CLFP Successes in Legislature to Date

The deadline to move bills out of the legislative house in which they were introduced was May 31. CLFP was successful in helping stop several bills from advancing that would have added more costly mandates on the food processing industry, as well as working to move bills forward that will help with workforce development in the manufacturing sector.

Legislative policy hearings are underway in the second house. The deadline to pass bills to the Senate and Assembly floors is July 12.

Several labor bills that CLFP strongly opposed as part of a coalition of employer groups failed to move out of their house of origin.

• AB 628 (Bonta; D-Oakland) failed to clear the Assembly which would have created an uncapped new leave of absence for employees and their family members. AB 628 would have significantly expanded the definition of sexual harassment under the Labor Code, which is different than the definition in the Government Code, leading to inconsistent implementation of anti-harassment policies, confusion and litigation. It also provided an unprecedented, uncapped leave of absence for victims of sexual harassment and their “family members,” which was broadly defined, and would have added another layer of burdens on employers and their ability to manage their workforce.

• SB 135 (Jackson; D-Santa Barbara) was placed on the Senate Inactive File at the author’s request on May 30 due to a lack of voted to move the bill. This bill would have a significant expansion of the California Family Rights Act.

• AB 555 (Gonzalez; D-San Diego) was placed on the Assembly Inactive File at the request of the author due to a lack of votes to move the bill. The bill amends the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act to extend the number of paid sick days employers are required to provide from three to five days. CLFP and other employer groups were asking for amendments to assure state preemption over conflicting local ordinances and require verification from a medical professional for employees who take extended sick leave time.

CLFP-supported workforce development bills made it through the Assembly and are now in the Senate. AB 23 (Burke; D-Inglewood) establishes the Deputy of Business and Workforce Coordination, which will help provide California with a workforce that is employment-ready and trained in industry sectors that have the greatest workforce needs. AB 1303 (O’Donnell; D-Long Beach) increases funding for the Career Technical Education Incentive Grant program, which provides students with relevant, industry-aligned skills training and instruction to prepare them for California’s changing job market.

Other priority legislative issues that CLFP will continue to engage on in the second house include:
• Wildfire liability and costs to ratepayers;
• Labeling requirements for sugar sweetened beverages (SB 347);
• Recycling mandates for singe use packaging (AB 1080/SB 54);
• Backfilling federal environmental regulatory rollbacks (SB1). 

By CLFP Government Affairs Director Trudi Hughes