With a recession bearing down on the economy, the last thing needed is more legislation to hamper businesses. Which is why the California Legislature should cancel all seven “jobs killer” bills on the California Chamber of Commerce’s May 31 list.
The deadly bills:
Assembly Bill 2183 is by Assemblyman Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley. It would force unionization on agricultural workers by eliminating democratic elections. The bill’s wording says a union “may be certified as the exclusive bargaining representative … through a representation ballot card election … without holding a polling place election.”
An analysis of a previous version of this bill by Grace Bransen in the University of the Pacific Law Review found such an “election process expands voter intimidation to include unions and co-workers, and violates the California constitutional right to voter secrecy.”
Assembly Bill 1001 is by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Los Angeles. It concerns the California Environmental Quality Act, which almost everyone, including Gov. Newsom, says urgently needs reform. Instead, the bill’s language mandates, under CEQA implementation, “all public agencies shall give consideration to the principles of environmental justice … by ensuring the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of people of all races, cultures, incomes, and national origins.”
Existing civil rights laws already guarantee equal opportunity in lending and renting. This bill would make it harder to build housing, worsening the shortage, especially for those it seeks to help.
Assembly Bill 2840 is by Assemblywoman Eloise Gomez Reyes, D-Colton. It would impose vast new regulations on warehouses, increasing the costs to consumers at a time of high inflation. Among other things in the bill’s language, it would mandate “a set percentage of jobs created by the qualifying logistics use project shall go to local residents” and high-cost union labor must be hired for some parts of a project.
Senate Bill 213 is by Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose. It would, in the Chamber’s summary, sharply increase “workers’ compensation costs for public and private hospitals by presuming certain diseases and injuries are caused by the workplace and establishes an extremely concerning precedent for expanding presumptions into the private sector.” This makes no sense, especially as the state’s hospital system continues to recover from the costs and dislocations of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Assembly Bill 2188 is by Assemblyman Bill Quirk, D-Hayward. It would ban an employer from firing an employee for the “person’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace.” We long have favored legalizing cannabis. But employers should have the prerogative of determining if its use affects workplace performance.
Senate Bill 1162 is by Sen. Monique Limon, D-Santa Barbara. The bill would mandate businesses collect vast amounts of pointless new information on employees to be submitted to the state.
Senate Bill 1044 is by Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles. It would ban taking “adverse action against any employee for refusing to report to, or leaving, a workplace within the affected area because the employee feels unsafe.” Existing laws already protect workers in such situations. This bill also would allow lawsuits under the much-abused Private Attorney Generals Act, which has proliferated pointless lawsuits.
Any of these bills passed by both the Senate and the Assembly should be vetoed by Gov. Newsom.
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