Among the many California Chamber of Commerce priority bills scheduled for legislative hearings this week are the following CalChamber-opposed Cost Driver proposals.
Monday, April 28
- SB 632 (Arreguín; D-Berkeley) Expands Costly Presumption of Injury. Significantly increases workers’ compensation costs for public and private hospitals by presuming certain diseases and injuries are caused by the workplace and establishes an extremely concerning precedent for expanding presumptions into the private sector. Has been tried nine times before and failed every time. In Senate Appropriations Committee.
- AB 405 (Addis; D-Morro Bay) New Climate Disclosure Requirements. Imposes costly, duplicative, and misaligned regulatory requirements on apparel companies that will increase clothing prices and worsen affordability for Californians, all without delivering meaningful improvements to global supply chain practices. Dramatically expands existing disclosure rules under SB 253 (2023), for which rulemaking hasn’t even begun yet. In Assembly Natural Resources Committee.
Tuesday, April 29
- AB 1243 (Addis; D-Morro Bay) Climate Superfund. Imposes retroactive financial liability on companies for lawful greenhouse gas emissions dating back to 1990, sending the message that even strict adherence to the state’s compliance programs is not enough to avoid retroactive penalties down the road. In Assembly Judiciary Committee.
- SB 763 (Hurtado; D-Bakersfield) Vast Expansion of State Antitrust Penalties. Raises penalties under California’s antitrust law, the Cartwright Act, from $1 million to $100 million, and individual penalties from $250,000 to $1 million, with no demonstrated need for reform or adjustment, thereby increasing liability and costs on businesses. In Senate Public Safety Committee.
- SB 7 (McNerney; D-Pleasanton) Restricts Use of Automated Decision Systems in Employment. Imposes impractical requirements on employers of every size related to automated decision systems, which will discourage the use of such tools and subject employers to costly litigation and onerous new compliance procedures, thereby driving up costs and ultimately impacting consumer prices. In Senate Judiciary Committee.
- SB 295 (Hurtado; D-Bakersfield) Pricing Algorithms. Prohibits a person from using or distributing pricing algorithms that use, incorporate, or were trained on “nonpublic competitor data.” Exposes businesses to significant uncertainty and aggressive liability and creates a chilling effect on the use of this technology by imposing significant cost on all businesses using technological tools. In Senate Judiciary Committee.
- SB 464 (Smallwood-Cuevas; D-Los Angeles) Publication of Pay Data. Encourages litigation against employers based on the publication of broad, unreliable data collected by the state, which will unnecessarily drive up costs. In Senate Judiciary Committee.
- SB 601 (Allen; D-Santa Monica) Punitive and Onerous Water Quality Permitting Requirements. Creates duplicative permitting obligations and dramatic legal liability requirements for businesses, agriculture, and water and wastewater utilities by granting the water boards broad authority to impose permitting requirements without considering economic impacts or the critical need for housing and recycled water projects. In Senate Judiciary Committee.
- SB 766 (Allen; D-Santa Monica) Legal Liability for Car Dealers. Dramatically increases legal liability to car dealers leading to a flood of new lawsuits and increased costs for buying or leasing cars for consumers. In Senate Judiciary Committee.
Wednesday, April 30
- SB 682 (Allen; D-Santa Monica) De Facto PFAS Ban. Creates a de facto ban on the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in all commercial and consumer products, unless Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is petitioned and makes an affirmative determination that the PFAS in a particular product is an unavoidable use. Because of the breadth and scope of PFAS use, including in aerospace, lithium-ion batteries, medical devices, automotive and semiconductors, to name a few, the regulatory program established is unworkable and ultimately will lead to a ban on critically important products or otherwise make certain products less safe, and ultimately drive up prices for consumers. In Senate Health Committee.
Thursday, May 1
- AB 1221 (Bryan; D-Los Angeles) Restricts Use of Data in Employment. Imposes impractical requirements on employers of every size relating to any worker data collected by a workplace surveillance tool, which is defined so broadly that it would impact everything from security footage to emails. These requirements will drive up costs and impact consumer prices. In Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee.
