SACRAMENTO — The California National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) wants advocate Alastair Mactaggart to drop a ballot initiative he championed over the last several years in the wake of COVID-19, the agency stated in a media notification.
NFIB hopes that Mactaggart, a real estate developer, will withdraw the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) because the coronavirus has caused much uncertainty and hardship, the NFIB letter states.
"Businesses in California understand the importance of protecting personal information, we began implementing the technological and operational measures necessary to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)," the letter states. "But the CCPA is very confusing, the regulations still have not been issued by the Attorney General, and the compliance costs are extraordinarily high."
NFIB noted that an economic consulting firm that was commissioned by the attorney general estimated it would cost about $55 billion—$50,000 per small business—to comply with the law.
The letter stated that the pandemic is causing a major economic challenge for many, with at least 70% of employees in eating and drinking establishments to be laid off or furloughed since March and 76% of small businesses being directly affected.
"Even those enterprises not directly regulated by the CCPA are impacted by its provisions as they are disproportionately impacted by the epidemic," the letter states. "In times like this, we believe it is unreasonable to add new mandates on businesses, higher compliance costs, and additional burdens on the state economy."
NFIB, along with the other nearly two dozen businesses attached to the letter, believe that because of the current economic situation, adding and new mandates would cause employers additional burdens when what they really need is support with recovery.
"If we are 'all in this together,' we implore you to consider the human and financial costs of the proposed privacy initiative and withdraw the initiative from the November 2020 ballot," the letter states.
NFIB states in the letter that the cost of complying with the initiative would pale in comparison to what it would take to restart businesses and rehire employees in the state.