Informing & Monitoring
» Capitol Updates
» Leg. Watch
» Press Releases
» Leg Vote Record
» CA Cost Index
» Features
» Audio & Reports
» Job Data
» Calendar
» Coalitions
» Fed Update
» Policy Objectives
» Policy Principles
Membership
»Membership list
»Invest in CMTA
»About Us
»Yellow Pages
»Questions?
»Join Committees
»Advertise
Services & Discounts
»Group WC Program
»Discount Programs
»Training
Directories
»CMTA Staff
»Send us e-mail
»Directions to CMTA
»Rent Conference Room
Grassroots Activism
Sign up to receive action alerts
Warning: main(masthead.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /target/apacheweb/domains/cmta.net/htdocs/legweekly/090602.php on line 15
Warning: main() [function.include]: Failed opening 'masthead.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /target/apacheweb/domains/cmta.net/htdocs/legweekly/090602.php on line 15
Legislative Weekly
September 6, 2002
Paid Family Leave Bill on Governor's Desk
 Kuehl |
In order to get the necessary votes to move the bill to the governor, the bill was amended on August 23 to remove the mandatory employer contribution and reduce the number of paid weeks from 12 to 6 weeks. The amendment by Assemblyman John Dutra (D-Fremont) who heads the moderate Democrats Caucus was enough to allow many of the moderates to vote for the bill. The enrolled version of SB 1661 would establish within the state disability insurance program a Family Leave Temporary Insurance program to provide up to 6 weeks of partial wage replacement benefits to workers who take time off work to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, parent, domestic partner, or to bond with a new child.
CMTA is opposed to the bill because it expands exponentially the opportunities for employees to be away from the workplace. Absenteeism is a major problem for employers because it negatively impacts production and requires a considerable amount of time away from production duties for supervisors and managers to reschedule or cover the work of missing workers. CMTA believes that the paid family leave temporary insurance program would significantly exacerbate this problem because it would almost guarantee that the majority of eligible employees would utilize the program. As a result employers would incur added training costs and reduced productivity at a time when employers are already struggling to compete in a world market that is not subject to these rules and costs. This new program imposes a significant administrative burden on employers who must keep an accurate record of this and the many other existing time-off provisions under the Labor Code in order to avoid facing significant fines or penalties.
The state disability insurance (SDI) program is an employee-paid program through payroll deductions. The maximum weekly benefit amount is tied to the maximum weekly temporary total disability (TTD) benefit amount in workers’ compensation. AB 749 (Calderon D-Montebello), the workers’ compensation benefits bill signed by the governor, will increase workers’ compensation maximum TTD from $490 to $602 on January 1, 2003, $728 on January 1, 2004, $840 on January 1, 2005 and index the benefit to the Department of Labor average weekly wage after 2006. If SB 1661 is enacted, employees will have to pay taxes of $698 in 2004 and $726 in 2005 (a 67 percent increase in worker SDI taxes in 2004 alone). Employers estimate the tax burden of the paid leave entitlement program on California workers will reach $2.22 billion by 2005. CMTA believes that if SB 1661 becomes law, a subsequent push will be made for the mandatory employer contribution and the 6 additional weeks of paid leave.
Unlike the federal family leave and California medical leave acts that only apply to employers with 50 or more employees, SB 1661 would apply to employers with less than 50 employees. This would impose a hardship on small employers. Many employers with 5-10 employees simply cannot go without one or more employees for 6 weeks without a replacement. It is very difficult and expensive to train a temporary replacement for just 6 weeks of work and most skilled workers are not interested in short term employment. Another problem with the bill is there is no length of service requirement, so even a temporary worker would be able to take 6 weeks off if they otherwise qualify for the program.
The governor may sign this bill unless he hears from employers on why the bill should not become law. Please write, fax or call the governor on SB 1661. The Governor has until the end of September to take action on the bill.
Aggregation Bills Put Customer Generation at Risk
 Migden  Havice |
The intent language calls for all customers to pay their “fair share” of DWR power costs, both historical costs and forward contract obligations. The language does not exclude customer generation. Opponents will argue that the Legislature wants customer generation customers on the hook for at least a portion of these costs. The intent language reads as follows:
- "It is the intent of the Legislature that each retail end-use customer that has purchased power from an electrical corporation on or after February 1, 2001, should bear a fair share of the Department of Water Resources' electricity purchase costs, as well as electricity purchase contract obligations incurred as of the effective date of the act adding this section, that are recoverable from electrical corporation customers in commission-approved rates. It is further the intent of the Legislature to prevent any shifting of recoverable costs between customers."
Prior to the legislative passage of AB 117 and AB 80, CMTA took an "oppose unless amended" position on both bills, and pushed for amendment language that doesn't pre-judge the issue of cost responsibility of customer generation and distributed generation.
With the passage of both bills, CMTA, citing the adverse impact these bills would have on customer generation, is urging the governor to veto both measures. At a minimum, however, if the governor opts to sign either bill, he should at least indicate that it is not his intent to pre-judge the CPUC’s exit fee and departing load proceeding or adversely impact customer generation. Failure to do so would reverse California’s long-established commitment to encouraging customer generation and threaten the economic viability of customer generators.
End of Session Environmental Bill Wrap Up
As the dust settles on the 2002 Legislative session, we see the usual mixed bag of environmental policy outcomes. The following are brief summaries of actions taken on CMTA’s priority environmental measures during the waning days of the session:
AB 498 (Chan D-Oakland) - Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP). AB 498 goes to the Governor with amendments that preserve changes to the EPP definition requested by CMTA and other business groups to ensure consideration of performance, cost, durability and other factors in the procurement process. The bill also preserves a role for manufacturers in state EPP policy development. These changes were triggered by the state Consumer Services Agency in an attempt to reduce cost. A signature is likely.
AB 1173 (Keeley D-Boulder Creek) - Indoor air quality study bill. This measure goes to the Governor with amendments requiring inclusion of research on mold, radon and other sources of concern conducted by the Department of Health Services. The bill also includes external peer review language requested by CMTA.
AB 2141 (Firebaugh D-East Los Angeles) - Superfund public participation process for DTSC corrective action orders. After getting a free ride in Senate Appropriations, the bill was held in the Assembly, on the expectation of a veto. DTSC outwardly opposed the bill and tagged it with a 1.8 million dollar cost estimate.
AB 2312 (Chu D-Monterey Park) - Environmental justice small grant program. This measure was substantially amended in Senate policy committee to limit business exposure to state-funded lawsuits and permit challenges. It is on its way to the Governor after a party-line vote (48).
AB 2736 (Cardoza D-Merced) - Smog Check 2 mandate for the Bay Area. AB 2637 goes to the Governor with overwhelming bi-partisan support (70-5 on the Assembly Floor). Amendments require delayed implementation following a peer review of the U.C. Riverside report, which calls into question the downwind ozone benefit in the Central Valley and the possibility of adverse impacts in Contra Costa County. Implementation does not hinge on the outcome of this review. Rather, it requires mitigation of any adverse impacts.
AB 2938 (Simitian D-Palo Alto) - Waste discharge regulatory cost shifting bill. This bill was amended in Senate policy committee to increase the existing NPDES fee cap by 250% (to 35K/year). It was stopped on the Senate Floor, thanks to opposition from dairies and other confined animal feeding interests. Amendments on the Floor attempted to limit dairy exposure, but left other feed lot operators exposed to the 35K cap.
SB 1444 (Kuehl D-Santa Monica) - Radioactive contaminated property. This bill was pared down to a one-site measure, targeting Boeing's (Rocketdyne) Santa Susanna Field Laboratory in Ventura County. With help from labor - the UAW and the International Association of Machinists - the bill was held on the Assembly Floor.
SB 1523 (Sher D-Stanford) - Cathode Ray Tube (TV and computer monitor) recycling. This bill squeaked off the Assembly Floor (42 votes) with all Silicon Valley democrats voting "Aye", despite repeated appeals from their high tech manufacturing constituents. Lowering the front-end fee to $10, along with Apple's support, made the difference. The close Floor vote improves our chances for a veto.
SB 1619 (Romero D-Los Angeles) - CRT grant program and landfill diversion rates and dates. This bill also goes to the Governor by a narrow margin. If the Governor vetoes SB 1523, he will almost certainly veto this measure, which on its own is an unfunded, undefined and potentially very expensive recycling grant program.
SB 1828(Burton D-San Francisco) - CEQA “Sacred sites” measure. SB 1828 was amended last week to downplay the veto authority that the bill still confers to Native American tribes (CEQA lead agencies cannot override a finding of significant impact based on economics or the feasibility of mitigation measures). The amendments created enough confusion to attract 11 Republican votes. The bill goes to the Governor with 59 votes.
CMTA is requesting vetoes on:
SB 1523 & SB 1619 Veto Letter
SB 1828. Veto Letter
Manufacturing Fact
California's electricity costs were nearly twice the national average in 2001. And the state's tax burden was 24 percent higher than the national average.
Talking Point
California won't rebuild its high-income job base unless policy makers "cease and desist" passing new laws and requiring California businesses to pick up the tab.
to Leg Weekly Index