Achieving Relief for Businesses 
With Less Regulation

by Maria S. Salinas

Last Friday, as is constitutionally required, Governor Newsom unveiled his proposed budget for California for the fiscal year beginning, July 1, 2021 and ending June 30, 2022.  The budget outlines historic investments in education, vaccine distribution systems, small business recovery and infrastructure.

We are encouraged by the Governor’s focus on investments for economic recovery, including $4.5 billion for small businesses which include; $1.1 billion for immediate relief; $1.5 billion for infrastructure and incentives to meet our climate goals; $775 million for California jobs; and $353 million for workforce development. These investments are welcomed and very much needed in order to resuscitate many suffering businesses, but there is more that can be done.

There is an opportunity to provide regulatory relief to businesses, especially struggling small businesses. During the pandemic, instead of giving business owners the opportunity to navigate the uncertainty of the economy, many new regulations have been placed on small employers with as few as five employees. This extra regulatory burden has signaled to the smallest of enterprises that they are on the same playing field as larger organizations with the means and resources to handle burdensome regulations. In a state like California, where entrepreneurship is the hallmark of our economy, and where we know that women and minority owned businesses have been disproportionately and negatively impacted by the pandemic, we also need relief in the form of less regulation.

This week, we, along with several business organizations, signed onto a letter requesting relief from a number of regulatory items: 6-month suspension on the California Family Rights Act for employers with less than 50 employees, Cal OSHA mandatory testing and paid leave, property taxes, Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) and other burdensome regulatory policies. To see the coalition letter please click here.

Final Thoughts



Investments will carry us forward, but we don’t want to take one step forward and two steps back.  Smart policy can also mean less burdensome public policy.  Let’s create a business-friendly environment for those businesses that need to restart and move forward in creating jobs.