(May 11, 2004) Legislative committees have recently killed several California Chamber of Commerce- sponsored proposals to ease the burden of unnecessary and overly complicated laws on small business.  This focus on maintaining burdensome regulations on small businesses could hamper California's economic improvement, the California Chamber of Commerce warned today.

The Chamber-supported proposals would have repealed or limited the ability of bounty-hunting private attorneys to file frivolous lawsuits against employers, encouraged state agencies to look for less burdensome ways to regulate small businesses and required regulations implementing the new paid family leave program to be written in simple, understandable language.

“A thriving small business community is essential to California’s continued economic recovery,” said Julianne Broyles, Chamber director of employee relations and small business. “More California lawmakers should have supported our proposals to clear away some of the frivolous litigation and regulatory overload that is stopping employers from creating jobs. Failure to remove these burdens on small business will hurt our improving economy.'

Despite support from the Chamber and business community, the following bills failed to pass legislative policy committees:

Repeal/Modify “Sue Your Boss Bill”
AB 2181 (Campbell; R-Irvine) Repeal of “Sue-Your-Boss” bill. Repeals a job killer bill enacted last year- SB 796 (Dunn; D-Garden Grove) - that allows bounty-hunting private attorneys to sue employers for wage-and-hour Labor Code violations, thus providing a new lucrative incentive for workers and their private attorneys to file frivolous lawsuits against employers. The private attorneys can keep a portion of the assessed fines and penalties.

AB 2650 (Bates; R-Laguna Niguel) Small Business Exemption from “Sue-Your-Boss” bill. Provides for an exemption from SB 796 for businesses with fewer than 100 employees, providing that only state labor enforcement officials may investigate, cite or prosecute to enforce California Labor Code violations for smaller employers.

Both AB 2181 and AB 2650 failed to pass Assembly Labor and Employment Committee on a party-line vote April 21.  Voting Aye: Horton (R-Chula Vista); Houston (R-Livermore).  Voting No: Koretz (D-West Hollywood); Mullin (D-South San Francisco); Lieber (D-Mountain View);Chu (D- Monterey Park); Laird (D-Santa Cruz); Leno (D- San Francisco).

SB 1861 (Ashburn; R-Bakersfield) Labor Code Private Right of Action: Review Mechanism. Requires the state labor agency to review alleged Labor Code violations before a private enforcement lawsuit is filed.

Failed Senate Labor and Employment Committee April 28. Voting Aye: Oller (R- San Andreas); Margett (R-Arcadia); McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks). Voting No: Alarcón (D-Sun Valley); Dunn (D-Santa Anna); Kuehl (D-Santa Monica); Romero (D-Los Angeles). Absent, abstaining or not voting: Figueroa (D-Sunol).

Small Business
SB 1505 (McClintock; R-Thousand Oaks) Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Act. Requires state agencies to examine and understand the economic impacts a proposed rule might have on small business. It also provides agencies with greater leeway to consider effective, but less burdensome alternatives.
 
Failed Senate Judiciary Committee May 4. Voting Aye: Morrow (R-Oceanside).  Voting No: Escutia (D-Whittier); Cedillo (D-Los Angeles); Kuehl (D- Santa Monica).  Absent, abstaining or not voting: Ackerman (R-Irvine); Ducheny (D-San Diego); Sher (D-Stanford).

Paid Family Leave
AB 2696 (Plescia; R-San Diego) Plain Language Requirement: Family Leave. Instructs the Employment Development Department (EDD) to write the regulations implementing the new paid benefits for family leave law in plain,simple language.

Failed Assembly Insurance Committee May 5. Voting Aye: Benoit (R-Riverside); Bogh (R-Beaumont); Calderon (D-Montebello);  Cox (R-Fair Oaks); Mountjoy (R-Monrovia);Richman (R-Northridge); Wyland (R-Del Mar). Voting No: Vargas (D-San Diego); Cohn (D-Saratoga); Correa (D-Santa Ana); Diaz (D-San Jose); Dutra (D-Fremont); Frommer (D-Los Angeles); Koretz (D-West Hollywood). Absent, abstaining or not voting: Horton (D-Inglewood); Nakano (D-Torrance); Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles).

UI Bill Still Alive
One Chamber-sponsored bill dealing with unemployment insurance issues remains alive and awaits action in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

AB 2320 (Bates, R- Laguna Niguel and Richman; R-Northridge) Unemployment insurance: Unemployment Fund, was amended in the Assembly Insurance Committee April 14 and then re-referred to Assembly Appropriations to be heard at a later date.

The original version of the bill proposed a temporary delay of the 2005 UI benefit increase.  In order to move the bill out of the committee, AB 2320 was amended to only be an “intent” bill meaning that the bill is now a placeholder.  Later, as UI stakeholder negotiations progress, employers hope to add business-supported UI reforms in AB 2320.

The Chamber will continue to urge legislators to encourage job creation and economic recovery in California by removing the cost burdens that frivolous litigation and overly complex requirements are placing on business.

For further information on these or other Chamber-supported bills visit the Government Relations section of our website at www.calchamber.com.