(June 13, 2024) A job killer proposal to place no-growth language in the state Constitution that will in effect stop development has been stopped for the year. Additionally, two CalChamber-opposed proposals that would have affected water infrastructure have also been stopped.

Job Killer Stopped

The CalChamber and a coalition of groups strongly opposed ACA 16 (Bryan; D-Los Angeles) because it had far-reaching negative consequences that would have impaired government operations, stunted development of new housing, infrastructure and clean energy projects, and had the strong potential to destabilize California’s economy.

Measures similar to ACA 16 have led to clean energy and essential transportation infrastructure being blocked in New York, Montana and Hawaii.

Besides being tagged as a job killer by the CalChamber, ACA 16 was labeled a housing killer by the California Building Industry Association and a manufacturing breaker by the California Manufacturers and Technology Association.

Job Killer Tag Removed From AB 2499

The CalChamber recently removed the job killer tag from AB 2499 (Schiavo; D-Chatsworth) due to amendments made on May 20, 2024 and June 6, 2024 applying leave to employers with 25 or more employees, limiting qualifying reasons for taking leave, and limiting the duration of time for specific qualifying reasons.

Before amendments, AB 2499 significantly expanded California’s 12-week leave related to crimes and lowered the threshold of applicability to employers with just five employees.

Opposed Bills Stopped

The following two CalChamber-opposed bills are dead for the year:

• AB 2079 (Bennett; D-Ventura): Prevented installation of new or replacement groundwater wells throughout much of the state. Circumvented the local control component of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) by creating statewide stringent requirements on wells rather than empowering locally informed solutions to groundwater sustainability. AB 2079 failed to pass the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee on a vote of 5-6 on June 11.
• AB 1337 (Wicks; D-Oakland): Gave broad authority to State Water Board to curtail water rights of any seniority or claim of right. Allowed curtailments to issue without a hearing, depriving water rights holders of due process. The author has agreed to continue working on the issue in the future.