'Job killer' bills could potentially hurt small business
Out of 37 “Job killer” bills identified by the California Chamber of Commerce — legislation with the potential to hurt economic and job growth — only 10 have made it through the legislative session onto Gov. Schwarzenegger’s desk.
Vice Chair for the Porterville Chamber of Commerce, Bill McKinley, expanded on the implications of some of the bills at the “First Friday Coffee” Chamber membership meeting Friday at Galaxy 9 Theatres.
Two bills of high concern for business in this area are SB 1474 and H.R. 5297.
SB1474 seeks to provide the Agricultural Labor Relations Board with an alternative basis to set aside an election and a remedy for misconduct affecting the right of employees to a free and uncoerced choice in a secret ballot election, according to the latest amended version of the bill. The bill, according to the state Chamber, is designed to increase union representation of agricultural employees, even when it is against their will.
“If you have a situation were unions go out, contact people in their homes and say ‘sign this card,’ basically, they’re taking rights away from employees,” McKinley said.
The act would hurt California’s businesses by driving up costs and making employers less competitive in a global market, CalChamber states.
Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 or H.R. 5297 is a small business bill seeking to expand government lending programs through the Small Business Lending Fund Program of up to $12 million in order to increase the availability of credit for small business, according to the latest version of the bill.
The bill has been approved by the House of Representatives and will next be voted on in the Senate.
“When President Obama got off the plane from his sixth vacation, he jumped on the Senate for not approving the bill,” McKinley said. “I thought, ‘why would anyone object to the bill?’ — there were lots of details in that bill that were not there in the first definition...the devil’s in the details.”
A complete list of the 2010 “Job Killer” bills can be viewed on the California Chamber of Commerce website at www.calchamber.com.
The Porterville Chamber of Commerce will meet for its next “First Friday Coffee” event at 7 a.m., Oct. 1 at the Galaxy 9 Theatres.
