Major Issues Still Pending at Legislative Summer Break

When legislators began their summer recess last week, the ultimate outcome on many priority business issues remained uncertain.

Strong opposition from the California Chamber of Commerce and allied groups stopped, stalled or amended 26 of the 31 job killer bills identified this year.

But the five remaining job killers have the potential to significantly harm the state’s economic growth and job creation if they become law in their current form. The remaining job killers include two identical bills proposing unprecedented product regulation; an anti-arbitration bill similar to one vetoed last year; a bill that would require employers to pay unemployment for striking employees; and a bill threatening water supply reliability for millions of Californians.

Still a work in progress was the CalChamber-led effort to preserve flexibility for thousands of workers in the wake of the California Supreme Court decision (Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court) upending the criteria for determining who is an independent contractor.

The CalChamber Privacy Coalition’s hard work to secure legislative fixes to the California Consumer Privacy Act continues to offer hope that several of the needed amendments will pass when legislators return in August.

Also alive were one job creator bill encouraging technological innovation in fuels to help meet the state’s climate change goals and another to provide license relief for victims of disasters.

Status Update

For more information on the many bills the CalChamber is tracking on behalf of members and the business community, see the Status Update Report.