A new bipartisan bill, the Keep California Working Act, would allocate 10 percent of the state’s $26 billion budget surplus toward helping small businesses reopen and stay open.
A recent analysis from an independent state oversight agency reported that thousands of California small businesses have shut down permanently due to the sharp economic contraction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than half of the state’s lawmakers have agreed to sign on to the measure, SB 74, chief sponsor Sen. Andreas Borgeas, R-Fresno, told the Northern California Record.
“The key message is that as California has gone through its Covid experience, with confusing and intermittent closures and the gridlock in Washington, we need to step up and make a robust capital investment into the economic small business class,” Borgeas said.
Borgeas and co-sponsor Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, introduced the bill on Dec. 10.
While SB 74 proposes $2.6 billion in economic relief, a recent report by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, The 2021-22 Budget: California’s Fiscal Outlook, recommends that, “…the Legislature use the other half of the windfall – about $13 billion – on one-time purposes, focusing on activities that mitigate the adverse economic and health consequences of the public health emergency.”
SB 74 is written as urgency legislation that would take effect immediately. While Gov. Gavin Newsom’s additional request of $575 million to the grant relief program is viewed as a viable step, keeping job creators from permanently shutting down will require further investment.
“Not only is the need in California so acute, but this a true bipartisan, bicameral piece of legislation,” Borgeas said. “That rarely happens, especially in the hyper-partisan atmosphere in which we find ourselves.”
The bill, which is designed for business entities with fewer than 100 employees, has been referred to its first committee.
“It can be put into the budget immediately, under the early emergency action of the governor, in which case we could act upon this in the next couple of weeks, or it could take another number of weeks as it goes through the committee process,” Borgeas said. “Leadership in the governor’s office is paying attention to how we can get relief to small business as quickly as possible.”
The measure has a number of significant institutional endorsements, Borgeas said, including the California Restaurant Association, California Chamber of Commerce, and grassroots support across the state.
“When representatives get to the people’s business, good things can happen and they can happen quickly,” Borgeas said.