(May 26, 2022) Two California Chamber of Commerce job killer bills face an important deadline Friday and must pass out of the house in which they were introduced to continue moving through the legislative process. Two additional job killer bills secured the votes required to pass out of their house of origin yesterday and will continue moving forward.

Awaiting Action

The following job killer bills must pass the Assembly floor by tomorrow’s deadline:

• • AB 2188 (Quirk; D-Hayward): Risks workplace safety by promoting marijuana use to a protected class under California’s discrimination law, on par with national origin or religion. Also effectively prohibits pre-employment drug testing, harming employers’ ability to keep their workplace safe and drug free. In addition, would prohibit use of traditional marijuana tests, such as urine and hair testing, and compel employers to utilize saliva-based testing.
  • AB 2840 (Reyes; D-San Bernardino): Circumvents the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), creates an unprecedented ban on warehouses and logistics use projects irrespective of whether there are any project impacts, usurps local authority over land use decisions, exacerbates supply chain problems, and forces union labor for proposed private projects that are not banned.

  2 Job Killers Move Forward

  The following job killers passed out of their house of origin yesterday and will continue moving through the legislative process:

  • AB 2183 (Stone; D-Scotts Valley): Limits an employee’s ability to independently and privately vote for unionization in the workplace, by essentially eliminating a secret ballot election and replacing it with the submission of representation cards signed by over 50% of the employees, which leaves employees susceptible to coercion and manipulation by labor organizations. Also, unfairly limits an employer’s ability to challenge the cards submitted by forcing employers to post an unreasonable bond, and then limits an employee’s ability to decertify a union, by forcing them to go through the ballot election process instead of submission of representation cards. Also includes an unnecessary presumption of retaliation that is effectively unlimited in scope because it would apply for the duration of an election campaign, which could last for a year or more.
  • SB 1044 (Durazo; D-Los Angeles): Allows employees to leave work or refuse to show up to work if an employee feels unsafe regardless of existing health and safety standards or whether the employer has provided health and safety protections. The bill further subjects employers to costly Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) lawsuits if they dispute the employee’s decision or need to have another employee take over any job duties.

  Pending Opposed Bills

  Three CalChamber-opposed bills also face the house of origin deadline tomorrow:

  • AB 2026 (Friedman; D-Glendale): Bans critically important ecommerce packaging without adequate substitutes that will lead to more broken products, more greenhouse gas emissions and worse supply chain constraints.
  • AB 2793 (Muratsuchi; D-Torrance): Requires the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to provide triennial updates on the state’s Cap and Trade Program. This bill is duplicative and unnecessary as there are already frequent updates provided as well as CARB going through their existing Scoping Plan process right now. Additionally, this would bring uncertainty to the existing marketplace which is operating efficiently and effectively.
  • SB 1391 (Kamlager; D-Los Angeles): Dramatically undercuts the rather successful Cap and Trade program by making it nearly impossible for the program to be linked with other states or nations in terms of an expanding the program and make it even more inclusive of other entities. Particularly as CARB is in the middle of the Scoping Plan process, this proposal is premature.