Small Business California: Support for SB 399 and AB 1098

Friday, August 16, 2013

Support for SB 399 and AB 1098

Lori Kammerer Small Business California governmental affairs person wrote the following. We need your help.

Small Business California is working to make sure that two very good bills for small businesses will advance to the Governor’s desk this month and we need the help of all associations who represent small businesses. If you are a member of an association, please forward this email to your contact and ask them to email their association’s logo to be added to the letterhead, along with about 25 statewide associations who represent small businesses.

SB 399 authored by Senator Roderick D. Wright is a measure that would strengthen the Prompt Payment Act that would ensure small businesses who contract with the state are paid on time and that interest penalties would apply if payments to small businesses are delayed. There have been many cases where small businesses will perform the work, invoice the Department of General Services and wait for months for payment.

Assembly Bill 1098 authored by Assembly Member Sharon Quirk-Silva requires that the Governor’s Small Business Administration commission a study to determine the effects of regulations on small businesses. There are two sources of data on the cost of regulatory compliance on businesses, including federal the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the state Office of Small Business Advocates (OSBA). For the past 10 years, the federal SBA has conducted a peer reviewed study that analyses the cost of federal government regulations on different sizes of businesses. This research shows that small businesses continue to bear a disproportionate size of the federal regulatory burden. On a per employee basis for small businesses who employ 20 or less employees, it costs approximately $10,585, or 36% more for small businesses to comply with federal regulations than larger businesses.

The letters for SB 399 and AB 1098 are in the links below. We have until next Wednesday, August 21^st COB to complete our association letters and distribute them to the all Assembly and Senate members. Thank You!

AB399 - http://smallbusinesscalifornia.org/SB%20399%20Wright%20Multi%20Association%20Support%20081513.doc

1098 - http://smallbusinesscalifornia.org/AB%201098%20-%20support%20-%20SB%20Cal.pdf

I received a call today from a major media outlet in Southern California regarding the Affordable Care Act. If you would be willing to talk to them about how the Affordable Care Act will affect your company or even if you are not sure how it will affect you please let me know. Tell me what your business does, how many employees and where you are located.

If you are not in Southern California but would be willing to talk to the media let me know that also. I get a lot of calls from the media around the state and they are always looking for small businesses to talk to.