With California legislators close to wrapping up this year’s abbreviated session, trade leaders hope further reforms will soon be passed to address liability protections and other concerns impacting small businesses months into the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Clearly the primary issue to focus on this year and into next is small business liability protections,” John Kabateck, California state director with the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) told the Northern California Record.
“New laws, regulations, and guidelines are coming out of the state capitol at lightning speed,” Kabateck said. “These mom and pop retail and restaurant owners don’t have the human resources or legal teams in place to advise them on rules moving so fast the ink is barely dry on the books. They’re clearly not skirting the law, they first need an adjustment period, a right-to-correct period, which is why we are fiercely advocating for responsible and sustainable liability protections.”
A recent liability safe harbor measure for businesses with 25 or fewer workers was not added to the legislative calendar. “We are continuing to speak with the governor’s office and keeping that door open,” Kabateck said.
AB 685, a bill that would make public workplace information on COVID-19, also is opposed by the NFIB and more than 70 trade associations due to privacy concerns, as is SB 1383, which would make small businesses subject to the same family leave law as large companies.
A recent national NFIB survey highlights other issues of particular concern to California’s small business owners.
“What we’ve seen are areas where our policymakers should be helping our job creators,” Kabateck said. “There is momentum among Democrats and Republicans alike to clarify and simplify the paperwork, permitting, and regulations processes that mom and pops are usually saddled with. There are other ways, through workshops and education, for California to provide a more welcoming workforce culture like other states in the nation.”