Advocacy Updates
Chamber Opposes Bills that Raise Health Care Costs and Penalize Employers
With the California Legislative cycle in full-swing, the Chamber has identified two pieces of legislation that are detrimental to the growth and sustainability of the local business environment. Specifically, these bills reduce an employer’s ability to establish new jobs and jeopardize workplace management by significantly increasing the costs of healthcare and imposing controls on business’ pricing models. SB 562 (Lara): The Healthy California Act SB 562 would implement a government-run single payer health care system costing an estimated $250 billion annually. In order for this system to be implemented, it is likely that a new payroll tax would need to be enacted to cover the cost. However, the bill neglects to include a funding mechanism for the program, creating uncertainty as to how the funds would be generated and who would be required to bear the costs. The increased costs would also negatively affect the business climate in California by deterring companies from taking up shop in California, and may also require responsible businesses to lay off employees in order to cope with the added costs. AB 1576 (Levine): Gender Discrimination in Pricing of Goods AB 1576 increases the chance of frivolous litigation on the basis of charging different prices for two items believed to be somewhat similar in nature. Under this bill, if two similar items marketed for different genders are priced differently for whatever reason, business owners would be subject to settle for no less than $4,000 or face costly litigation. Furthermore, it remains unclear which products are covered under this bill, thus requiring businesses to expend time and resources to scrutinize their products to determine whether gender-neutral factors affected the pricing. The Chamber will continue to work towards building a robust and friendly business environment by opposing health care and regulatory measures that would add unduly and punitive costs as well as potential litigation against local businesses. For more information, contact Andrew Sall at 951-683-7100 Ext. 220 or asall@riverside-chamber.com. |
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