Hot Issues for the Week of July 6, 2009
Action Needed: Oppose New Taxes
Contact your legislators and urge them to oppose new taxes. Remind them that California’s long-term fiscal health depends on a recovering economy.
Watch the YouTube video message from the CalChamber-led coalition against higher taxes.
Listen to the CalChamber-led coalition ad opposing new taxes 
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Encourages Investments
SUPPORT AB 222 (Adams; R-Hesperia) JOB CREATOR: Green Energy — Encourages new investment and job creation by allowing conversion of solid waste to energy at a biorefinery to count toward meeting the state mandate that 20 percent of energy come from renewable sources by 2010. Senate Environmental Quality Committee hearing July 6.
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Small Business
SUPPORT AB 31 (Price; D-Inglewood) Public Contracts — Facilitates greater small business participation in state procurement by increasing the maximum allowable contract amount given to certified small businesses when specified competitive bidding requirements are exempted. Senate Appropriations Committee hearing July 6.
Send a Letter
Taxation
SUPPORT AB 697 (C. Calderon; D-Montebello) Repeals Understatement Penalty — Relieves employers of a onerous, costly tax burden by prospectively repealing an unfair, strict liability tax penalty that applies even to reasonable tax disputes, that was enacted as part of the September 2008 budget. Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee hearing July 8.
Send a Letter
Inflated Liability Costs
OPPOSE AB 793 (Jones; D-Sacramento) JOB KILLER: Unreasonable New Liability for Employers — Imposes unfair and costly litigation burden on California employers by unreasonably expanding employer liability in workplace lawsuits far beyond the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Senate Floor.
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Economic Development Barriers
OPPOSE AB 1404 (De León; D-Los Angeles) JOB KILLER: Discourages Emission Reductions — Significantly increases business costs and threatens state jobs and businesses by severely limiting the amount of offsets California industries can use to meet their greenhouse gas emission goals. Senate Environmental Quality Committee hearing July 6.
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OPPOSE AB 1405 (De León; D-Los Angeles) JOB KILLER: Climate Change Tax Increase — Increases costs and discourages job growth by granting the Air Resources Board broad authority to implement unlimited fees and taxes with little or no oversight. Senate Environmental Quality Committee hearing July 6.
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OPPOSE ACA 6 (C. Calderon; D-Montebello) JOB KILLER: Discourages Investments — Discourages investments in jobs and operations by imposing an automatic sunset of seven years on any new or extended tax credit, exemption or deduction. Assembly Appropriations Committee hearing July 1.
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Agriculture and Natural Resources
OPPOSE AB 226 (Ruskin; D-Redwood City) Coastal Commission Enforcement — Creates a new bounty hunter provision in law. Allows the Coastal Commission to impose civil penalties and retain the money to augment its budget. Senate Appropriations Committee hearing July 7.
Send a Letter
Expensive, Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens
OPPOSE SB 602, SB 603 (Padilla; D-Pacoima) JOB KILLER: Retail Restrictions — Severely restricts retailers from growing their businesses in California by limiting the sale of a legal product in a legal venue. Assembly Government Organization Committee hearing July 8.
Send a Letters
Labor and Employment
OPPOSE AB 527 (Fuentes; D-Los Angeles) Payroll Records — Creates an unreasonable burden shifting scheme giving an unfair advantage to employees in unpaid wage disputes before the Labor Commissioner. Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee hearing July 8.
Send a Letter
OPPOSE AB 838 (Swanson; D-Oakland) Indoor Heat Exposure — Directs Cal/OSHA to draft an unnecessary regulation to address exposure to excessive heat in indoor workplaces. Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee hearing July 8.
Send a Letter
Federal Legislation
Labor and Employment
OPPOSE S.560 (Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA)/HR. 1409 Representative George Miller (D-Martinez) ‘Card Check’ Selection of Unions — Eliminates the right of workers to hold secret ballot elections and increases costs for employers already struggling to make payroll in this economic downturn. Allows the federal government to gain more control over private companies through government arbitrators deciding the terms of labor-management agreements.
Send a Letter.