The sponsor of AB 247, which would protect small businesses that use proper safety standards from unwarranted litigation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, plans to continue pushing the measure forward as California moves closer to fully reopening next month.
More than 99 percent of the businesses operating in California are small businesses, and they employ nearly half the state’s private workforce. Many of them employ fewer than 20 people; the prospect of having to turn over scant resources to lawyers instead of their workers is leading many to question whether they can afford to reopen at all.
If approved, AB 247 would provide small business owners with a measure of protection against unfounded litigation, the sponsor, Assemblymember James Ramos, D-Highland, told the Northern California Record by email.
“California needs and supports small businesses, and the state is trying to help them achieve a quick and complete recovery from the losses suffered because of the pandemic,” Ramos said. “If a business owner is following the state and local regulations to ensure customers and employees are protected from COVID-19, then why should they suffer damage to their reputation and the cost of a lawsuit. It doesn’t seem right.”
Ramos noted that AB 247 excludes bad actors from protection.
“Too many of our small businesses are struggling to stay open or reopen, and they need confidence that they can reopen without the threat of potential and unnecessary litigation,” Ramos said.
AB 247 is currently before the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
“I want to see my bill and other proposals to aid small businesses win passage and get enacted. I would also like to see California take a more pro-active and sustained approach to fostering and assisting entrepreneurship – and not only during an emergency,” Ramos said. “I would also like California to encourage high school and college students, especially young people of color or who are low-income to consider starting their own enterprises.”
Small businesses are crucial to job creation and helping communities thrive, Ramos said in a news release.
“I don’t quit. This bill made it through the Assembly last year, under a different bill number, but it stalled in the Senate,” Ramos told the Record. “I reintroduced it this year, and I will keep working to see it through.”