BizFed delivers wins on supermajority of bills we worked in 2015!

Sunday was the deadline for Gov. Brown to act on bills coming out of this year’s state legislative session, and we are pleased to report that more than two-thirds of the bills BizFed mobilized either to support or oppose resulted in our desired outcome.  Please see below for a full list of our bills and their outcomes.  Here are some highlights:

• SB 350 (DeLeon) – While we still opposed the overall bill, we played a major role in defeating the mandate to reduce petroleum use by 50 percent by 2030, which would create an unreasonable burden on the poorest Californians.
• AB 357 (Chiu) – BizFed strongly opposed this bill mandating that employers give employees two weeks notice prior to any schedule changes, which would create a litigation nightmare while preventing both employees and employers from effectively managing work schedules.  Driven by such opposition, the sponsor pulled the bill.
• AB 465 (Hernandez) – BizFed joined a massive coalition of business groups opposing this bill that would ban pre-dispute employment arbitration agreements. The bill passed the legislature, but Gov. Brown vetoed the bill at our urging. Click here to read his veto statement.

Also of note, on Saturday, Gov. Brown vetoed nine bills that would have created new tax credits in various areas, including affordable housing, energy or water efficient home appliances, and small businesses.  In his veto message, he said, “Despite strong revenue performance over the past few years, the state’s budget has remained precariously balanced due to unexpected costs and the provision of new services.  Given these financial uncertainties, I cannot support providing additional tax credits that will make balancing the state’s budget even more difficult.”

(Key: Favorable Outcome Unfavorable Outcome; Click the bill number for detailed status and history.)