Fresno City Councilman Jerry Duncan is playing a leadership role at the local level in opposing ill-advised state legislation, authored by liberal Democrat Fiona Ma, that would put a huge new burden on California employers, both in the private and public sectors. We asked Duncan to share with FR readers more about this bill, and what he has been doing to try and stop it…. Keep up the good work, Jerry! – Flash
LOCAL LEADERSHIP IS NEEDED TO STOP ANTI-EMPLOYER LEGISLATION
By The Honorable Jerry Duncan, Fresno City Councilman
The assault on California small business by members of the liberal left in the California Assembly is alive and well. The latest incarnation of this is the introduction of AB 2716 by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco and is backed by organizations representing over 1200 Unions.
Her bill would require paid sick leave be given to any employee who works 7 or more days each year. They would get paid sick time at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours they work.
Incredibly, this state mandated sick leave would carry over from year to year. Even an employer with just one employee would be required to provide 5 days per year. If you have more than 10 employees you will be required to give 9 days per year. Ignore this law and you could be fined up to $250 per incident.
Not only does this proposed law dictate how much paid time an employer is required to give, but it also tells a small business person the conditions in which it will be given. Under AB 2716 sick leave could be used to care for a sick family member.
Ms. Ma and her union supporters fail to understand some very basic principles of the business world. To be competitive, businesses will normally provide these types of benefits as soon as they can afford them. While it is good business to provide them, you cannot pay for what you cannot afford.
To mandate this on small businesses who can’t afford it, the impact will be quite simple to figure out. It will be the elimination of existing jobs and the slowing down of the creation of new ones. As someone who has started three businesses, I’d think long and hard before I added the first and especially the tenth employee.
If passed, this law will have a devastating impact on small businesses in my city of Fresno and all over California. I talk to small business owners everyday and in these tough economic times many are struggling to just survive. Now, thanks to the generosity of Ms. Ma and the Unions, these same struggling businesses would see a significant new cost imposed on them that they have no money to pay for.
At our Fresno City Council meeting yesterday, I introduced a City Council resolution opposing AB 2716. Even with several members of the Fresno City Council professing to be proud members of the Union movement it passed by a 6-1 vote.
The sixth largest city in California has stood up against this anti-business bill. It is now time for others to do the same thing. I challenge other city council members across the state to introduce a resolution to their respective bodies opposing this bill and for everyone to tell their State Assembly member to oppose it as well. If we speak up, it can be stopped.
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