(June 3, 2013) As the California State Assembly concluded its business on May 31, the house of origin deadline, three job killers failed to move off the Assembly Floor while one moved to the Senate. A fifth “job killer” was amended with an urgency clause allowing it to remain active and avoid the May 31 deadline. In April 2013, CalChamber identified 37 total “job killer” bills. As of today, four Senate “job killer” bills and two Assembly “job killer” bills remain active.

Failed to Pass Assembly House of Origin Deadline

The following “job killer” bills failed to pass the Assembly house of origin deadline and are likely dead for the year:

• AB 52 (Gatto; D-Los Angeles) CEQA Approval Authority for Tribes — Effectively gives Native American Tribes authority to approve or disapprove all land use projects in the state that they unilaterally determine may impact a tribal reservation, rancheria community or cultural sacred place. Returned to the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

• AB 953 (Ammiano; D-San Francisco) Increases CEQA Litigation — Invites more litigation over CEQA projects by overturning a recent court decision and allowing project opponents to challenge EIRs that don’t adequately evaluate and mitigate impacts related to conditions and physical features in the environment like sea-level rise and fault-lines. Assembly Floor inactive file.

• AB 1323 (Mitchell; D-Los Angeles) Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing — Substantially hinders oil and gas production in the state, driving up fuel and energy prices and harming the job market in these sectors, by prohibiting hydraulic fracturing and the use of fresh water in hydraulic fracturing until CalEPA re-authorizes the practice under a new regulatory scheme, if at all, in 2019. Refused passage on the Assembly Floor.

Assembly-Authored Job Killer Still Moving

AB 10 will be scheduled for Senate policy committees hearings in the coming weeks.

• AB 10 (Alejo; D-Salinas) Automatic Minimum Wage Increase — Unfairly increases California employers’ cost of doing business by raising the minimum wage $1.25 over the next three years and thereafter indexing the minimum wage based on inflation, which fails to take into account the current economic status of the state or other fees and costs employers are required to pay.

Active on Assembly Floor

Because of the urgency clause, AB 880 remains active on the Assembly Floor.

AB 880 (Gomez; D-Los Angeles) which requires the state’s largest employers to pay a penalty for each worker who opts to enroll in the state’s MediCal program, was amended by the Assembly on May 28. The bill requires a 2/3 vote to pass.

The bill impacts a wide range of industries, including large non profits, all of which would be hit hard with new significant financial penalties related to health care coverage for their workforce.

On May 30, CalChamber released a new CalChamber News segment. In the video, CalChamber President and CEO Allan Zaremberg explains that AB 880 imposes a new tax on California employers when they hire part time employees, it shifts the burden of paying for a MediCal program in California from the public sector, from the state, over to the private sector, and eliminates any reason to do efficiencies in the program.