LEGISLATIVE SCORECARD

Support - The Greater Irvine Chamber encourages Irvine City leaders to approach the Irvine Climate Action Plan mindfully, taking the appropriate time to gather and weigh the business community's needs before advancing it.

6.11.24

Support - (Davies) This resolution calls on Congress to prioritize the federal government's legal and contractual obligation to provide a home for the spent fuel within California and 33 other states across the nation. It also urges Congress and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to take action on recommendations in the Blue Ribbon Commission’s final report on America's Nuclear Future.

6.17.24

Support - (McKinnor) AB 2797 creates a roadmap for consumers, confirms their rights, and supports the equitable transition from legacy telephone service to modern services. The bill authorizes the initiation of the transition planning process, requiring an equity plan , strong consumer safeguards, engagement with vulnerable communities, and investments in digital literacy.

6.13.24

Oppose - (Ortega) AB 2557 is a de facto ban on local government contracting with outside providers. The bill mandates completely new semi-annual reports from all contractors, including reporting progress made on goals set forth in the contracts, along with personal information from sub-contractors and employees, including names, total compensation, race, gender, and more. AB 2557 also requires annual audits for contracts longer than 2 years — paid for by the contractor.

6.12.24

Support - Loopholes in current law allow federal regulators to misrepresent costs of new mandates on small business. The Prove It Act is a bipartisan bill that will close these loopholes and require federal agencies to consider the costs of regulations on small businesses. 

Oppose - This bill is aimed a discriminatory 7.25% tax on the revenue generated from the sale of digital advertising of taxpayers with gross annual revenue exceeding $2.5 billion. A tax on digital advertising will increase costs for California advertisers and consumers, will be met with legal challenges, and will negatively impact California’s business climate. 

Support - A letter to the CPPA from Alliance to Protect CA's Technology & Innovation Economy, with three key asks to ensure that the stakeholder sessions are effective forums for CA businesses, associations, and others to share how they currently use AI and how rules around risk assessments, automated decision making, and AI may impact their livelihoods.  These asks include: 
1) Ensure all meetings are available with online access 
2) They are located across the state with at least seven meetings 
3) There are at least two CPPA board members present at each. 

Support - The TPA does three fundamental things:
• Gives Voters the Final Say on All New & Higher Taxes
• Eliminates all "Hidden Taxes"
• Requires Truthful Descriptions of New Tax Proposals

Abstain - This bill would require platforms to disclose to customers the exact amount of fees that restaurants pay platforms for each order, resulting in the disclosure of highly confidential business information that many restaurants in California want to protect. The Legislature addressed this very same issue several years ago, arriving at a compromise that provides transparency for customers while protecting restaurants’ confidential business information. Under that compromise, restaurants currently have a choice to opt-in to having their commission to be disclosed. 

Oppose - SB 938 restricts the ability of corporations to recover expenses that are related to policy engagement by defining those activities as “political influence activity” and prohibiting utilities from considering them among “above the line” costs. As an initial matter, these are expenses that often are necessary for these organizations to engage in policy discussions, support policies that would benefit the consumer, or advocate updates to outdated regulatory provisions. Prime examples of areas of critical engagement and policy discussion include demand response, energy efficiency, or California’s CARE and FERA programs. Instead, SB 938 will ultimately impose that burden onto shareholders, who may not be customers or even the beneficiaries of an advocacy effort. 

Oppose - The California Chamber of Commerce and the undersigned are OPPOSED to AB 2200 (Kalra) as introduced on February 7, 2024 as a JOB KILLER, since it would create a new and exorbitantly expensive government bureaucracy, which would control and finance a state-run health care system (CalCare), ultimately resulting in significant economic disruption, uncertainty, and job loss in California. The Healthy California for All Commission recently estimated that total health care costs annually exceed $500 billion in California. This amounts to one-seventh of our gross state product and would more than double our state’s budget.

Support - This bill is aimed at modernizing fire safety regulations to embrace the advancements in battery technology. Internet service providers have worked to comply with the California Public Utilities (PUC) requirement to maintain 72hrs of backup power in high fire-threat areas. The PUC's decision allows for various backup power methodologies, including diesel and natural gas generators, while encouraging wireline providers to transition towards renewable energy sources. Advancements in lithium based battery technology present a cleaner and more sustainable alternative for backup power, aligning with the broader goals of environmental stewardship and disaster preparedness.

Oppose - This bill would impose a discriminatory 5% tax on the digital advertising services of taxpayers with gross annual revenue exceeding $100 million. This tax on digital advertising will be met with numerous legal challenges and would create a chilling effect on California’s tech industry. 

Support - This bill would strengthen Silicon Valley’s competitiveness and help safeguard the resiliency of California’s critical infrastructure. The bill would do so by allowing California to permit bigger data centers, of up to 200 MW in size. Larger data centers than are currently allowed would support essential services such as 9-1-1 call centers, medical operations, and GPS navigation systems - as well as apps and other services - to operate with increased capacity and without interruption. 

Support—This would allow California to take a crucial first step forward in fostering an AI-literate population and future workforce by teaching Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy in our schools. This means teaching students the skillsets necessary to understand and use this technology, as well as its limitations, implications, and ethical considerations.

Support - The General Rate Case funds SCE’s day-to-day operations, including maintenance and grid upgrades. Every four years, the California Public Utilities Commission reviews a request from SCE for the next four-year spending cycle. The GRC makes up about half of customer rates. Another one-third comes from the cost of energy sources for power, which are passed through to customers without markup or profit for SCE. The remaining costs incurred are from a variety of other factors, such as large transmission projects regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and programs for energy efficiency and low-income customer assistance.

Oppose - SB 1345 would eliminate employers’ ability to run a background check or consider conviction history unless they meet one of the narrow exceptions, even if that conviction history is voluntarily disclosed to them or widely publicized. While we appreciate the intent behind SB 1345, the potential unintended consequences could have a significant impact on employees and customers.

Oppose - The bill will effectively subject all employees to a rigid working schedule and prohibit communication between employers and employees absent an emergency. This blanket rule is a step backwards for workplace flexibility. It fails to consider California’s longstanding laws regarding hours worked, exempt employees, and fails to account for the uniqueness of different industries and professions.

Oppose - While ACA 6 was stopped, this year ACA 14 (D- Ortega) has been introduced containing identical provisions. This constitutional amendment would potentially curtail contracting opportunities for small businesses and reduce flexibility in labor relations on UC Campuses.

Support - The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), established in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, provides a monthly voucher for lower-income Americans to buy internet service. 

Oppose - The most recent amendments to AB 1000 fail to address the list of concerns raised by this coalition and by some members of the Local Government Committee last year in the committee hearing. AB 1000 is still far too prescriptive and will lead to the elimination of high paying jobs, quash critically needed housing associated with mixed use developments in the region, increase vehicle miles traveled for heavy duty vehicles coming from California ports, incentivize frivolous litigation with a new private right of action in California law, and exacerbate supply chain issues that will increase the costs to move goods, thereby increasing the cost of living on all Californians.