tax liability, total gross receipts, and amounts and types of tax credits for a taxpayer with $5 billion or more in total gross receipts.
- AB 2360 (Maienschein; D-San Diego): would have increased health care costs by mandating health plans to provide access to a maternal and child psychiatric telehealth consultation program.
Oppose Bill Signed
The Governor signed SB 973 (Jackson; D-Santa Barbara), which requires California employers to submit pay data to state agencies that could give the false impression of wage disparity where none may exist. The bill also creates confusion by allowing two different state agencies to enforce Equal Pay Act claims.
