Legislature Returns for Busy Final Month

California legislators return to the State Capitol on Monday to face a busy agenda with just four weeks left before their interim recess.

The hearing schedule for the Senate Appropriations Committee lists dozens of pending bills that the California Chamber of Commerce is tracking on behalf of our members and the business community.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee agenda is likely to include a similar number of proposals once it is released.

Bills on the Senate Appropriations schedule for August 18 include a CalChamber-supported Cost Cutter establishing a state-funded program to help small businesses recover from economic or operational disruptions due to local or state emergencies, AB 265 (Caloza; D-Los Angeles).

Also on the Senate Appropriations calendar are a few of the CalChamber-opposed Cost Driver bills that remain undecided:

• AB 446 (Ward; D-San Diego), which would burden customer reward programs with a new private right of action.

• AB 858 (Lee; D-San Jose), an onerous return to work mandate.

• AB 1018 (Bauer-Kahan; D-Orinda), sharply limiting the use of automated decision systems, including by small businesses.

• AB 1234 (Ortega; D-San Leandro), creating a new penalty and revising wage claim procedures.

• AB 1331 (Elhawary; D-Los Angeles), restricting workplace safety and security tools.

See the status report pages inside this newsletter for a more comprehensive list of major bills for California employers.