California Advances Five 'Job Killer' Bills

The Democrat-controlled California State House and Senate have advanced five bills which the California Chamber of Commerce call “job killers,” including legislation that would end business tax breaks, raise minimum wage $1.25 an hour, and slap businesses with higher air pollution penalties.

In the first half of the legislative session ending on Friday, 32 of the 37 bills the Chamber labeled “job killers” had been defeated or put on hold.

The Sacramento Bee says the five remaining state bills include:

• Assembly Bill 10 by Watsonville Democrat Luis Alejo would raise the state’s minimum wage by $1.25 per hour over the next three years to $9.25 and then automatically index it to inflation thereafter…
• Senate Bill 404 by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, to expand the Fair Employment and Housing Act’s anti-discrimination provisions to cover those deemed to be “family caregivers.”
• Senate Bill 365 by Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, to sunset business tax breaks.
• Senate Bill 686, also by Jackson, to bar auto dealers and rental companies from renting or selling cars they should have known had been subject to safety recalls, unless repairs have been made.
• Senate Bill 691 by Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, to increase penalties for air pollution by businesses.

California’s unemployment rate stands at 9%, well above the 7.5% national unemployment rate.