(September 22, 2009) In the closing days of the legislative session, just five California Chamber of Commerce-opposed “job killer” bills passed the Legislature.

A sixth “job killer” passed the Legislature in late August and was vetoed by the Governor just a few days later.

The following bills await action by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger:

Costly Workplace Mandates

• AB 943 (Mendoza; D-Artesia) Hampers Employment Decisions. Unduly restricts the ability of businesses to use all legally available information in employment decisions, including consumer credit reports.

Economic Development Barriers

• AB 1404 (De León; D-Los Angeles) 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.   

Inflated Liability Costs

• AB 2 (De La Torre; D-South Gate) Health Insurance Litigation. Drives up the cost of health care premiums and increases the number of uninsured by establishing litigation as the only meaningful approach to resolving disputes over rescinding coverage.
• AB 793 (Jones; D-Sacramento) 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.
• SB 242 (Yee; D-San Francisco/San Mateo) New Lawsuits Against Small Business. Could result in new shakedown lawsuits against business establishments by making it a strict liability violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act, subject to minimum damages of $4,000, if a business limits the use of a customer’s language, even if unintentionally.

Vetoed

Vetoed by the Governor on September 2 was: 

• SB 789 (Steinberg; D-Sacramento) Increased Agricultural Costs. Undermines the process that now guarantees, through secret-ballot elections, a fair vote and the expression of agricultural employees’ true sentiments on the selection of a collective bargaining representative. This act will hurt California’s businesses by driving up costs, making employers less competitive in a global market.

The end-of-session status of other “job killers” is available at www.calchamber.com/jobkillers.

Action Needed    

The CalChamber is urging members to contact the Governor and ask him to veto the “job killer” bills listed above.

Sample letters are available at www.calchambervotes.com.