Lawmakers and state officials in Sacramento met with members of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Leadership Council on August 26. The event aimed to highlight issues that small business owners consider important for California’s economy.
The day began at Kabateck Strategies, located near the State Capitol, where attendees heard from several speakers. These included California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, U.S. Small Business Administration Sacramento Director Heather Luzzi, and California Business Roundtable President Rob Lapsley. NFIB California State Director John Kabateck, Policy Director Tim Taylor, and Grassroots Manager Matthew Woolley discussed the organization’s agenda and encouraged members to become more involved. Steve Roe, regional sales director for NFIB, along with Ken Greek, division manager of Field Sales, gave a presentation about recruiting small-business owners to join the group.
Following these sessions, participants visited legislators in the Swing Space of the State Capitol. Meetings took place with Senator Roger Niello, Senator Tony Strickland, Assemblymember Alexandra Macedo, Assemblymember Joe Patterson, Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, and Assemblymember Tri Ta. Staff from other legislative offices also attended on behalf of their principals.
Later in the afternoon at Kabateck Strategies’ offices, Dr. Tara Lynn Gray—director of the California Office of the Small Business Advocate—addressed NFIB members.
The timing of Leadership Day coincided with preparations for the end of the legislative session on September 12. NFIB members spoke with lawmakers about two key bills: Senate Bill 690 (Caballero), which NFIB supports because it aims to prevent lawsuits against businesses related to activities already covered by existing privacy laws; and Senate Bill 512 (Perez), which NFIB opposes due to concerns it would allow local voters to impose new transportation-related taxes without meeting a higher threshold for approval.
Another issue raised was California’s unpaid loans on its unemployment insurance trust fund. Legislators acknowledged this as an ongoing concern that needs attention in future sessions.
“Senate Bill 690 (Caballero), which NFIB is supporting, ‘is necessary to stop the thousands of shakedown letters and lawsuits against California businesses of all sizes for typical business activities, like website analytics or online advertising that are already governed by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA),'” according to this letter of support.
“Senate Bill 512 (Perez), which NFIB is opposing, ‘would authorize voters in certain districts to impose transportation-related retail transactions and use taxes through initiative measures,'” according to this letter of opposition,”and in so doing,’undermines the two-thirds vote requirement for special taxes.'”
NFIB stated it will continue efforts to keep these issues at the forefront as lawmakers prepare for next year’s session.
