News from the CalChamber:
The information below reports on the second year of the 2017-2018 legislative session, showing legislators floor votes for bills the CalChamber recognizes as “Priority”. For a complete list of this report, including the full voting record of the legislator and additional explanation of the methodology, visit: calchamber.com/voterecord
For this legislative year Coachella Valley elected CA legislators voted relative to the position of CalChamber as follows:
Name Voted With Voted Against
Eduardo Garcia 4 11
Chad Mayes 13 2
Jeff Stone 13 1
How to read the information below. CalChamber
The bills below are categorized by the area of business they impacted. The Bill number and Sponsor are listed first, followed by a brief explanation from CalChamber as to why they took their position. At the end of the bill you will find the CalChamber’s initial position, which in some cases may have changed based on amendments, (final position in bold) and the outcome before the State Legislator. Last, you will see how our local elected leaders voted, followed by the bill’s outcome.
How to read the vote ledger:
YES – Voted in support of the bill.
No – Voted in opposition to the bill.
* – Means not voted “Aye” on a bill. Sometimes a legislator will vote in accordance with the CalChamber position by not casting an “Aye” vote, which can hinder the bill’s passage and in effect aid the CalChamber position.
NA – Vote not applicable to calculation, see notes for each.
Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
- AB 2528 (Bloom; D-Santa Monica)
Land Use Restrictions. Potentially limits private land use by expanding areas protected for non-endangered species. Punishes landowners who managed their lands in a way to enhance the habitat of nearby species. Passed Assembly, May 29, 42-32. Passed Senate, August 22, 23-12. Assembly concurred in Senate amendments August 27, 44-32 (vote shown). CalChamber Opposed Unless Amended.
Garcia: YES
Mayes: NO
Stone: NO
Outcome: Governor Brown Veto
Corporate Governance
- SB 826 (Jackson; D-Santa Barbara)
Unconstitutional Board Mandate for Publicly Traded Corporations. Requires a publicly traded corporation to satisfy quotas regarding the number of women on its board or face significant penalties, which is likely unconstitutional, a violation of California’s Civil Rights statute, and a violation of the internal affairs doctrine for publicly held corporations. Passed Assembly, August 29, 41-26. Senate concurred in Assembly amendments, August 30, 23-9. CalChamber Opposed.
Garcia: YES
Mayes: NO
Stone: NO
Outcome: Signed into Law
Education
- AB 2361 (Weber; D-San Diego)
Onerous Disclosure Requirements. Imposes onerous disclosure requirements on contractors of the University of California that will force public reporting of proprietary information as well as personal employee data, with the threat of barring the contractor from bidding on any contract for five years if the contractor makes a mistake or omission. Passed Assembly, May 31, 54-22. Passed Senate, August 24, 23-13. CalChamber Opposed.
Garcia: YES
Mayes: NO
Stone: NO
Outcome: Governor Brown Veto
Energy
- SB 64 (Wieckowski; D-Fremont)
Increased Rates. Arbitrarily requires the Public Utilities Commission to consider elimination of electric-generating facilities that produce any air emissions. Threatens the reliability of the electric grid by eliminating generation needed to meet peak demand. CalChamber Opposed.
Garcia: *
Mayes: NO
Stone: NA – Passed Senate before addition of CalChamber opposed language.
Outcome: Failed Passage
- SB 100 (de León; D-Los Angeles)
Increased Energy Costs. Increases the cost of energy and threatens the reliability of the grid by mandating an ambiguous zero-carbon energy by 2045 planning goal and requirements for regulatory agencies in the state. Passed Assembly, August 28, 44-33. Senate concurred in Assembly amendments, August 29, 25-13. CalChamber Opposed.
Garcia: YES
Mayes: NO
Stone: NO
Outcome: Signed into law
Health Care Costs
- AB 2384 (Arambula; D-Kingsburg)
Increases Health Care Premiums. Before amendments, increased health care premiums by mandating medication assisted treatment for opioid use disorders and by eliminating all quality control and cost containment mechanisms. Job killer tag removed due to June 14, 2018 amendments, but CalChamber remains opposed. Passed Assembly, May 31, 58-17. Passed Senate August 28, 26-9. Assembly concurred in Senate amendments, August 29, 68-6 (vote shown). CalChamber Opposed/Former Job Killer 2018.
Garcia: YES
Mayes: *
Stone: YES
Outcome: Governor Brown Veto
Housing and Land Use
- AB 2343 (Chiu; D-San Francisco)
Amends Unlawful Detainer and Eviction Notice Process. Before amendments, would have driven up the cost of providing rental housing in the state by tripling the amount of notice a landlord is required to provide a tenant in order to begin a lawful eviction process, extending the due date for rent to the middle of the month, and allowing a tenant who has joined a “tenant association” to stop paying rent merely by claiming landlord retaliation. Opposition removed due to June 25, 2018 amendments. Passed Assembly, May 31, 42-27 (vote shown). Passed Senate, August 20, 25-12. Assembly concurred in Senate amendments, August 23, 46-27. No Position.
Garcia: *
Mayes: NO
Stone: NA – Passed Senate after removal of CalChamber opposed language.
Outcome: Signed into Law
Immigration
- AB 2732 (Gonzalez Fletcher; D-San
Diego) New Labor Code Requirement Subject to Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). Creates new onerous requirements for employers to provide a worker bill of rights document to all employees, have them sign it, give them a copy of the signed document, keep the original for three years, and post the document. Passed Senate, August 31, 24-8. Assembly concurred in Senate amendments, August 31, 59-13. CalChamber Opposed Unless Amended.
Garcia: YES
Mayes: YES
Stone: NO
Outcome: Governor Brown Veto
Industrial Safety and Health
- AB 2963 (Kalra; D-San Jose)
Usurps Cal/OSHA Priorities. Requires Cal/OSHA to treat as a serious violation a rule that does not constitute any violation of Cal/OSHA rules, and redirects Cal/OSHA resources which will undermine existing Cal/OSHA priorities. As a result of a blood lead level of employees reported to the Department of Public Health, the bill requires a workplace inspection by Cal/OSHA within three days, as if a serious violation has been reported where none exists. Passed Assembly, May 30, 41-30. Passed Senate, August 28, 23-13. Assembly concurred in Senate amendments, August 30, 43-31 (vote shown). CalChamber Opposed Unless Amended.
Garcia: YES
Mayes: NO
Stone: NO
Outcome: Governor Brown Veto
Labor and Employment
- AB 1870 (Reyes; D-Grand Terrace)
Extension of Statute of Limitations. Unnecessarily extends the statute of limitations from one year to three years for all discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims filed with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Passed Assembly, May 29, 57-4. Passed Senate, August 27, 25-10. Assembly concurred in Senate amendments, August 29, 61-9 (vote shown). CalChamber Opposed Unless Amended.
Garcia: YES
Mayes: *
Stone: NO
Outcome: Governor Brown Veto
- AB 2770 (Irwin; D-Thousand Oaks)
Sexual Harassment Employer/Employee Protection. Codifies case law to ensure victims of sexual harassment and employers are not sued for defamation by the alleged harasser when a complaint of sexual harassment is made and the employer conducts its internal investigation. This bill also provides additional protections to employers by expressly allowing employers to inform potential employers about the sexual harassment investigation and findings. Reducing the cost of frivolous litigation allows an employer to utilize these financial resources to grow its workforce. Passed Assembly, May 7, 72-0. Passed Senate, June 25, 36-0. Signed—Chapter 82. CalChamber Sponsored/Job Creator 2018.
Garcia: YES
Mayes: YES
Stone: YES
Outcome: Signed into Law
- AB 2946 (Kalra; D-San Jose)
Imposes New One-Sided Attorney’s Fee Recovery. Undermines the essence of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement complaint process by requiring a one-sided attorney’s fee provision that will incentivize further litigation. CalChamber Opposed.
Garcia: *
Mayes: NO
Stone: NA – Failed Passage in Assembly
Outcome: Failed Passage
- SB 1284 (Jackson; D-Santa Barbara)
Disclosure of Company Pay Data. Requires California employers to submit pay data to state agencies that could give the false impression of pay disparity where none may exist. Agencies are prohibited from releasing company-specific information. Job killer tag removed due to August 8 amendments helping rectify public shaming aspect of the bill, but CalChamber remains opposed due to administrative burden placed on employers. Passed Senate, May 31, 24-13. CalChamber Opposed/Former Job Killer 2018.
Garcia: NA – Held in Assembly Appropriations Committee
Mayes: NA – Held in Assembly Appropriations Committee
Stone: NO
Outcome: Suspended
- SB 1300 (Jackson; D-Santa Barbara)
Significant Expansion of Harassment Discrimination and Retaliation Liability. Limits the use of nondisparagement agreements and general releases and, through the codified intent language, attempts to restrict the ability to summarily adjudicate harassment claims and lower the legal standard for actionable harassment claims by providing a directive to the courts on how they should interpret the law. These provisions will significantly increase litigation against California employers and limit their ability to invest in their workforce. Job killer status removed due to August 20, 2018 amendments, but CalChamber remains opposed. Passed Senate, May 31, 22-11. Passed Assembly, August 30, 41-33. Senate concurred in Assembly amendments, August 31, 25-10 (vote shown). CalChamber Opposed/Former Job Killer 2018.
Garcia: YES
Mayes: NO
Stone: NO
Outcome: Signed into Law
Legal Reform and Protection
- AB 3080 (Gonzalez Fletcher; D-San Diego)
Ban on Settlement Agreements and Arbitration Agreements. Significantly expands employment litigation and increases costs for employers and employees by banning settlement agreements for labor and employment claims as well as arbitration agreements made as a condition of employment, which is likely preempted under the Federal Arbitration Act and will only delay the resolution of claims. Banning such agreements benefits the trial attorneys, not the employer or employee. Passed Assembly, May 30, 47-25. Passed Senate August 22, 26-12. CalChamber Opposed/Job Killer 2018.
Garcia: YES
Mayes: *
Stone: NO
Outcome: Governor Brown Veto
Product Regulation
- SB 1249 (Galgiani; D-Stockton)
Risks California Jobs and Limits Consumer Options. Before amendments, jeopardized hundreds of thousands of California manufacturing, distribution and retail jobs by effectively banning for sale any cosmetic product whose ingredient was tested on animals for any purpose, by anyone, anywhere in the world. Opposition removed due to August 28, 2018 amendments. Passed Senate, May 30, 21-9 (vote shown). Passed Assembly, August 31, 80-0. Senate concurred in Assembly amendments, August 31, 39-0. No Position.
Garcia: NA – Passed Assembly after CalChamber opposition removed.
Mayes: NA – Passed Assembly after CalChamber opposition removed.
Stone: NO
Outcome: Signed into Law
Telecommunications
- SB 822 (Wiener; D-San Francisco)
Net Neutrality. Preempted by federal law and opens the door to a patchwork of unworkable state regulations that will stymie innovation and potentially undermine the backbone of California’s internet economy. Passed Assembly, August 30, 61-18. Senate concurred in Assembly amendments, August 31, 27-12. CalChamber Opposed.
Garcia: YES
Mayes: YES
Stone: NO
Outcome: Signed into Law