CalChamber names a ‘Job Killer’ + ‘All Talk’ timer + Bonta appeals to SCOTUS
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CALCHAMBER DESIGNATES EMPLOYMENT BILL AS ‘JOB KILLER’
The California Chamber of Commerce has added another bill to its “Job Killer” list. This time, it’s SB 1044 that gets that designation.
According to bill author Sen. María Elena Durazo, the bill would require California employers to let workers have access to their phones during working hours, and also to let employees leave work to ensure their own safety during an emergency.
“The ability to keep yourself safe on the job, and especially so in life or death situations, should be a given, but many workers are subjected to what is essentially confinement at their jobs during natural disasters,” Durazo said in a statement. “SB 1044 will make sure that these workers can look out for their own safety while not having to fear losing their job as a consequence.”
Durazo cites as an example of the need for the bill the 23 Californians who worked as gardeners or househeepers who died during the 2018 Southern California mudflows, as well as the domestic workers and landscapers who were told they were not allowed to leave until their work was finished even as the 2019 Getty fire approached.
CalChamber argues in its statement that the bill is overly broad in its consideration of what counts as an emergency.
“Among CalChamber’s concerns with the bill are the fact that SB 1044 would give license to essential workers to skip shifts without prior permission or planning, jeopardizing public safety. Under the bill, any employer who disciplines an employee for failing to report to work due to a cited state of emergency — whether that State of Emergency actually impacts the employee or not — would be subject to a lawsuit and penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA),” according to a statement from the group.
CalChamber also believes that the broad applicability of the bill raises safety concerns for other employees in the workplace because it does not require workers to give their employer any notice of they leave or choose not to show up.
The bill was heard by the Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee on Monday afternoon. Durazo accepted a number of committee amendments to the bill, though it’s unclear whether that will be enough to get the bill off the “job killer” list.
ASSEMBLY REPUBLICANS RELEASE TIMER, SAYING DEMOCRATS ARE ‘ALL TALK’
As California Democrats debate issuing a possible $400 gas rebate to taxpayers, California Assembly Republicans have released a new “Capitol Democrats are all talk” timer, claiming that Gov. Gavin Newsom and his Democratic counterparts in the Legislature aren’t doing enough to address the high cost of gas in the state.
“The clock is literally ticking,” said Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher in a statement. “If you eat at the French Laundry, you probably don’t notice these gas prices, but regular folks are struggling. Every minute that Democrats stall is a minute California families are forced to choose between a full tank of gas and a full cart of groceries.”
The Assembly Republicans claim that a Democratic solution to high gas prices is still “weeks, if not months, away from returning any money to overtaxed Californians.”
The Assembly Republicans argue that a quick fix to skyrocketing prices at the gas pump would be to suspend the state gas tax.
HUMANITARIAN PROTECTIONS FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has joined with the attorneys general for 16 other states and the District of Columbia to call on the United States Supreme Court to support President Joe Biden’s effort to roll back President Donald Trump-era restrictions on the asylum process, citing the importance of certain immigrants to be able to enter and remain in the United States for humanitarian purposes.
This so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy forces asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico as their cases are pending, which Bonta argued inflicts significant hurdles to their ability to pursue their claim.
“This Texas-led attack on our asylum system is shameful and contrary to our core American values,” Bonta said in a statement. “Whether it’s vulnerable children from El Salvador or Ukrainian families fleeing war, everyone deserves a chance to safely and lawfully seek protection. I urge the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn this flawed appellate decision. It’s time for a return to decency and for our nation to treat every person with respect.”
In a “friend of the court” brief filed along with the attorneys general for Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont, the coalition argues that the appellate court’s decision rests on a flawed understanding of the executive branch’s parole power, and that the appellate court’s decision deprives states of the significant contributions of immigrants.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Pet peeve: Democratic candidate whose own website calls him a ‘Democrat candidate.’ Don’t use GOP tacky little insults. And by ‘pet peeve,’ I am speaking for LOTS of Democrats. The people who vote for the Democratic Party.”
- RL Miller, founder of Climate Hawks Vote, via Twitter.
Best of the Bee:
It was not lost on California’s senators Monday that they were witnessing a shift in history, whether or not the United States Senate confirms President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, via Gillian Brassil.
A bill making its way through the California Legislature would make it easier for landowners and hunters to kill wild pigs doing damage to agricultural lands. Yet hunting associations are lining up to fight Senate Bill 856, authored by Napa’s Democratic state senator, Bill Dodd, via Ryan Sabalow.