In an effort to unite Chambers of Commerce throughout California, the California Chamber composes an annual list of job killer legislation. To represent the business side of issues, Chamber members can make a difference through political advocacy by speaking and writing to legislators.
To register your opinion about any of these bills to Carlsbad's state representatives, Senator Bill Morrow and Assemblyman Mark Wyland, you can contact them at the following:
Senator Bill Morrow
2755 Jefferson Street, Ste. 101
Carlsbad, CA 92008
(760) 434-7930
Assemblyman Mark Wyland
1800 Thibodo Rd., Ste 300
Vista, CA 92081
(760) 599-1641
The following is a list of the bills the Cal Chamber has deemed "Job Killers."
AB 6 Chan – Personal income tax: rates.
Notes: Personal income tax increase – Increases the tax burden on small business by increasing personal income tax rate to 10 and 11 percent and the alternative tax rate to 8.5 percent.
AB 9 Coto – Education finance: sales and use taxes: services.
Notes: Sales tax increase – Increases the cost of doing business by placing a sales tax on certain services.
AB 48 Lieber – Minimum wage
Notes: Minimum wage increase – Provides significant disincentive for employers to create jobs in California by giving our state the highest minimum wage in the country. Increases the cost of doing business by over $2 billion annually by raising the state minimum wage to $7.25 in 2006 and to $7.75 in 2007, and indexing increases every year thereafter.
AB 169 Oropeza – Gender pay equity
Notes: Excessive litigation – Negatively distinguishes California from the rest of the country by exposing every business to excessive litigation and increases the cost of doing business by mandating damage awards and new civil penalties for gender pay equity violations.
AB 391 Koretz – Unemployment compensation benefits: locked-out workers.
Notes: UI benefit expansion – Increases the cost of doing business in California by forcing California employers to subsidize a strike against their own company by providing unemployment insurance benefits to workers unemployed due to a strike.
AB 528 Frommer – Civil actions: Public Health and Environmental Enforcement Law of 2005.
Notes: Predatory litigation – Increases predatory lawsuits and opens the door to the very type of litigation the voters of California sought to stop through the passage of Proposition 64 by expanding the potential for frivolous litigation on alleged violations of permits, regulations, and statutes.
AB 802 Wolk – Land use: water supply.
Notes: General plans cost increase – Slows development of affordable housing and increases opportunity for unnecessary litigation by forcing local government to integrate two incompatible planning processes.
AB 875 Koretz – Employee wages and working hours: violators.
Notes: Government agency potential harassment of employers – Opens the door to potential harassment by government labor and taxing agencies by requiring the referral of an unspecified labor violation to the taxing agency for a tax audit and requiring the referral of an unspecified tax violation to the labor regulator, exposing employers to an expensive, time consuming fishing expedition for possible employer tax or labor code violations.
AB 1007 Pavley – Air quality: alternative fuels.
Notes: Potential fuel cost increase – Requires the California Air Resources Board to develop and adopt a plan to transition away from petroleum-based products, despite their ability to meet Californias strict air quality standards, thus abandoning the states policy of fuel neutrality, potentially increasing costs to consumers and employers.
AB 1101 Oropeza – Air pollution: diesel magnet sources.
Notes: Ports: regulatory complexity – Hampers operations at ports, rail yards, distribution centers and airports by shifting regulatory authority over emissions from state to local entities, creating a patchwork of potentially inconsistent regulations statewide, creating conflicts with federal law.
AB 1310 Nunez – Severance offers: disclosures
Notes: Severance offers; increased litigation – Establishes new reasons to sue private sector employers of all sizes by setting in statute a very detailed notice process that an employer must follow exactly in order to be able to utilize any severance agreement.
AB 1406 Karnette – Ports and harbors: freight security fee.
Notes: Ports and harbors: fee increase – Shifts cost responsibility from federal to state entities, thereby increasing the cost of goods movement by adding a $10 fee on all containers for port security purposes.
AB 1407 Oropeza – California Environmental Health and Air Quality Funding Act of 2005.
Notes: Fuel Tax – Increases taxes on certain industries by adding 5 cents per gallon to off road diesel.
AB 1430 Goldberg – Air Contaminants.
Notes: Elimination of pro-jobs environmental program – Limits job creation and worsens the state`s air quality problems by eliminating current emissions reduction trading programs, which provide balance between job growth and the environment.
AB 1549 Koretz – Workers’ compensation: qualified medical evaluators and independent medical reviewers.
Notes: Workers` compensation; unqualified medical providers – Increases costs and uncertainty in the workers` compensation system by allowing unqualified medical providers like acupuncturists to determine disability and inappropriately become Independent Medical Reviewers – giving them the power to overrule medical decisions by doctors.
AB 1644 De La Torre – Income and corporation tax credits: sales tax exemption: repeals.
Notes: Tax credit elimination – Increases taxes, making California unattractive to cutting-edge industries by eliminating certain tax credits and reduces California`s business competitiveness by restricting the tax treatment of subchapter S corporations, costing California employers approximately $900 million.
AB 1700 Pavley – Secrecy agreements: public dangers.
Notes: Proprietary information – Exacerbates an already hostile legal environment by impeding a business` ability to maintain the confidentiality of its proprietary information.
ACA 7 Nation – Local governmental taxation: special taxes: voter approval.
Notes: Tax vote – Gives local governments unprecedented authority to enact a special tax assessed at local level with a simple majority of voters, adding complexity and uncertainty to California`s already complex and uncertain tax structure.
SB 2 Speier – Homeowners’ insurance: valuation: continuing education.
Notes: Homeowner`s insurance cost increase – Drives up the cost of homeowner`s insurance, contributing to the problem of unaffordable housing by mandating excessive claims payments to a small group of policyholders.
SB 17 Escutia – Property tax: change in ownership.
Notes: Property tax increase – Increases property taxes on business when more than 50% of ownership changes and imposes burdensome reporting requirements and harsh tax penalties for errors.
SB 27 Escutia – Tax credit carryovers
Notes: Tax liability increase – Increases taxes on California employers by reducing the amount of tax credits that a corporation may use to reduce its liabilities, making California less competitive for jobs.
SB 44 Kehoe – General plans: air quality element.
Notes: Affordable housing development impediment – Slows development of affordable housing and increases the opportunities for unnecessary litigation by forcing local government to integrate two incompatible planning processes.
SB 109 Ortiz – Air pollution: minor violations: stationary sources: prosecution of violations.
Notes: Excessive litigation – Increases litigation costs and potential lawsuits by allowing for both civil and criminal penalties for minor air quality violations.
SB 150 Escutia – Insurance: adverse underwriting decisions.
Notes: Additional insurance requirements; cost increase — Increases the cost of insurance for business and individuals by adding new burdensome and unnecessary requirements on insurance carriers.
SB 174 Dunn – Minimum wage.
Notes: New “Sue Your Boss” lawsuits – Increases employer liability by providing new incentives for plaintiffs and their attorneys to file lawsuits by establishing of new types of “sue your boss” lawsuits.
SB 300 Kuehl – Family and medical leave.
Notes: Leave law abuse – Opens California`s leave law to potential abuse by removing controls that require that the employee actually provides the care, among other provisions.
SB 399 Escutia – Health services: 3rd-party liability
Notes: Health care cost increase – Increases litigation costs on insurers and the self-insured by requiring medical payments in excess of Medi-Cal reimbursement rates and increasing non-economic damage awards.
SB 409 Kehoe – General plans: conservation element.
Notes: General plans; increased complexity – Slows development of affordable housing by adding increased complexity and delay to the planning process and creates another opportunity for legal challenges to new housing by making urban water management plans subject to the California Environmental Review Act.
SB 459 Romero – Air pollution: South Coast Air Quality Management District: emissions of air contaminants: locomotives.
Notes: Goods movement; cost increase – Increases the cost of goods movement and discourages job creation by imposing a fee on railroad companies that operate in the counties of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino.
SB 497 Simitian – Cleaner Construction Program.
Notes: Construction industry; cost increase – Potentially destroys California`s construction industry by requiring specified off-road equipment engines be repowered with newer engines within a specific time frame in order to be eligible to bid for a state infrastructure contract.
SB 593 Alarcon – Health care costs: recovery.
Notes: Health care cost increase – Increases costs to California`s businesses by unfairly implementing a tax on certain employers to reimburse the state for the costs incurred in providing health care coverage to the employer`s employees and their dependents who are enrolled in the Healthy Families Program or Medi-Cal.
SB 600 Ortiz – Biomonitoring.
Notes: Biomonitoring – Makes California unfriendly to business by establishing a biomonitoring program that could potentially lead to the elimination or reduction of use of certain chemicals which have not been scientifically proven harmful, based on mere detection.
SB 646 Kuehl – Water discharge requirements: waivers
Notes: Water discharge; burdensome requirements – Jeopardizes jobs and agriculture and timber industry revenues by imposing mandatory annual fees for water discharge waivers with no accountability requirements.
SB 757 Kehoe – Oil Conservation, Efficiency, and Alternative Fuels Act
Notes: Gas tax – Introduces a new mandate to cut gasoline use by 15 percent, without taking population growth into consideration, which would likely lead to a massive gas tax causing higher gasoline prices, increased costs for consumer goods and thousands of lost jobs for California.
SB 760 Lowenthal – Ports: congestion relief: security enhancement: environmental mitigation: user fee.
Notes: Ports: Goods movement cost increase – Increases the cost of goods movement in California by assessing a $30 fee per twenty-foot equivalent unit on containers processed through the Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports.
SB 762 Lowenthal – Vehicular sources: California Intermodal Port Congestion and Environmental Quality.
Notes: Ports: cost increase – Makes California ports less competitive by assessing a fee on motor carriers and creating a government-run bureaucracy to regulate truck movement in and out of the ports.
SB 764 Lowenthal – Air resources: South Coast Air Quality Management District: ports.
Notes: Ports: Goods movement cost increase – Increases the costs of goods movement and drives business and jobs from California ports by requiring the City of Los Angeles and the City of Long Beach to prohibit any growth at their respective ports unless that growth can be accomplished with no air pollution increases.
SB 833 Bowen – Unsolicited advertising faxes.
Notes: Onerous fax communication restrictions – Increases costs by placing onerous administrative and economic burdens on associations and employers by requiring express written consent from their own members and/or customers prior to sending certain fax communications.
SB 840 Kuehl – Single-payer health care coverage.
Notes: Government-run health care – Imposes a government-run health care system on all Californians.
SB 852 Bowen – Identity theft.
Notes: Business cost increase – Imposes unworkable requirements governing non-electronic data on government agencies, education institutions, businesses and non-profits.
SB 870 Escutia – Air quality: violations: nonvehicular sources: business penalties.
Notes: Employer penalties – Restricts flexibility for local agencies to assess penalties that fit the infraction for certain air quality violations, and directs the majority of those revenues to an unrelated program.
To register your opinion about any of these bills to Carlsbad's state representatives, Senator Bill Morrow and Assemblyman Mark Wyland, you can contact them at the following:
Senator Bill Morrow
2755 Jefferson Street, Ste. 101
Carlsbad, CA 92008
(760) 434-7930
Assemblyman Mark Wyland
1800 Thibodo Rd., Ste 300
Vista, CA 92081
(760) 599-1641
The following is a list of the bills the Cal Chamber has deemed "Job Killers."
AB 6 Chan – Personal income tax: rates.
Notes: Personal income tax increase – Increases the tax burden on small business by increasing personal income tax rate to 10 and 11 percent and the alternative tax rate to 8.5 percent.
AB 9 Coto – Education finance: sales and use taxes: services.
Notes: Sales tax increase – Increases the cost of doing business by placing a sales tax on certain services.
AB 48 Lieber – Minimum wage
Notes: Minimum wage increase – Provides significant disincentive for employers to create jobs in California by giving our state the highest minimum wage in the country. Increases the cost of doing business by over $2 billion annually by raising the state minimum wage to $7.25 in 2006 and to $7.75 in 2007, and indexing increases every year thereafter.
AB 169 Oropeza – Gender pay equity
Notes: Excessive litigation – Negatively distinguishes California from the rest of the country by exposing every business to excessive litigation and increases the cost of doing business by mandating damage awards and new civil penalties for gender pay equity violations.
AB 391 Koretz – Unemployment compensation benefits: locked-out workers.
Notes: UI benefit expansion – Increases the cost of doing business in California by forcing California employers to subsidize a strike against their own company by providing unemployment insurance benefits to workers unemployed due to a strike.
AB 528 Frommer – Civil actions: Public Health and Environmental Enforcement Law of 2005.
Notes: Predatory litigation – Increases predatory lawsuits and opens the door to the very type of litigation the voters of California sought to stop through the passage of Proposition 64 by expanding the potential for frivolous litigation on alleged violations of permits, regulations, and statutes.
AB 802 Wolk – Land use: water supply.
Notes: General plans cost increase – Slows development of affordable housing and increases opportunity for unnecessary litigation by forcing local government to integrate two incompatible planning processes.
AB 875 Koretz – Employee wages and working hours: violators.
Notes: Government agency potential harassment of employers – Opens the door to potential harassment by government labor and taxing agencies by requiring the referral of an unspecified labor violation to the taxing agency for a tax audit and requiring the referral of an unspecified tax violation to the labor regulator, exposing employers to an expensive, time consuming fishing expedition for possible employer tax or labor code violations.
AB 1007 Pavley – Air quality: alternative fuels.
Notes: Potential fuel cost increase – Requires the California Air Resources Board to develop and adopt a plan to transition away from petroleum-based products, despite their ability to meet Californias strict air quality standards, thus abandoning the states policy of fuel neutrality, potentially increasing costs to consumers and employers.
AB 1101 Oropeza – Air pollution: diesel magnet sources.
Notes: Ports: regulatory complexity – Hampers operations at ports, rail yards, distribution centers and airports by shifting regulatory authority over emissions from state to local entities, creating a patchwork of potentially inconsistent regulations statewide, creating conflicts with federal law.
AB 1310 Nunez – Severance offers: disclosures
Notes: Severance offers; increased litigation – Establishes new reasons to sue private sector employers of all sizes by setting in statute a very detailed notice process that an employer must follow exactly in order to be able to utilize any severance agreement.
AB 1406 Karnette – Ports and harbors: freight security fee.
Notes: Ports and harbors: fee increase – Shifts cost responsibility from federal to state entities, thereby increasing the cost of goods movement by adding a $10 fee on all containers for port security purposes.
AB 1407 Oropeza – California Environmental Health and Air Quality Funding Act of 2005.
Notes: Fuel Tax – Increases taxes on certain industries by adding 5 cents per gallon to off road diesel.
AB 1430 Goldberg – Air Contaminants.
Notes: Elimination of pro-jobs environmental program – Limits job creation and worsens the state`s air quality problems by eliminating current emissions reduction trading programs, which provide balance between job growth and the environment.
AB 1549 Koretz – Workers’ compensation: qualified medical evaluators and independent medical reviewers.
Notes: Workers` compensation; unqualified medical providers – Increases costs and uncertainty in the workers` compensation system by allowing unqualified medical providers like acupuncturists to determine disability and inappropriately become Independent Medical Reviewers – giving them the power to overrule medical decisions by doctors.
AB 1644 De La Torre – Income and corporation tax credits: sales tax exemption: repeals.
Notes: Tax credit elimination – Increases taxes, making California unattractive to cutting-edge industries by eliminating certain tax credits and reduces California`s business competitiveness by restricting the tax treatment of subchapter S corporations, costing California employers approximately $900 million.
AB 1700 Pavley – Secrecy agreements: public dangers.
Notes: Proprietary information – Exacerbates an already hostile legal environment by impeding a business` ability to maintain the confidentiality of its proprietary information.
ACA 7 Nation – Local governmental taxation: special taxes: voter approval.
Notes: Tax vote – Gives local governments unprecedented authority to enact a special tax assessed at local level with a simple majority of voters, adding complexity and uncertainty to California`s already complex and uncertain tax structure.
SB 2 Speier – Homeowners’ insurance: valuation: continuing education.
Notes: Homeowner`s insurance cost increase – Drives up the cost of homeowner`s insurance, contributing to the problem of unaffordable housing by mandating excessive claims payments to a small group of policyholders.
SB 17 Escutia – Property tax: change in ownership.
Notes: Property tax increase – Increases property taxes on business when more than 50% of ownership changes and imposes burdensome reporting requirements and harsh tax penalties for errors.
SB 27 Escutia – Tax credit carryovers
Notes: Tax liability increase – Increases taxes on California employers by reducing the amount of tax credits that a corporation may use to reduce its liabilities, making California less competitive for jobs.
SB 44 Kehoe – General plans: air quality element.
Notes: Affordable housing development impediment – Slows development of affordable housing and increases the opportunities for unnecessary litigation by forcing local government to integrate two incompatible planning processes.
SB 109 Ortiz – Air pollution: minor violations: stationary sources: prosecution of violations.
Notes: Excessive litigation – Increases litigation costs and potential lawsuits by allowing for both civil and criminal penalties for minor air quality violations.
SB 150 Escutia – Insurance: adverse underwriting decisions.
Notes: Additional insurance requirements; cost increase — Increases the cost of insurance for business and individuals by adding new burdensome and unnecessary requirements on insurance carriers.
SB 174 Dunn – Minimum wage.
Notes: New “Sue Your Boss” lawsuits – Increases employer liability by providing new incentives for plaintiffs and their attorneys to file lawsuits by establishing of new types of “sue your boss” lawsuits.
SB 300 Kuehl – Family and medical leave.
Notes: Leave law abuse – Opens California`s leave law to potential abuse by removing controls that require that the employee actually provides the care, among other provisions.
SB 399 Escutia – Health services: 3rd-party liability
Notes: Health care cost increase – Increases litigation costs on insurers and the self-insured by requiring medical payments in excess of Medi-Cal reimbursement rates and increasing non-economic damage awards.
SB 409 Kehoe – General plans: conservation element.
Notes: General plans; increased complexity – Slows development of affordable housing by adding increased complexity and delay to the planning process and creates another opportunity for legal challenges to new housing by making urban water management plans subject to the California Environmental Review Act.
SB 459 Romero – Air pollution: South Coast Air Quality Management District: emissions of air contaminants: locomotives.
Notes: Goods movement; cost increase – Increases the cost of goods movement and discourages job creation by imposing a fee on railroad companies that operate in the counties of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino.
SB 497 Simitian – Cleaner Construction Program.
Notes: Construction industry; cost increase – Potentially destroys California`s construction industry by requiring specified off-road equipment engines be repowered with newer engines within a specific time frame in order to be eligible to bid for a state infrastructure contract.
SB 593 Alarcon – Health care costs: recovery.
Notes: Health care cost increase – Increases costs to California`s businesses by unfairly implementing a tax on certain employers to reimburse the state for the costs incurred in providing health care coverage to the employer`s employees and their dependents who are enrolled in the Healthy Families Program or Medi-Cal.
SB 600 Ortiz – Biomonitoring.
Notes: Biomonitoring – Makes California unfriendly to business by establishing a biomonitoring program that could potentially lead to the elimination or reduction of use of certain chemicals which have not been scientifically proven harmful, based on mere detection.
SB 646 Kuehl – Water discharge requirements: waivers
Notes: Water discharge; burdensome requirements – Jeopardizes jobs and agriculture and timber industry revenues by imposing mandatory annual fees for water discharge waivers with no accountability requirements.
SB 757 Kehoe – Oil Conservation, Efficiency, and Alternative Fuels Act
Notes: Gas tax – Introduces a new mandate to cut gasoline use by 15 percent, without taking population growth into consideration, which would likely lead to a massive gas tax causing higher gasoline prices, increased costs for consumer goods and thousands of lost jobs for California.
SB 760 Lowenthal – Ports: congestion relief: security enhancement: environmental mitigation: user fee.
Notes: Ports: Goods movement cost increase – Increases the cost of goods movement in California by assessing a $30 fee per twenty-foot equivalent unit on containers processed through the Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports.
SB 762 Lowenthal – Vehicular sources: California Intermodal Port Congestion and Environmental Quality.
Notes: Ports: cost increase – Makes California ports less competitive by assessing a fee on motor carriers and creating a government-run bureaucracy to regulate truck movement in and out of the ports.
SB 764 Lowenthal – Air resources: South Coast Air Quality Management District: ports.
Notes: Ports: Goods movement cost increase – Increases the costs of goods movement and drives business and jobs from California ports by requiring the City of Los Angeles and the City of Long Beach to prohibit any growth at their respective ports unless that growth can be accomplished with no air pollution increases.
SB 833 Bowen – Unsolicited advertising faxes.
Notes: Onerous fax communication restrictions – Increases costs by placing onerous administrative and economic burdens on associations and employers by requiring express written consent from their own members and/or customers prior to sending certain fax communications.
SB 840 Kuehl – Single-payer health care coverage.
Notes: Government-run health care – Imposes a government-run health care system on all Californians.
SB 852 Bowen – Identity theft.
Notes: Business cost increase – Imposes unworkable requirements governing non-electronic data on government agencies, education institutions, businesses and non-profits.
SB 870 Escutia – Air quality: violations: nonvehicular sources: business penalties.
Notes: Employer penalties – Restricts flexibility for local agencies to assess penalties that fit the infraction for certain air quality violations, and directs the majority of those revenues to an unrelated program.